The BBC’s coverage of the Notting Hill carnival has been almost relentlessly positive. But the rosy view of the festivities was finally shattered this weekend when the Metropolitan Police released a statement confirming the death of two people who were attacked at the event. The force said both killings were now being treated as murder investigations.
Smiling photos of the victims – 32-year-old mother Cher Maximen and 41-year-old chef Mussie Imnetu, who was visiting London from Dubai – accompanied the reports, their carefree expressions underlining the senseless destruction of two lives.
Why is the BBC so determined to give such favourable coverage to an event with a lamentable track record of violence and criminality?
Pushing down feelings of horror and grief, I experienced momentary relief that the BBC was finally giving due prominence to such a serious story.
But as I read the bleak details of the story I felt a growing sense of dismay that it had taken two murders for the BBC to steer away from its relentless propaganda for the carnival.
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