After all, if the police have estimated 150,000 protestors and the organisers have suggested a figure closer to 1 million, then it is obvious that one has to plump for a figure somewhere between the two, no?
It would seem that the BBC consider the answer to that one to be a resounding "non" ! Instead they decided to report a far more objective figure of, um, "tens of thousands."
In a similar objective vein, the BBC also reported that "thousands of people" gathered in Gloucestershire for the traditional cheese-rolling races on Cooper's Hill. This time the number of spectators was around 3000.
I do hope the reporting by the BBC on the British economy doesn't employ the same level of estimation.
I suppose we ought to be thankful that the Beeb actually reported the Manif Pour Tous march at all. And, to be fair, they did say that it was "huge."
The photos are from the Manif Pour Tous Facebook page. Twitch of the mantilla to His Hermeneuticalness for the link.
For one second I thought you meant another 'Auntie' Mac. That would have been an eye opener.
ReplyDeleteThe sooner we get rid of the TV licence and have the BBC as a subscription channel (or better still- pay per view - first minute free) the better.
ReplyDeleteApparently, the BBC are intending to cover World Youth Day this year. While I guess this is a step up from completely ignoring it, I imagine we shall be treated to "Hundreds of young people meet Pope on Copacabana Beach". Unless they decide to run with "Millions of young people converge on Rio to meet exciting new Pope - not like his miserable precedesssors". Hmmph!
ReplyDeleteA lesson from my left-wing youth. The general rule of thumb is that organisers roughly double the numbers present at any demonstration, while the police halve them. Some of the demos I went on were so microscopic that I was able to verify this empirically- on one occasion a demo 94 people strong was reported in the media, using the police figure, as 50. So assuming the French police work like the British, you can assume a minimum of 300,000, probably nearer 500,000.
ReplyDeletePatti if the BBC's reporting of World Youth Day this year is like it was in Spain, we will see small demonstrations by the usual
suspects reported in detail (with the demonstrators' figure for attendance reported!)while the 1 million or so people there to see the Pope will be mentioned as an afterthought. But then again, as you say, this is the Pope who does unusual things like kissing babies, patting dogs and blessing people not like those stuffy old geezers in fancy vestments who never ventured out of their luxurious Vatican apartments. I've yet to fathom this trend. Do they really think Francis isn't an orthodox Catholic?
Nothing would surprise me as far as the Beeb is concerned. They have an agenda, and that agenda is basically a visual version of the Guardian.
ReplyDeleteAs a committed and life long Tory, I do not watch BBC news, Newsnight, Question Time etc. I watch Sky News - not perfect, but not blatantly biased.
They are most definitely anti-Catholic and anti-Christian.
In North America we get this same phenomenon with regard to the March for Life (both USA and Canada)--that is, if the MSM deign to notice the event at all.
ReplyDeleteCelia - Judging by the people who proclaimed themselves delighted by the election of Pope Francis, I'd say they probably were expecting him to move in a radically different direction from his predecessors, and I think that they will be dreadfully disappointed in that expectation. And when they realise they were wrong, they will turn nasty.
ReplyDeleteThere was apparently a widespread expectation that Pope John Paul II would be a Hermeneutic-of-Rupture man, being a non-Italian and having played a big part in the Council. And look how they turned on him.
But I'm really, really tired of "Oooh, look, isn't he wonderful? He kisses babies!", as if no one had ever done that before.