I have always been baffled by the way the media has a 'take' on a circumstance or a situation. And I have also always been frustrated by the BBC's middle class, middle England reporting. The BBC is actually just a completely frustrating organisation. It claims to be one of the most diverse organisations but really its news agenda says it all.
The BBC's reporting of the tragic abduction of a 3 year old girl on holiday in the Algarve, Portugal this morning summed up the organisations values. The little girl was sleeping in her bedroom while her parents were eating out in a tapas bar checking in on her (and her toddler brother and sister) every so often. The BBC describes the parents as 'devoted' and a family friend has said that they feel the police have been 'ineffectual' and earlier reports said that the family felt abandoned.
If this had happened to a poor family on holday at Butlins or some other holiday camp instead of the expensive Mark Warner complex I will bet my last pound that the BBC's reporting would have been totally different. Indeed the media would have been baying for the parents blood had they not been white middle class and seemingly respectable.
The facts of the matter speak for themselves. They left their children alone while they ate. To me it doesn't make a difference whether they were 50 or 300 yards away. They shouldn't have been away! I dont have children but I have looked after children - I have nephews and nieces and godchildren who have been left in my care at home and on holiday. Never, not in any circumstances, would I leave them to go out to eat. Even in what appeared to be a safe hotel complex.
My heart goes out to the parents. I think their actions were ill-judged but they don't deserve this and they could never have conceived that this would happen. I also think they are getting an easy ride from the media because of their status and that is a blessing to them.
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