Never Been In A Riot

I admit it: I couldn’t help but gawp at BBC 24 and Sky News last night at the constant coverage of the apparent riots in Manchester city centre, just a few miles from where I was sat. I’m nowhere near qualified, wise or sussed to comment on the reasons why all this is happening. But what I can write about is how it was covered.

The summer months aren’t called “Silly Season” for nothing: generally, bugger all of any news value happens, which is why the sports pages are covered with stories claiming a “source” has stated Lionel Messi will sign for Man City, as the guy who cleans the bogs at the stadium thought he heard the manager say something, when what he actually said was “sure is messy in here”. (This may not have happened)

So when we get events like those in London, Manchester and the West Midlands, the bored staff at the rolling news stations fill their boots. Platforms were given to any would-be-frontline-reporter with the right phone number. One guy claimed there were 2000 rioters in Manchester. A few them may have been born in the year 2000, but all the cameras could show was a group maybe 200 strong running away from the police until they had a few minutes to smash a window in.

Living in the age of instant digitial information, the footage also showed the voyeurs stood watching, cameras at the ready to quickly upload to the net, to be then replayed on the news stations. Hey, I include myself as part of this, slumped in my sofa when I really should have been trying to polish off Dragon Age: Origins.

Naturally, the media also loves to feed and gorge on the extreme reactions such events bring out. Some Tory MEP demands looters should be shot on sight. That fills up a good 30 minutes or a page of a newspaper. Bring in water cannons, bring in the army, what is to be done, etc etc etc. Mind, it’s amusing to see politicians slating people for taking something for nothing so soon after the expenses scandal and let’s not get started on bankers who needed a taxpayers bailout awarding themselves nice bonuses anyways. With the latter, I suppose they do it because they can. Just like the looters, then.

But the angle that never seems to be brought up is that all this is nothing new. We can all point to the apparent breakdown in morals. The far-right will blame it on various ethnic groups or the “failures of multiculturalism ”. But let’s not forget much worse happened in and around football grounds in the 1970s and 80s. Certain teams had fans that were known for their sharp style of dress, helped by the fact they looted hip stores on their trips to Europe. You also don’t have to search far to find stories of looting after cities were bombed in the Second World War, but perhaps that doesn’t fit in the accepted narrative of the “Blitz Sprit”.

For now, I have my own fears about the reaction to these events. Rumours of gangs of “vigilantes” gathering to confront looters may seem positive at first, but can soon turn nasty when the wrong people are thought ‘guilty’. The next few days and weeks could show just how interesting the times we live in will be.