BBC Anti-American Bias in Finland School Shooting Report

[perpster]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/ne...0/7083373.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&ms3=54

This really ticked me off when I heard it on BBC World News last night (tv). The story is about the school shooting in Finland. The smarmy BBC reporter (James Robbins) opens his report with a snyde slap at the US: "Finland, not America, but this school shooting followed a terrible and familiar pattern..."

Expletive deleted him. Dunblane is in the UK, and the resulting UK ban on firearms hasn't stopped the meteroic rise in gun violence---in an island nation what excuse do they have for not "eradicating" every single gun and creating a gun-free Utopia? How many stories is he or the BBC doing on their marvelously ineffective gun control measures?

PS: for some reason the Real Player link is bad, so use the Windows Media Player to view it. There's a very short talking head commercial at the beginning.

 

[hopkin]

I don't see it anti-American, just smarmy. Most of the time school shootings are mentioned it's in the USA. That's specifically youth men going on a rampage in a school, not general violance or some kind of national character flaw.

 

[woodybrighton]

uk gun crimes is mostly gang drug related
take out London Manchester Nottingham and Liverpool and there is little left.
uk handgun ban was nothing to do with gun crime but a response to a legal gun owner going off the rails since the crack down hasn't been another spree killing now if the police had done there job thomas murderous nonce hamilton would have lost any rights to own any weapons years before

but school shooting normally means America

 

[perpster]

Sorry, but IMHO a shooting in FINLAND is no justification whatsoever to editorialize with a slap at the USA. There was absolutely no connection to the USA in what the Finnish shooter did. But yet the smarmy BBC reporter's FIRST WORDS reference the US.

 

[kieran]

eradicate the problem in your country, and there wont be any reason for people to associate it with your country.

i'd understand your position if there had been no school shootings in america recently, because then the association would have been misplaced.
the unfortunate truth is that there HAVE been shootings, inasmuch as they have become mundane, though no less tragic, news items for foreign audiences; 'what? ANOTHER school shooting in america?'


if it offended you, write to the bbc and let them know why you think they were wrong. they usually take such comments with good grace.

 

[Calibre44]

I’m amazed that you can be bothered to waste you time tuning in to it.

IMO the BBC is only useful for Wildlife Programmes, Period Dramas and the odd sports coverage

Pro gun reporting - forget it!

 

[hopkin]

There was absolutely no connection to the USA in what the Finnish shooter did.

For me, and I think most Brits, we think 'America' the second we hear about school shootings. I don't personally think it's anti-American since I don't think I am anti-American. I'll accept I might be smarmy.

To me it's about as bland as an American reporter saying 'Finland, not Britain, has the worst teeth in Europe'.

 

[Tommygunn]

uk gun crimes is mostly gang drug related
take out London Manchester Nottingham and Liverpool and there is little left.
uk handgun ban was nothing to do with gun crime but a response to a legal gun owner going off the rails since the crack down hasn't been another spree killing now if the police had done there job thomas murderous nonce hamilton would have lost any rights to own any weapons years before

Well, interestingly, if you examine American criminal statistics and factor out the gang and drug related murders, American criminal stats start looking a whole lot like some of the supposedly more peaceful statistics found in europe ... sorta like, say, maybe the UK??? The UK is still part of europe ... isn't it???

 

[Claude the Libertarian]

Posts: 723 Quote:
Originally Posted by woodybrighton
uk gun crimes is mostly gang drug related
take out London Manchester Nottingham and Liverpool and there is little left.
uk handgun ban was nothing to do with gun crime but a response to a legal gun owner going off the rails since the crack down hasn't been another spree killing now if the police had done there job thomas murderous nonce hamilton would have lost any rights to own any weapons years before

Well, interestingly, if you examine American criminal statistics and factor out the gang and drug related murders, American criminal stats start looking a whole lot like some of the supposedly more peaceful statistics found in europe ... sorta like, say, maybe the UK??? The UK is still part of europe ... isn't it???
__________________

Yes, if you factor out, all of our drug crime, we would be the safest nation on earth. I do not remember the statistic, of how much more likely your are to be mugged in London, than NYC, I think it was like 5 times.

There is so so much more to it then gun laws. More likely how F'ed most families are these days, do most familes eat together these days?

School shootings have nothing to do with gun laws.

And of course, they don't say we are the only country in the world that has people who prevent school shootings, with guns, look at the appalachian law school shooting.

 

[RevolvingCylinder]

Well, interestingly, if you examine American criminal statistics and factor out the gang and drug related murders, American criminal stats start looking a whole lot like some of the supposedly more peaceful statistics found in europe ... sorta like, say, maybe the UK??? The UK is still part of europe ... isn't it???

Why would our violent crime rate rise if we factor out gang and drug related crimes?

The UK is rather notorious for its high violent crime rates. I always read how their crime rates are higher than the US in their own newspapers and I recall a rather publicized report about UK's violent crime in comparison to many other nations.

 

[macFarlaine]

Throwing a rock through a window is classed as violent crime in the UK.I have never felt unsafe anywhere in the UK...Scare mongering is big business in our country..

 

[macFarlaine]

Wow that is a rather rash and ignorant statement.We are that insignificant that are prepared to stand by the US in times of conflict..

 

[kieran]

dont worry george, if the USD keeps depreciating at its current rate, america will be forced to turn inwards to survive.

 

[perpster]

I’m amazed that you can be bothered to waste you time tuning in to it.

It happened to be on the goggle box where I happened to be; I agree with you and would not ordinarily waste my time watching BBC. I sometimes hear the BBC radio news and 90% of the time their anti-US and pro anything Arab sentiment comes across loud and clear.

 

[macFarlaine]

As I am English and watch the BBC and listen to BBC radio on a regular basis I can see and hear where you are coming from.I find it difficult to stomach that you believe that the BBC speaks for the British peopleas a whole. I joined this site to chat to like minded people with a love of guns and shooting,but get the impession that whenever England or the UK is mentioned you like to give us a good kick up the arse.
If you do not like us please have the balls to tell us,do not sugar coat it just let it go....

 

[perpster]

macFarlaine, I don't have a beef with the UK people. This post is entitled "BBC" not "UK" bias. I do worry though that the UK has turned into a nation of sheeple that has been invaded by islam and doesn't even know it.

 

[macFarlaine]

Oh believe me we do know it..it is great topic of coversation in all circles.I personally have no problem with peoples religion, beliefs,I do however have a problem with people ,governments imposing their beliefs on myself.

 

[perpster]

I have no problem with others' religions either, as long as they don't want to impose it on me (sharia law, for example). But the protests in UK last year with thugs in headscarves carrying signs openly calling for beheading, death, etc. to those who "insult" islam is a problem. It is probably only a matter of time until "youths" riot and burn cars in the UK as they already do on the continent.

 

[trueblue1776]

"Those extremists just believe in killing Brits, and as a Brit I must respect the beliefs of my countrymen."

The BBC really isn't any different than our media, they like to reinforce negative stereotypes and talk about the same morbid $#!t that sells papers in our country. Every media outlet embraces their version of the proper new-world man, the only diversity they recognize (elevate) is the Crayola kind

 

[perpster]

And now that the law-abiding citizens of the UK have been disarmed, it won't go very well when the gun lockers hidden in the mosques are opened and the arms passed around to the muslim faithful who want to fly the flag of islam over 10 Downing Street.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Isn't it curious that the Brits feel they have a right to criticize the U.S. for allowing citizens [a portion of] the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, yet the Brits also seem to see nothing wrong with selling arms to that madman Chavez, in Venezuelia.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Yes, if you factor out, all of our drug crime, we would be the safest nation on earth

So what you are saying is that if you factor out the crime then you have no crime?

 

[Tommygunn]

So what you are saying is that if you factor out the crime then you have no crime?

Noooooo ... it means if you factor out the crimes involving drugs from all the crime in the U.S. like rape, murder, assault and battery, bank robbery, pedophilia, jaywalking, tax evasion, etc., etc., etc., etc., then what's left will "appear" to make America look more like europe.
In other words, a LOT of gun crimes have to do with illegal drugs and gangs.
Now, is this a difficult concept?

 

[woodybrighton]

What I ment to say for all the scaremongering about how every criminal and hoody wearing teenager can lay there hands on machine guns within 15 mins
The truth is the majority of gun crime happens in 4 city's and specific areas of those cities take that out of the stats and shooting incidents become very rare.
bit like claiming the whole United States is like south central:mad
most cities in the UK don't have an armed gang problem.
They did run a gun buy back scheme on my housing estate but it was cheap spring loaded air soft pistols hand one in get a lovely bright water pistol several little toerags were shooting at even smaller kids with them and a couple of times the armed response team came out you can imagine how pleased they were . that would have gone down as a firearms incident.
local shops and the market no longer sell them no more incidents.
5 years ago an idiot put a sawn off shotgun for sale add in the local free paper police turned up and arrested him then had words with the local papers ad department

 

[hso]

If we didn't have the market nearly cornered on school shootings here in the U.S. we wouldn't be used as the benchmark for students using guns on teachers and classmates.

It's no more inappropriate than a U.S. reporter drawing the connection with the rare sports riot in the U.S. and football hooliganism in the U.K.