Some years ago here in Finland, in the city I live in, there was a case of arson against a pizzeria owned by African immigrants. Three people (all native Finns, unrelated to the pizzeria) living in that same building died. The media at large, and several politicians, quickly condemned this atrocity, and demanded stern measures against this kind of racist xenophobic crimes.
Back then many critics noted that all of these people were really jumping the gun. The police had published no information about the investigation or any suspects. The media furor was still quite great. To them, this was a clear-cut case of racism in Finland. The perfect incident.
A week or two later the police announced their findings: It turned out that the arson was committed by the two sons of the owner of the pizzeria, apparently in some kind of insurance fraud attempt.
The narrative of the media changed quite radically. Suddenly all the outrage and the sensationalism was gone. But did they apologize for having jumped to conclusions and published pretty much fake news (although that term hadn't been coined yet back then)? Of course not. Instead, they started whitewashing the whole situation, and coming up with excuses to defend the actions of these restaurant owners. The life of an immigrant is really hard, especially in this kind of business where competition is crushing, and it's extremely hard to make a living. I don't remember a single article or opinion piece even mentioning anymore those three people who died.
A few days ago in the United States a 92-year-old Mexican man was brutally beaten with a brick, and had to be hospitalized with severe injuries. An eyewitness claimed that the attacker had shouted things like "go back to your own country!"
Naturally social media and many news media outlets, quite prominently The Young Turks, once again jumped the gun and published harsh hit pieces on this event. The Young Turks, for example, immediately condemned this act as having been a racist assault made by a Trump supporter.
It turns out that the assault was perpetrated by a black woman.
A couple of days later The Young Turks published another video correcting their mistake. Did they apologize? Of course not. Not really. It's pretty funny watching them trying to weasel out of it. (Interestingly, they admit that there can be discrimination by black people towards Mexican. However, rather conspicuously they do not use the word "racism" anymore. Quite clearly in their first video they just assumed that the attacker was white.)
Back then many critics noted that all of these people were really jumping the gun. The police had published no information about the investigation or any suspects. The media furor was still quite great. To them, this was a clear-cut case of racism in Finland. The perfect incident.
A week or two later the police announced their findings: It turned out that the arson was committed by the two sons of the owner of the pizzeria, apparently in some kind of insurance fraud attempt.
The narrative of the media changed quite radically. Suddenly all the outrage and the sensationalism was gone. But did they apologize for having jumped to conclusions and published pretty much fake news (although that term hadn't been coined yet back then)? Of course not. Instead, they started whitewashing the whole situation, and coming up with excuses to defend the actions of these restaurant owners. The life of an immigrant is really hard, especially in this kind of business where competition is crushing, and it's extremely hard to make a living. I don't remember a single article or opinion piece even mentioning anymore those three people who died.
A few days ago in the United States a 92-year-old Mexican man was brutally beaten with a brick, and had to be hospitalized with severe injuries. An eyewitness claimed that the attacker had shouted things like "go back to your own country!"
Naturally social media and many news media outlets, quite prominently The Young Turks, once again jumped the gun and published harsh hit pieces on this event. The Young Turks, for example, immediately condemned this act as having been a racist assault made by a Trump supporter.
It turns out that the assault was perpetrated by a black woman.
A couple of days later The Young Turks published another video correcting their mistake. Did they apologize? Of course not. Not really. It's pretty funny watching them trying to weasel out of it. (Interestingly, they admit that there can be discrimination by black people towards Mexican. However, rather conspicuously they do not use the word "racism" anymore. Quite clearly in their first video they just assumed that the attacker was white.)
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