First for News! (providing we're the only site...)

So aside from the complete stupidity and overkill over Sky Sports News going úber cool high def their news networks are just generally getting my goat these days. As if the "we're better than you" approach to adverts wasn't irritating enough and the sight of their smug bimbos, one of which looks like reconstructive surgery has taken place and not done a very good job of it for that matter, smiling inanely while failing to comprehend the meaning of the word "football" or indeed any other unusual subjects sports news may throw at them such as "results" or "fixtures" as well as the inability to pronounce a players name accurately (hell even heard Wayne Rooney pronounced wrong once!) it get infuriating.


The problem leads on to this though, is there a place for TV news anymore? With the rise of the internet they say that print media is dying. That newspapers and magazines now are losing subscribers and face decreasing circulation is a story commonly being read and satired on various comedy shows. Thing is, Sky News seems to be falling behind as well and even though they are a medium which is purely instant, anything can and will happen and "we will be there". How does that explain getting stories which broke some time prior?


The reason that brings me to this is that the main story today and huge globally impacting breaking news is relating to a small church in Gainesville, Florida who're planning a "Burn a Quran Day". Interesting story, except that I found out about it myself nearly a fortnight ago, and that was late to the party as the group "Right Wing Extreme" (a militant far right Christian organisation) had refused to do security as it was "going to far". Only reason that caught my attention was the irony but I found out about it through a computer gaming forum, I can only assume that anyone who cared about politics or religion to the extent to follow the news would've known about this even earlier than that. So I have to ask, if Sky are first to news why are they so late to report this? Given they're now repeating it over and over again it seems they've finally picked up on why islamic militant groups are able to get support.


I understand why groups may object to Islamic militants in the modern world, the events on 11/09/01 (refuse to call it 9/11, that's why the UK no longer exists but that's for another rant...) hit the world hard and the whole of this millenium so far has dealt with the reprocussions (I feel Bush winning the US election had more to do with it as the reason the event was allowed to happen). Problem is, it was a poor US foreign policy and some insanely xenophobic beliefs that cause the contempt for America that rises up in support against them. How do the US deal with this? Well, in the last month they've protested against followers of Islam following their faith, they've not only burnt down a seperate mosque being built but destroyed the building equipment being used in this "atrocity" and now they plan this.


We know this is not the viewpoint of all Americans just like we know those dancing on the streets of Afghanistan didn't represent all Islam that day nearly 10 years ago (Actually that footage was 20 years old, the hammer and sickle were big hints!) but for an extremist or person with strong right wing beliefs these are the proverbial red rag. London was hit a few years ago on the 7th July and we were shocked this could happen here. Problem was, these were "home grown" terrorists. We, by foreign policy and right wing xenophobia created an event that was the first time since the IRA ceasefire we were left reeling and in shock (unlike previously though we lost that British way of coping, see future rant).


Ultimately though while we highlight incidents like this (and ignore countless many others) we provide the ammo for recruiters. Already people are protesting in some countries and with the more media coverage the easier it'll be to recruit. If people want to eradicate fundamentalist warfare we need to stop giving these tiny groups a platform. Ultimately, one red neck church of 50 practitioners, which most Americans don't support nationally, doing this is nothing newsworthy. What it is though is a fantastic propoganda tool if Mr Bin Laden wants to show the footage of these plans and the unrepentant pastor.


So the fact Sky were late to this news story and are now hailing it as huge (but not huge enough at leasty a fortnight ago) only goes to show 24 hour news is unrequired in the modern world with the interwebs. Still, they'll repeat their belated little story and sing their own praises which does nothing except for give more people the chance to use and manipulate this. Let's await the next car bombing hitting our troops in Kabul and Sky talking about our brave "heroes" and remember, it's organisations like Sky who continue to spread misinformation long after an event hits the news and the way they fight the fundamentalists propoganda war for them. Is it any coincidence that the last decade has been nothing but terror attacks and propganda, most of them caused entirely by our own media, so determined are they to blow their own horns.