Sunday, March 16, 2008
Playing the Race Card all skin colours can do it.
Poles in Britain have accused the Daily Mail of defaming their community in a letter of complaint to the press watchdog. Many articles published on Polish migrants were likely to foster racial tension, the Federation of Poles in Great Britain said. The federation, the largest group representing Poles in Britain, says that of 80 articles published on the subject by the Daily Mail in the past two years, fewer than five were positive. Headlines such as "Are young Polish workers robbing their country of its future?"; "Britain is country of choice for many 'feckless' Poles" and "Polish Borat claims groping women is normal in eastern Europe", are among those that have caused fury. The federation accused the newspaper in its letter to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) of being unacceptably racist. "If the subject had been Pakistani or African immigrants, such a string of article headlines would have been considered blatantly racist and probably subject to a court summons," the letter said.
...Okay, I do not like the Daily Mail as a newspaper. I would not buy a copy but it is the voice of Middle England. However, the press - all newspapers must be free to publish without censorship. Nobody is asking you to buy a copy of the Daily Mail and I will never buy one. The freedom of the press is very important within a democracy, whether you like what they print or not. Newspapers should be allowed to challenge our society and the cultures within. It is wrong for the Federation of Poles in Great Britain to claim racism. Their claim is childish and does their cause no favours. Journalism is a skill and I cannot see their complaints being upheld. It is sour grapes for these Polish moaners because other Poles have let their community down. The public must know the truth and the media can help. What employers want is cheap labour and pressure on existing employees to accept lower pay and conditions. The Polish migrants have achieved this in many industries and now they have the cheek to complain when the press publish the downsides to their migration.
Bus and coach drivers throughout the country have suffered lower living standards since the arrival of the Polish and other East European drivers flooding our depots. People have a right to free expression and a free press. If these Polish people do not like what is written about them in the press then they can go back to Poland. For the Poles to use the Race Card against the Daily Mail is a cheap trick. This is journalism not racism. To be racist you have to treat people differently because of their ethnic origin. The Daily Mail is just reporting life in Britain, it is a level playing field. Anyone can be the subject of a newspaper report and readers can vote with their wallets. Encouraging racial hatred is a crime but reporting on the problems caused by ethnic groups in our society is respectable journalism. What is the Polish for "grow up and get a life"?
Poles in Britain have accused the Daily Mail of defaming their community in a letter of complaint to the press watchdog. Many articles published on Polish migrants were likely to foster racial tension, the Federation of Poles in Great Britain said. The federation, the largest group representing Poles in Britain, says that of 80 articles published on the subject by the Daily Mail in the past two years, fewer than five were positive. Headlines such as "Are young Polish workers robbing their country of its future?"; "Britain is country of choice for many 'feckless' Poles" and "Polish Borat claims groping women is normal in eastern Europe", are among those that have caused fury. The federation accused the newspaper in its letter to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) of being unacceptably racist. "If the subject had been Pakistani or African immigrants, such a string of article headlines would have been considered blatantly racist and probably subject to a court summons," the letter said.
...Okay, I do not like the Daily Mail as a newspaper. I would not buy a copy but it is the voice of Middle England. However, the press - all newspapers must be free to publish without censorship. Nobody is asking you to buy a copy of the Daily Mail and I will never buy one. The freedom of the press is very important within a democracy, whether you like what they print or not. Newspapers should be allowed to challenge our society and the cultures within. It is wrong for the Federation of Poles in Great Britain to claim racism. Their claim is childish and does their cause no favours. Journalism is a skill and I cannot see their complaints being upheld. It is sour grapes for these Polish moaners because other Poles have let their community down. The public must know the truth and the media can help. What employers want is cheap labour and pressure on existing employees to accept lower pay and conditions. The Polish migrants have achieved this in many industries and now they have the cheek to complain when the press publish the downsides to their migration.
Bus and coach drivers throughout the country have suffered lower living standards since the arrival of the Polish and other East European drivers flooding our depots. People have a right to free expression and a free press. If these Polish people do not like what is written about them in the press then they can go back to Poland. For the Poles to use the Race Card against the Daily Mail is a cheap trick. This is journalism not racism. To be racist you have to treat people differently because of their ethnic origin. The Daily Mail is just reporting life in Britain, it is a level playing field. Anyone can be the subject of a newspaper report and readers can vote with their wallets. Encouraging racial hatred is a crime but reporting on the problems caused by ethnic groups in our society is respectable journalism. What is the Polish for "grow up and get a life"?
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