Channel 4: Insightful Documentaries or Right Wing Propaganda?

During the course of this week Channel 4 has come a little bit of pressure over three different programmes. It all appeared to start with an article in The Independent on Monday explaining the controversy around the ever popular My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding (http://www.independent.co.uk/hei-fi/news/big-fat-controversy-over-gypsy-documentary-on-c4-7293992.html?origin=internalSearch). Things didn't get any better for Channel 4 when they aired their "documentary" Proud and Prejudiced. According to left wing groups this gave a boost to right wing extremism (http://uaf.org.uk/2012/02/irresponsible-c4-programme-gives-boost-to-edl/). Because we all know that three's a charm, Channel 4 managed to give an unfair image of the city of Bradford in its show Make Bradford British (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-17211995).

Starting from the top then. The show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding is not a show I watch, at all. As an outsider to the programme it would appear that Channel 4 wastes an hour (or however long it is) of people's lives by showing them wealthy Traveller families spending large amounts of money on, what main stream society would call, unusual things. In my humble opinion that would seem like main stream society thinks that its a good use of an hour to have a good laugh at unusual customs. If someone who has watched the show wants to correct me on that, then feel free, but as committed as I am to writing a good blog, I refuse to watch even one episode of the show in question.

There has to be a moral issue as to whether this kind of show is acceptable, but that is not the main problem I wish to talk about. The problem that spoken about in the article that came out this week, is the negative impact that this show is having on the rest of the Traveller and Gypsy communities. This is the start of the reoccurring theme in Channel 4's shows. This show is appearing not to give the audience a rounded view of the situation and is not informing its viewers that the Traveller and Gypsy communities are some of the most deprived in the country. It is actively leading to some of the small minded British public being prejudiced against communities and, in some cases, acting on these prejudices. This is aiding the lack of understanding of other cultures and the lack of integration into society for some.

Now to a show I have seen. Proud and Prejudiced. When I watched this I was caught in two minds. Having heard what the leader of the EDL had said then you could understand some of what he was saying. There are even things that I found myself agreeing with. This worried me. I fear, as it appears Unite Against Fascism do, that a lot of people will agree with what he says and believe that he is right. The one thing I hate more than right wing extremist is the Islamic extremist that make the fascists look good. I have to agree that in Luton, where this programme was filmed, there are problems with integration. This show by Channel 4 has focused on both sides of this specific problem. What it hasn't done is given balance. It has not show examples of integration in other areas of Britain, and it has given a balanced, left wing, political view of the situation.

Again Channel 4 is helping small minded Brits to form incorrect prejudiced views, and in the case of this show it is given them a way of gaining large scale media interest. Two right wing extreme views is not balance. The show made no attempt to even look at the wider Muslim community and the way many of them integrate into British society. The other problem with this show is that on the multiple occasions that the EDL leader showed his true thug colours, no more said about it. He claimed to impersonate the fascist that murdered 76 people in Norway, he also accused someone he did not know of being incestuous and finally he complained that the police tried to arrest him after he broke the conditions of his bail. These are not appropriate things for a man of political power to be doing. The show made no attempt to further this point.

Finally we come to a show that airs tonight (Thursday). The title Make Bradford British already implies that there is something un-British about the city of Bradford. Not much can be said about this show until it has been shown. The worry is that it will give an unfair portrayal of the city, but there is still the hope that it will actually identify the positive aspects of such a diverse community. Given Channel 4's current record, I don't hold out much hope of that.

So in response to the question asked in the title. Right wing propaganda is probably too strong, but times of recession always lead to an increase in extremism, and increased awareness of the far right through the media probably will lead to increases in their popularity.

The conclusion? Well Channel 4 has done some very good documentaries in the past, but it needs to be aware of the impact they can have on society, especially in challenging times, and I feel it owes it to the public to at least provide balance.

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten the joke. It's the only thing that keeps you reading the blog!!

NGAB.
That's bang out of order!