Saturday, April 29, 2006

UK - BBC: Will the real Snoop Dog stand up

The BBC's anti-Americanism is well documented. So when I read the BBC headline on Snoop Dog's troubles at Heathrow, I was a bit puzzeled.

"Rapper Snoop Dogg freed on bail"


Curious way to start the report I thought. You'd think it would read something like "American gansta rapper arrested" or "American rapper rips Heathrow". At least something to futher portray the "ugly American" theme.

But instead of using the incident to bash America the report makes it sound almost as if Snoop was the victim.

US rapper Snoop Dogg has been released from police custody following a fracas at London's Heathrow Airport.

The delay means he has been forced to cancel a gig in Johannesburg on Thursday night as part of South Africa's Freedom Day celebrations.


You see? The mean old police did their job by enforcing the law and caused Snoopy to be delayed - it's the police's fault. Nevermind that 30 people were involved in the near riot which injured 7 police officers.

Here's how the BBC report the incident.

The star and five others were arrested on suspicion of affray and violent disorder and held in custody overnight.

Police said 30 people were involved in a disturbance in a business lounge at Terminal 1 on Wednesday.

Seven police officers were left with minor injuries after the incident, which is alleged to have ensued after members of the rapper's entourage objected to being turned away from the facility.


Innocent till proven guilty no doubt but these are Americans we're talking about - usually fresh meat for the BBC. But for some strange reason the BBC seem to be defending Snoopy. Here's how the BBC describe him:

Snoop Dogg, real name Calvin Broadus, started his career in the early 1990s as a rapper and has since branched out into acting, starring in the remake of Starsky and Hutch.


A squeeky clean "rags to riches" kind of guy, eh? You'll see differently in a minute.

To cap things off, the BBC seem to not only defend Snoopy, they go further and promote him by hosting a video of him rapping.

I'm not complaining that for once the BBC didn't use any excuse to bash America. The BBC did report that Snoopy is an American and that those arrested were all Americans. It just struck me that the BBC seemed to be defending Snoopy.

This report tells a completely different story.

"Rapper arrested at Heathrow"


That's at least the headline I would have expected from the BBC.

Compare how they report the story to how the BBC reported it.

A mini-riot erupted at Heathrow airport after rapper Snoop Dogg and a 30-strong entourage clashed with police in a departure lounge.

The men - mostly minders - apparently turned violent after being refused entry to a first-class lounge, smashing up a duty free shop, throwing bottles and attacking officers.

It took riot police over an hour to arrest the "20-stone men", who were then led out in handcuffs, with one shouting: "This is how it goes down in LA." [...]

Six men, including the 34-year-old American rapper, were arrested. A Heathrow worker, who took photos from his mobile phone, said: "There were all these huge, 20-stone men smashing up display cabinets and throwing people around. I saw Snoop Dogg on the ground, with four riot police trying to put him in handcuffs. His minders were throwing bottles at people.

"There were 15 riot vans and eight police cars outside, with dog sniffer units. They were throwing the policemen around like pillows. Then the police used pepper spray on them."


And their description of Snoopy is vastly different than the BBC's.

Snoop Dogg, real name Calvin Broadus, is a former drug dealer and gang member. He comes from one of LA's most notorious areas and has been accused of several crimes during his life - including murder, although he was acquitted.


Some might say it's not so much a case of the BBC defending Snoopy, but rather, a case of this report attacking him. But given the BBC's well documented anti-Americanism, their "promoting" of Snoopy seems very odd. Is it a case of political correctness gone to far? Given that the BBC not only defended him but actually promoted him by hosing his rap video, the BBC's report raises some eyebrows.

via Biased BBC.
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