Thursday, August 10, 2006

UK - BBC coy with 'Airlines terror plot'

What's up with the scare quotes in the BBC's reporting of the Muslim terror plot to blow up civilian aircraft?

The original headline for this BBC report read: 'Plot to blow up planes' foiled

Now it reads: 'Airlines terror plot' disrupted

As I reported in my earlier post the first paragraph said this:

A terrorist plot to blow up planes in mid-flight from the UK to the US has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said.


Now it says:

A plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said.


What's up with that?

In my original post I noted the BBC, unlike Sky News, failed to report that the men were British born of Asian decent; which pisses off Hindus and others by the way. Now the BBC report says:

According to BBC sources the "principal characters" suspected of being involved in the plot were British-born. There are also understood to be links to Pakistan.


Ah, so that's why the word terrorist was removed from the first paragraph. And what does "links to Pakistan" mean exactly? The BBC are falling all over themselves trying not to say the "M" word.

Here are screen shots of the before and after BBC web pages.




UPDATE

The Belfast Telegraph has no problem telling it like it is.

An alleged terror plot foiled by authorities in London was designed to "bring down aircraft mid-flight, causing a considerable loss of life," Home Secretary John Reid said today.

Police say terrorists planned to blow up as many as 20 planes in UK and US airspace. Sky News reported the alleged plot involved the use of 'liquid chemical devices'. It is believed that the aim was to smuggle the devices on board the aircraft in hand luggage.

Police have arrested 21 people, thought to be young British Muslims, in London, the Thames Valley area and Birmingham. The arrests followed a 'pre-planned intelligence led operation' by the Met's anti-terrorist branch.

No comments:

 
Brain Bliss