Students
Case Studies
London Riots
This interview took place on BBC News during the August 2011 London riots and was subsequently posted on Youtube. The voices of the audience watching the clip can be heard in the background.
After viewing the clip you might like to consider what it tells us about the way in which rolling news programmes represent news about civil unrest to us.
Try answering these questions:
- Why do you think Darcus Howe was invited to be interviewed on the programme?
- What do you think about the setting in which he is interviewed?
- What do you think the studio interviewer is trying to achieve with her interview strategy?
- How do you think young black people are represented through this clip?
- Why do you think Darcus Howe is justified in telling the interviewer to 'have some respect for an old West Indian negro'?
- Do you think BBC News might have regretted asking him to take part in a live interview?
