Could better TV have stopped the London riots?

Two days before the London riots kicked off Professor Peter King of Imperial College London appeared on a Radio 4 programme called Voices From The Old Bailey. The series looks at old court transcripts and examines what they say about the history of the time. I know hardly sounds like the most riveting radio. However as coincidence would have it last Wednesday they were discussing old court transcripts involving riots. It was on this programme that Professor King defined riots “as an argument continued by other means” (an obvious re-working of the famous quote “War is the continuation of politics by other means”). This is echoed by the fact that the recent London riots only started after the police at Tottenham refused to meet the people protesting over the police killing of Mark Duggan – the peaceful argument became violent – the police have subsequently apologised for not meeting the Duggan “family's needs more effectively”.

But what lessons does this teach people working in the media? If Professor King’s definition is correct then I think the recent riots point to a massive failure by those of us working in television, radio, print and online.

Successful media should act as a platform for Professor King’s pre-riotous “arguments” to take place. Remove that platform, deny people the ability to have that argument and one result according to Professor King’s definition could be riots.

Twelve years ago (a life time ago) I used to provide on such media platform for the black British community; I produced the Schumann Shuffle. Broadcasting every Saturday morning it was a current affairs radio phone-in on Choice FM, tackling the big issue of the week affecting the listenership. For a station that was 99% music based, broadcasting to an audience we were told weren’t interested in politics, it surprised everyone except me and the presenter (Geoff Schumann) that we quickly became the highest rating programme on the station.

We discussed everything including deaths in police custody, legalisation of drugs, and failing schools. My personal favourite however was when Geoff tackled the crisis in Zimbabwe and the 1992 Land Acquisition Act (although we did give it the catchier title of “Can white people ever be African?”). What the experience of producing the show taught me however is that black people are crying out for a serious platform to discuss politics on their own terms. The callers spanned the whole spectrum of the black community; from the suburbs to the inner-cities, from pensioners to school children, and from right wing “hangers and floggers” to the most liberal minded. But most importantly we tried to get studio guests of standing; Trevor Phillips was a regular fixture, Members of Parliament made appearances and high ranking police frequently popped in. When our listeners called in they felt they were the ones being listened to and were being taken seriously. To paraphrase Prof. King; for large sections of the black community there was no need for the argument to be continued by other means.

While there is no doubt that I look back at my time on the Schumann Shuffle through rose tinted glasses, the fact of the matter is that back then there were far more media platforms for arguments reflecting the concerns of African and Caribbean people. Black Britain was a current affairs programme on the BBC and the newspapers The Voice and New Nation both had quality journalism with decent circulations. I doubt anyone could seriously argue that BBC 1Xtra plays the same function now (although it does have some great documentaries targeted at a youth audience).

When it comes to the riots it is often all too easy to blame the politicians put it all down to vague socio-economic factors or demonise the lawless looters themselves. As black people working in the media however I think it is incumbent on us to ask what responsibility we should bare, or at the very least how we can make things better. Giving rioters and “potential rioters” a forum to air their grievances peaceably would be a good first step.

Looting For An Identity

I’m sitting in my office in BBC Scotland with my fellow news colleagues watching images of London burning as rioting and looting takes place in Hackney, Tottenham and Brixton. As one of the few Londoners in the office and definitely the only Black person in the office, the question my fellow journalists keep asking is why? They point out that deprivation in parts of Scotland is far worse than anything in London, pockets of youth unemployment in Glasgow is far worse than any black youth unemployment rate, and even life expectancy is worse in Scotland. Yet no one is rioting in Glasgow. Simple liberal explanations of blaming the riots on racism and socio-economic deprivation just don’t seem to explain the full story.

As the apparent sole representation of all things black and London, my answer is “identity”. Specifically, the need for “role-communities” not “role-models”. Let me explain:

I’ve been working in Scotland now for over three years. What I love about Scotland is just how broad Scottish identity is. You can be an intellectual, read ancient Gaelic poetry and love long country hikes and feel very Scottish. At the same time you can enjoy eating deep-fried mars bars, drink buckfast (a potent mix of caffeine and alcohol popular on Glasgow’s streets), and regularly get into fights on a Saturday night and still be 100% Scottish.  It’s equally Scottish to wake up listening to BBC Scotland Radio’s Good Morning Scotland (the Scottish equivalent of Radio 4’s Today programme) or listening to something a little lighter on Radio Clyde. And whether you support Scottish independence or think Scotland should always be part of the United Kingdom, it doesn’t matter to your identity - no one can use that to tell you you’re not a proud Scot.

Scottish identity is a broad church.

So what has this got to do with rioting by black youth in London?  The fact is that black British identity, and more importantly the black British community, is the complete opposite.

Since the 1980s, there has been a great deal of effort to increase representation of black people on TV, Radio, online and in print.  That effort has been crucial.  However, what it has not managed to do is to challenge and broaden the black British identity.

Whether on TV, Radio, online or in print, the Black community is invariably very narrowly defined. It is generally portrayed as a dysfunctional community that is dominated by youth culture, the underclass and constant undertones of criminality.

However as a result of efforts since the 1980s, we now see some successful elements – those great black individuals on screen who have “made it”. The problem is that these black people are not seen as being part of a functioning black community.  They are nearly always portrayed as being fully integrated into the broader white community; islands of success divorced from the gangster laced black community which they managed to escape from, and now might visit occasionally.

The message this sends out to young black kids is dangerously clear, as the riots have demonstrated. They have to make a choice: either be part of a narrowly defined dysfunctional black community (populated with hoodies, grime and undertones of criminality); or leave that community behind and become fully integrated into a functioning wider white community. Choose between a culture of crime or a lifetime of community self-loathing. In TV terms a choice between MTV gangsta rappers or the single black character in a Mike Leigh film. This is a choice that media representations by well meaning liberals of “positive black role models” does not address and can sometimes inadvertently reinforce.

Is it any wonder then, that when someone from the black community is killed, the outcome is a riot? According to the media the dysfunctional black community is populated with potential rioters, all the black youth have done is internalise this identity and reacted accordingly.

That, I believe, is why youth are rioting in London and not in the most deprived areas of Glasgow. It’s a lack of a broader, functional community identity.

In this context, the media has an (if not the) most important role to play in addressing identity, and therefore these riots. Yes, the police need to take action, and re-connect with the black community. That’s necessary. But it’s not sufficient. It is only the media that can really start to widen the definition of black British identity. The havoc being wreaked in Tottenham and other black communities throughout London demonstrates that we need to go well beyond finding a few “positive role models” or teaching our children about individual, one-of-a-kind black heroes from Martin Luther King to Barack Obama. We need to present a black community that these youth want to be part of that is as broad as the Scottish identity – one where Goths and nerds can co-exist with rappers and all feel an equal claim to the term “black”. One where a suburban middleclass black family can feel their community is as “legitimately” black as any inner city black family.  One where black people can do PhD’s without the feeling that they are “acting white”.

These broad black communities already exist; I suspect that a lot of black people in the BBC and other media offices actually do come from these communities. Our job is to stop shining the spotlighting on just a few individual role models from these communities, and broaden our focus to “role-communities”. Only then will we give our children a true choice of what it means to be black, without the need to resort to riots.