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Thursday 8 April 2010

NIGERIA'S KILLING FIELDS: AS REPORTED BY A UK JOURNALIST

"How many Muslims have you killed?"
That question sets the tone for a news feature in  ITV 4, conveniently titled 'Nigeria's Killing Fields,'  in order, in my opinion, to whet the interest of a British audience still obsessed with the idea of Africa being a dark, savage continent.

The reporter in this 'Unreported World' episode, Peter Oborne, turns an opportunity to shed light into the rampant sectarian violence, pitting Christians and Muslims in the Nigerian Plateau State capital, into a debased insight into the skirmishes, devoid of meaningful journalistic value.

He delights apparently in having a Muslim and Christian leader engage in a shouting match in front of the camera and at best just becomes a passive spectator instead of trying to put the Jos conflict into perspective, with a view to suggesting a way to resolve it.

The way the reporter seemingly gets carried away by the sickening thrill of highlighting the alleged evidence of the killings is simply appalling.

And on being told that 30 bodies of young children could have been thrown into a sewer, the celebrated journalist Peter Oborne, reports this as a matter of fact, without any further verification process.

The Channel 4 website claims their team uncovered, 'the truth about the convulsion of barbarism.' More like the barbarism of biased reportage if you ask me.

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