Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link.
September 20
Nainen löi mustaa tyttöä pussissa Turussa – (Turun Sanomat)
What’s wrong with this story? Here’s a news story about a black girl sitting with her two white Finnish friends in a bus. A white middle-aged Finnish woman approaches her and slaps her twice on the face. She then tells the black girl’s friends that they shouldn’t hang around with such a girl. Nobody on the bus said a word or raised a finger after the woman slapped the girl. Instead we read about excuses given by the reporter like the black girl was speaking too loud and that she is an adopted child. Why are these tidbits of information important? What happened to the little girl is unacceptable as was the shameful behavior of the passengers and driver, who decided to look the other way. Poor and shoddy journalism at its worse.
Poor and sloppy journalism from Migrant tales. Why mention the attacker was white, middle-aged and a woman? Why mention the target was black and girl? Why mention her friends were white? Why are these tidbits of information important? Just excuses to spread prejudice and hate.
Mentioning the suspect’s ethnic background is important to determine if it is a hate crime. It was spot on journalism, Yossie.
If you wish, you can look at the Criminal Code of Finland below that takes such a matter into consideration:
Section 5 – Grounds increasing the punishment
(1) The following are grounds for increasing the punishment:
(1) the methodical nature of the criminal activity,
(2) commission of the offence as a member of a group organised for serious
offences,
(3) commission of the offence for remuneration,
(4) commission of the offence for a motive based on race, skin colour, birth
status, national or ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation or
disability or another corresponding grounds, and (511/2011)
(5) the criminal history of the perpetrator, if the relation between it and the
new offence, due to the similarity between the offences or otherwise,
shows that the perpetrator is apparently heedless of the prohibitions
and commands of the law.
Oh, but ethnic background was not important for you in Tapanila r a p e case. There you claimed the publishing the ethnic background was a big no no. Why wasn’t it spot on journalism back then? Why double standards? Or should I take this that every time a non white does a crime against a white, you support it that the ethnic background should we mentioned in news so we can determine if it was a hate crime or not.
Also, why are you so eager to censor other facts of this case? After all, her being loud might have been the reason just as well. You or me can’t know that.
Right, Yossie. Good policing means that you don’t go spreading a person’s ethnic identity AFTER the suspect(s) is/are apprehended. Moreover, in my book, those suspects were Finns who were born and grew up in Finland.
The official definition of “person with foreign/migrant background” means that that person WAS born abroad. Some of the suspects in the Tapanila case were born in Finland.
Considering the xenophobic environment in Finland and the urban tales that are upheld, calling somebody “person with foreign/migrant background” has an impact and reinforces that person’s status to second-class member of society.
Why else would the police want to publish a person’s ethnic background AFTER the suspects were apprehended?
“Why else would the police want to publish a person’s ethnic background AFTER the suspects were apprehended?”
Wasn’t it just moments ago because:
“Mentioning the suspect’s ethnic background is important to determine if it is a hate crime.”?
So how is it?
Not quite, Yossie. I doubt that the Tapanila case had anything to do with determining if it was a hate crime. The suspects were apprehended for their role in a rape.
Ok, so you want to rule r a p e out as a hate crime then. It can never be a hate crime. So no ethnicity mentioned ever for those cases then? But if a black person slaps a white one, then it is spot on journalism to mention the ethnicity? You encourage for that kind of reporting? Any kind of references to possible non-hate crime scenarios should also be avoided?
You aren’t getting it. We don’t mention ethnicity for the sake of just mentioning it. We mention ethnicity if it the suspect is at large. A white Finnish woman hitting a black child on a bus. What could that mean? A court would have to determine it but in my book there must be an ethnic motive for the woman’s behavior.
Except first you mentioned that we needed to ethnicity to determine if its a hate crime, now you say we need it because suspect is at large? So if the suspect was known, there would be no need to mention ethnicity in news about this case?
“in my book there must be an ethnic motive for the woman’s behavior.”
I suppose this is the reason you want to censor out any fact that would not reinforce your theory. For you the spot on journalism is not telling facts and supporting your prejudices.