This morning I read a report from a supposedly respectable international newsagency which was giving details of the riots in Bahrain. It spoke of “dozens of armoured vehicles” being deployed on the roads leading to Sakhir. This is simply not true. We have now made five trips backwards and forwards from the circuit to the city at various different times at day and night and on different routes. We have counted police cars to gauge the level of police presence. The first day was around 50. This morning was 88, but we have seen only one solitary armoured car, and that was on Friday. Today we were misdirected up a wrong road near the track and found a police encampment where there was a single armoured Land Rover. It is a small reflection on the kind of reporting that is going on concerning the Grand Prix, but it should be noted nonetheless. As I have written in reply to a number of comments. It is eye-opening to see what is being reported, because it bears no resemblance to what we are seeing. Admittedly, we are not going to hot spots, but we feel that the coverage is completely unrepresentative of the situation. One can see that the media is not giving the regime the benefit of the doubt, which is not surprising given what happened last year. They have a huge job to do to rebuild confidence in anything they say, but at the same time it means there is no counter-balance to the activists one sees being interviewed on the TV. No-one is going out and interviewing the hundreds of thousands of people who are going about their daily business and to whom nothing is happening.
The best analogy I can think of is that a TV crew will always film where the water is deepest in a flood. It is the same here. No-one is denying that there is trouble, but this is not a war zone and it is shameful that this is the message being sent out to the world.
It makes me wonder how I will read the news about other countries in the future…
joeblogsf1 
Thanks Joe, you are invaluable.
Thank you for giving another perpective. I really appreciate your blog and your comments.
I think you are going to have a few comments on this post.
Hi Joe,
It’s pleasing to see what some people were wary of prior to this weekend come to light; namely the overriding sentiment that the media was exaggerating events as they all too often do. The mainstream establishment lead people astray, but what else can one expect from profit-driven news outlets.
Not only is it unfair but it’s dangerous to those who are perhaps, let’s say, easily led. Thanks for the personal insight you provide and enjoy the race.
I guess the bigger question is: now knowing this, was it still right to go to Bahrain? Given how it has been used as a political tool by both sides, it still seems it was wrong to go.
Also, any thoughts on FOM’s snub of Force India yesterday?
No, I stick by my belief that F1 should not be here. The country needs it, but F1 does not need the country. We could be in any number of other places willing to pay the same, without any politics and without any risks. As for Force India if it was deliberate it was childish. However, there are a lot of folk who think that the team overreacted completely after the incident.
yawn
This stuff is important. Your response is, frankly, appalling.
well done Jo!
I went to report on a civil war and an F1 race broke out?
Nice to know the worst hasn’t happened…..yet. Average citizens going about their business is not news, it’s life.
It is good to know that there hasn’t been too much bloodshed.
As a Syrian-Iraqi I gave up trying to watch news (from any side of the story) a long time ago. I feel like if I can not go there personally or talk to a trusted source who is actually within the situation I don’t bother pretending to know what is going on in any other part of the world than the room I am in.
Puts another perspective on things. Thanks Joe.
Thanks for the update Joe.
btw you were very critical of running this week GP , and FIA stance on this , now do you think its perfectly safe to run GP , and FIA is right on their call to go to the race ?
No. The race should not be here. It has been politicised and there has always been a risk that someone would get caught in the crossfire.
I agree the race should not have been put on the calendar but once it was on I don’t think it would be appropriate to cancel it last minute on moral/political/whatever grounds. The only legitimate reason to cancel would have been a material deterioration in security which happily hasn’t proven to be the case (yet). I find it somewhat opportunistic of mainstream newspapers to suddenly have found a conscience and start blah blah blah on the front page calling for the race to be cancelled but it was months ago that F1 decided to go race here, they didn’t suddenly decide to come this week. I guess they were expecting it to be one big bluff because they themselves are so ‘creative’. I’m glad that we finally have the chance to hear from you, an independent source, what is really going on, and moreover that life is going on normally for the majority in Bahrain.
Kimster, exactly. I myself just made the same comment to Joe a few minutes back.
Joe…..there is more security for Cricket matches in Indian than what you mentioned! Hope everyone is safe and it is very tough to get ground reality info about Bahrain! Thanks to you guys we are getting accurate updates !
Your perceptions appear to be perfectly formed and well considered. No wild-eyed paranoia or overly emotional statements on your part. In short, Joe, your reporting on this situation is journalism at its best. Nice to have access to an obviously professional assessment of what is going on in Bahrain. Thanks so much for your outstanding work.
Are you saying that there are no disturbances, no riot troops on the street, no concerns about political clampdowns, or just that you would rather not mention them, look for them or report them?
I know you would rather concentrate on your own speciality, but denial of the blindingly obvious is not a good idea at any time.
Stick to your last by all means but in that case leave the reporting of political unrest to those people who are prepared, able and willing to do the job fully.
I enjoy your elegant, persuasive and detailed critique of F1. But treating us as fools is another thing altogether. Whenever there is a major plane crash there is damage and death, but in a very limited area. You might travel past just a mile away and see nothing.
But that doesn’t mean that it’s not happened.
Please concentrate on why little or nothing of Force India is being shown, or else give it up and return home.
Just read the blog properly and you will understand. I do not have time to explain it. It is very clear.
Arrogant short sighted patronizing git.
I do not mind intelligent comment. You may think you are clever but there are two things which you may have forgotten:
1) Clever people become involved in intelligent conversation rather than resorting to abuse.
2) If you were a man of any intelligence you would realise that sending unpleasant remarks with your company email as a reference is not the smartest thing to do. I might take umbrage about your foul-mouthed remarks and complain to your boss for giving the company a bad name.
Bears no resemblence to what you’re seeing? Fair enough. So why not be the counter-balance you say is so sorely needed? Interview one or two of the hundreds of thousands who are going about their lives as normal.
Will your appointed shepherds allow that?
I have. You will read it tomorrow.
And you are a real twerp if you think that we have shepherds.
All sheep have shepherds, Mr. Saward. Why do you think you were granted a visa while other journalists were not? Why were you not detained or deported?
The Kingdom clearly did its homework. One rarely finds better PR than that which comes from an independent writer who has the temerity to proclaim that all is well when viewed from the comfy confines of a media bus or from a booth at TGI Fridays. You’ve painted just the picture you were imported to paint.
Rest easy, sir. It’s Monday, and no longer will anyone ask you to be something you’re not: a journalist.
Your simplistic, know-it-all views are wonderfully dismissive. But tell us how did you become such an expert? Let us hear some full disclosure? You have visited Bahrain how many times? You have been in the frontline where? You have been a subscriber to Hello magazine for how long?
Hi Joe
It is funny and fascinating to read. I am myself a news writer on Formula 1, however in Danish and non professional. Not long ago, I wrote a similar article on our website, as I live in Kuwait, and talk to many young people who do their studies in Bahrain. I asked these young people about the situation, and while most of knew that there was a situation, none of them had any troubles or experiences because of it. Compared to the picture drawn by the media, this is a big difference. Again, no one is denying there is protests and demonstrations, and no one is denying the things going on in Bahrain,but for most people, it is not reflected in their daily life there.
Thanks for a great blog
I did read this.. more than a little disturbing… Stay safe Mate..
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-21/bahrain-protester-killed-ahead-of-grand-prix/3964644
Thanks Joe – admittedly the original news pool source for this quotes the Bahraini interior ministry saying dozens of armored vehicles have been deployed for safety around the capital. I’m not sure if that has been bastardized to suggest these vehicles are all on the routes to the circuit. It does seem that the riots and demonstrations are taking place in villages and compounds and not directly at the circuit.
I suppose it shows that accurate reporting fails on all human levels. Sky News for instance has been more critical since it’s chief correspondent was excluded and returned to Dubai.
It’s sad the details of the important stories are getting twisted on all sides.
Dan Roan of BBC sports tweeted pictures of armored personnel carriers outside the circuit.
I wonder if security is ramping up by the hour.
A lot of people being interviewed are suggesting the reaction is overblown though. So it’s good to have your independent view from the actual circuit.
No doubt the Sky reporter would have headed straight for the trouble spots; it’s what Sky news do. I’d say denying media people entry in the week (and the months?) before the race only provokes a negative reaction from them and their colleagues.
It also means we’ll get the “BBC sports news” man wasting valuable minutes of their highlights show with sweeping statements which belong in the news (or bin), instead of showing the race.
Hardly good PR that the news network twinned to the principal F1 broadcaster in one of F1’s major territories cannot get into the country though. Sky do love a good spot of sensationalism mind you, but they’ll do that from within the country or over the water whatever happens.
Was it Reuters? A totally discredited source.
No.
At long last, someone has written something that most people in Bahrain can agree on. The media has been relentless in the slagging off of the Bahrain situation, yourself included. Facts eventually speak louder than words! Good to see some professional journalism, doesn’t happen often.
As always in these situations, it’s what goes on away from the cameras that you don’t see. If there wasn’t any, why keep all the journalists who aren’t going back and forth to the race out ? Still, Joe, as you say, you can only report what you see, and thank you for doing it.
It’s going to be a close-run thing deciding for whom this weekend has been the biggest PR disaster, F1 or Bahrain. But why couldn’t the powers-that be see that coming ? Are they really that stupid ?
Thank you Joe, for giving an honest and true reflection which sadly the rest of the media fail to see. Also its important to note, the media tend to attach the word “peaceful” to protestor almost by default but what kind of “peaceful protestor” walks around throwing molotov cocktails?
Joe, the Grauniad said ” Ecclestone, commercial rights holder, denied the charge on Saturday when he said: “I was busy and didn’t notice Force India were not on. I will look into it. It could be technical, but I suspect it was more to do with the Bahrain laws on no alcohol advertising. They have a whisky company prominently on the car. They should have taken it off. TV could not show that.”
He added: “Our people were more or less concentrating on who was going to be on pole, rather than somebody going to be 10th. Nobody cares if someone is ninth or 11th. Only the people that are watching a particular team.” Ecclestone was clearly irritated by Force India’s stance on Friday, when he said: “None of the other teams seem to have a problem.”
However, Force India, who number Whyte & Mackay among their sponsors, appear to have been singled out for punishment because all teams submit their livery for approval when they race in countries with restrictions, such as Bahrain. Pictures were broadcast of the team in practise without sanction. Force India refused to comment last night, but a team insider who declined to be named said: “Everyone knows what happened. Bernie is giving Force India a slap on the wrist for missing Friday’s second practice session.”
Joe, your honesty in your reports and thoughts throughout this saga is a credit to you. As readers of a blog, we have no say in the way you view the world and your reporting of it. However your hard won and well deserved credibility IMO makes it more likely that we are getting an accurate version of events from your perspective.
Political struggle always affects the noninvasive and unbiased events such as sports, formula one in this case. I feel the deepest sympathy for the people suffering in the country and at the same time I am not taking sides. To me ‘Formula one’ crosses boundries to the likes of the fans everywhere and deserves to be seen as a neutral and safe event, where people put their inner struggle aside and watch the high speed struggle on the track. Therefore, keeping the news real is the only way to achieve success and not hurt sentiments of people in the country.
As I expected really. It sounds like my experiences in Africa and Iraq – if you want to find trouble then you probably can but really, it’s isolated and massively over-reported.
As ever, thank you.
P.s. You should charge a subscription for your blog, I’d gladly pay it.
I think the general press have always represented just what they want to portray to suit themselves for whatever reason. I have found when reading about something that I have intimate knowledge of that in 99.9 % of cases it is inaccurate. So how much of what I don’t know about should I believe? I think the same 99.9%. Cynical but true…..p.s. thank you for your honest and balanced view, as always
Surprising to hear you saying that the media isn’t giving the regime a fair chance… You’ve gone on record the last fee months about not wanting F1 to go to Bahrain, etc. next thing you’ll be saying is that racing is more important…
I do not want F1 to be here, but i beleive in being fair and objective and the media is not doing that.
Yes. That IS the reality in Bahrain. People are going about their business. But that is NOT news. Bad new is GOOD news for journalists – unfortunately!!
Hi joe;
I’m glad you are all well and keeping safe. I’d just like to comment from the perspective of an Egyptian (living and brought up in the UK) having attended protests in Tahrir sq in Feb 2011.
A revolution only typically involves the visible protest 5% of the population. The vast majority of people during the Egyptian revolution were in their homes. The vast majority of streets were quiet. Nevertheless, there were battles going on and nevertheless there were people being killed.
I understand that there have been a large number of Shia circuit workers that were fired about a year ago. Is there any word on those having returned to their job since?
Apparently some/most/all were re-hired a few months back :
http://en.espnf1.com/bahrain/motorsport/story/67672.html
http://www.totalf1.com/details/view/404068/Bahrain_circuit_reinstates_fired_workers/
You would say that wouldn’t you. Your stock is damaged after the Caterham disclosure Jo
That is the kind of remark I would expect from someone with limited brain power. Do you qualify?
Good Evening to you Mr Bahar!
And isn’t it spelt Joe? 🙂
A member of your spanish fan club, Joe?
“It makes me wonder how I will read the news about other countries in the future…”
Re the Bard=
Hamlet:
What have you, my good friends, deserv’d at the hands of
Fortune, that she sends you to prison hither?
Guildenstern:
Prison, my lord?
Hamlet:
Denmark’s a prison.
Rosencrantz:
Then is the world one.
Hamlet:
A goodly one, in which there are many confines, wards, and
dungeons, Denmark being one o’ th’ worst.
Rosencrantz:
We think not so, my lord.
Hamlet:
Why then ’tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or
bad, but thinking makes it so. To me it is a prison.
…and following on, by Marshall McLuhan=
“All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values”, it only leaves the solution to your quandary is to take everything with a grain of salt or to be present at the happening…the second option being chimeric, be skeptical of what you read or hear….unless you heed Pratchett=
“The point is that descriptive writing is very rarely entirely accurate and during the reign of Olaf Quimby II as Patrician of Ankh-Morpork some legislation was passed in a determined attempt to put a stop to this sort of thing and introduce some honesty to reporting.
Thus, if a legend told of a notable hero that all men spoke of his prowess any bard who valued his life would hastily add except for a couple of people in his home village who thought he was a loony, and quite a lot of other people who had never really heard of him.
Poetic simile was strictly limited to statements like: His mighty steed was fast as the wind, on a fairly calm day, say about Force Three, any loose talk about a beloved having a face that could launch a thousand ships would have to be backed by evidence that the object of desire did indeed own a very large seaport.
Patrician Olaf II was eventually killed during an experiment conducted in the palace grounds to prove the disputed accuracy of the proverb The Pen.”
Indeed… I have often seen the exact same phenomena when I go back home to Sudan and people are just living their daily lives but friends around the world ask worriedly — how are things, the news looks awful etc etc. Often news and media can’t help but sensationalise things, because that is what people want to tune into and listen to. One should always bear in mind though that that is only one perspective and a microcosm of what is happening in the nation/region etc.
You are right when you say that yes, the F1 being there at least gives each side the opportunity to present their story to a wider audience. The question is whether viewers will pay attention to *why* people are actually protesting…or is that too much to ask?
It all sounds very like a microcosm of late 60s Northern Ireland.
Hi Joe,
My wife and I were backpacking during 2010, and we had much the same experience when we were in Bonkok. It was during the height of the ‘Red Shirt’ protests.
While we were there we received many messages from concerned friends and relatives who were seeing horrendous news stories about the city being a war zone, with explosions and running fights everywhere, of which we experience none!
We found the protestors to be reasonable and staying in one area. Like Bahrain, there a period of serious trouble, but as long as you didn’t go looking for it, the city was as safe and as friendly as ever. We walked among the protest camp, and chatted to some of them. They were friendly and welcoming. All they wanted was the best for their country.
Since then, I have not trusted any news report 100%, and have always tried to work out what is being said ‘between the lines’ of any given story.My relatives (especially my Nan) were worried about us for no reason.
Well joe , same people same headlines that you have been quoting from the last few days ?
Some of us learn from mistakes
We’ve seen repeatedly over here that it is less that the reporters go to where the trouble is, but more likely that trouble is going to happen whenever and wherever the cameras are rolling.
Its a shame that the news is never really what the story on the ground is.
Do we really want to give a regime the benefit of the doubt where that self same regime is imprisoning people for life for peaceful protest? Maybe you haven’t seen any particularly nasty incidents, but spare a thought for the thousands of prisoners of conscience behind bars for expressing their opinion. You won’t see them or get a chance to interview them!
They have received far more publicity than the silent majority
John my only question for you is ?
what do you call someone using petrol bomb?
…anything you like, just don’t upset them???
No sign of barbed wire?
Thanks for the update
“It makes me wonder how I will read the news about other countries in the future…”
A point that’s already been brought home to me by people outside the UK having completely the wrong idea about the riots in England. It wasn’t an uprising and far from popular.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of how the generalist media are reporting this situation, it surely could have been foreseen that they were going to report in this way. It was hardly unlikely that, pretty much no matter what, they were going to show footage of Bahraini protest and violence (and potentially civilian death) cut interchangeably with F1 footage, and thus make F1 look terrible to a wide audience. And perception is nine-tenths of the law – a sport as PR-savvy as F1 surely knows this. For this reason (and has Joe has intimated), this Bahrain race should have to be called off weeks ago.
Good point however, We we’re getting the crap from the ruling class about them being terrorists on the F1 channel so I suppose it works both ways.
“It was reported that” Bernie himself, the Crown Prince, the police chief (do I have them in the correct order?) plus the Aga Khan and the Queen of Sheba, all pleaded with Force India to stay for FP2. Supposely FI were offered an armed police convoy escort back to their hotel. Maybe they should have accepted, but again supposedly it appears that some team menbers were seriously freaked out and scared beyond the reach of any promise except to get out of there pdq, such was their panic that the rest of the team would not be able to function with them around.
Knowing the type of atmosphere that was to be expected from the media reports (albeit we now know grossly exaggerated) maybe some kind of filter should have been applied before they picked who came to Bahrain.
However to exclude them from all tv coverage in qualifying seems a fit of childish pique by Bernie, especially as Paul di Resta managed 10th.
PS Have you voted Joe? Postal?
Vote? I’m not French. I’m English. I have a right to pay tax, but not to vote.
I seem to recall a certain former British colony had a revolution and civil war on similar grounds 😉
Err, Ben. I’m English and live in the US. Would you help me not pay taxes here then? Seems only fitting 🙂
No I thought that perhaps as you lived there and were a Francophile, you might have dual nationality.
I live in Singapore but used to live in Australia and NZ. Was watching the NZ TV3 news and they report the Bahrain situation as the protestors and protesting F1..not about what the real protesting is about.. NZ news reporting has always been woeful but this even made me write them an email
Reminds me of that picture in The Independent in 1989 of some Northern Irish kids throwing stones. Someone else published a picture from the other side and it showed about 30 photographers lining up waiting for the photo opportunity. There have been many times in my life when I’ve learned not to trust what I read in the news. Probably the first was when friends of mine joined a massive student march with numerous coaches going down to London from Nottingham alone. It was estimated that there were 500,000 people marching through Hyde Park. That evening we waited for a report on the event on the evening news and the only thing reported was a small, somewhat violent protest across the other side of town by a few hundred ‘students’. In a way, the inflamatory, one sided reporting does neither side any favours. In all the column inches this week, have we ever got to read what the specific grievances of the opposition in Bahrain are and how they might be redressed?
Thanks for keeping us abreast of what is actually happening, that you see, Jo.
I recall vividly, the first time I heard and read assorted reports on a particular incident, comparing those to what I knew to be the truth. Always a shock, to learn when, as in my first instance- I came to learn of many more, I knew my country’s government was not being truthful. Since then, I’ve always done my utmost, as far as I am able, to establish just what the truth is, about a given situation.
What a pointless story. This just in, in a country where there is a lot of chaos there are places where there isn’t chaos……
Joe, just because you don’t see trouble doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
And just because you read about it in the newspapers and watch it on TV does not mean it is real. At least I am here and I know. Where are you?
not actually alot of chaos Daniel.
Perhaps you could link to the story you criticized, so that we can judge for ourselves?
I appreciate your efforts Joe, but I question your conclusion. How many villages did you visit on each of your trips to and from the circuit? Claiming that reports are exaggerated, based on the tiny piece of the city you could see any moment, sounds like a bit of a rookie journalism error, if you’ll forgive my saying so. Especially since your drivers were no doubt focused on finding the safest route, i.e. AVOIDING the hotpots where armored vehicles might have been at that point in time. Or are you saying that your driver was deliberately seeking out all the trouble-zones so you could monitor the armored vehicle density?
Your comments, based on a single story from a single source, also don’t reflect the media as a whole. The Guardian, for instance, has been scrupulously careful in identifying which claims, pictures and videos have not yet been verified. But is is also fairly normal for initial reports on volatile situations to contain inaccuracies, until the media has time to more carefully analyze the raw reports. Tarring the entire media based on a single (possibly) inaccurate story sounds like, dare I say it … exaggeration.
But even if the government of Bahrain were really being maligned by sensationalism, they have only themselves to blame. Banning most non-F1 journalists from the country and trying to prevent the media from seeing the truth, has created a situation where rumors, or unverified reports, will replace fact. Their heavy-handed repression has once again backfired on them.
It was one of many stories that I have read in recent days.
The point is Joe, while you could avoide the war zone areas, most Bahrainis – apart from the rich elites who go to F1 – cant. So the newspapers may not represent YOUR experience of Bahrain, but as a middle class Bahraini I can tell you that it is often as bad as it is reported. You will move on tonight or tomorrow but we will have to live with the mess in our country.
I did not come here because I wanted to be here. I don’t get to choose where F1 races are held.
I think it was a bad idea to come. I don’t think F1 gained anything positive from the weekend.
There are some very sensible people in this country and I am sure that they will try hard to sort it out.
Why not join in and try and solve the problem…
Nobody asked you to go there to pontificate. Get back to Little England and pretend nothing is happening outside Sevenoaks.
Yes, well if you read this blog and listened you would know that I have not lived in England 20 years. If you paid more attention you might have more credibility. If you don’t wish to question your own thinking that is fine.
Joe,
As someone who’s lived in Bahrain for many years, and has previously posted less eloquently on your blog along the same lines, all I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you. At last a decent journalist has put into words what so many of us who live here are feeling – that the international media in general is more interested in its own agenda/”narrative” than actually telling the story of what is happening. To think the BBC actually described Bahrain as a “war zone” on their website (their use of the inverted commas apparently means they’re quoting someone else, and therefore absolves them of all responsibility for the truth or otherwise of the headline).
Yes, there are big problems here, but the media’s treatment of Bahrain has been disgraceful (and regrettably, it seems the UK media is the worst offender). Essentially, their go-to sources are the opposition – imagine asking a Republican to comment on a Democrat president, or a Labour politician to comment on a Tory government. You would expect at best a partial account – yet the Western media treat them as “activists” whose word is unquestionable.
Frankly, after the way Bahrain has been treated by the media over the last year, it’s hard to blame them for being suspicious to the point of excluding some journos. (And let’s not even start on the laughable reporting of Sky’s Ms. Crawford, who decided to dress up in an Abaya to report here last year, despite Bahrain being about the most liberal country in the Gulf for women’s rights… I guess it’s all about “authenticity” – but would she feel the need to, say, wear a sombrero when reporting from Mexico? That’s the sort of patronising, infantile, sensationalist level the reporting has come down to).
Thank goodness for proper journalists like Joe, who actually look and think before reporting. There is definitely a story to be told in Bahrain -it’s a tragedy that almost no one is prepared to tell it.
Thank you again, Joe.
I did notice that Sky news didn’t refer to the people in the streets as “protesters” or “rioters” but instead by the glorified title of “human rights activists” which somehow manages to bundle up Amnesty International and similar with Molotov throwers.
Joe, just a word of thanks for the effort you put into this blog. I know you put up with a lot of crap here so just know the effort is appreciated.
Thank you Joe, great report and truthful. We need more like you. Why can’t Sky and other international news agencies be impartial like this and report the truth? It is so sad.
To others who are armchair authors, you don’t know Bahrain and believe me you won’t know it from most international media. Do more research to know the truth, don’t just jump on a band wagon you actually have no idea about.
Well, the prurient armchair warmongers among us got to see squat, which I’m grateful for. But what I’m most grateful for was the race, which was riveting! Though the BBC highlight coverage left a lot to be desired.
Thanks for your blog, Joe. Your insight is much appreciated.
This is the problem with the freedom of press. Journalists are allowed to spin and exxagerate to suit their own agendas. Listen as western journalists take glee as “the other side” self combust. They take sources from tweets, Facebook messages and phone calls from activists and “the opposition” – who no doubt have their own agenda to paint – and take this as fact, with no proof checking. At the same time, western press can choose NOT to publish things that they deem not in the interests of “us” – the western audience.
No doubt this is the case for other parts of the world, but the difference there is that most of us – including the populations in such areas e.g. China, Middle East… KNOW that the local press is not painting the full picture. Furthermore, western press = global press – they are influential worldwide. Thus when they make stories, people usually believe them. And that is the danger – their reputation as an unbiased news outlet gives them the power to change how people see events to their will.
Its all fine and fair for everything to seem fine to journalists of F1, however there is, like most Islam uprisings before them a deep rooted religious problem with what is going on in Bahrain. In this case, the Shiite majority being ruled by a Sunni minority. I feel the press are only reporting the facts that they see at the time and to fair they go right in the middle of it to see it. We had a statement yesterday at the track calling these protesters terrorists surely that is the other side of the coin and they usually have a bigger platform.
The sport should have left this well alone. It breaks the Fia’s golden rule about the sport and politics. It was a crazy decision. We seem to have endorsed one side without even hearing the other. That is definitely not where WE should be, even if it is to line peoples pockets.
I did make the same observation in a comment on one of your previous posts before the grand prix. I’ve been in Bahrain quite a bit during the past year, and have seen that the reporting did not match up to what was really happening. We saw the same thing during the problems in Bangkok (where I live) a couple of years ago. The media would have us believe that the city was in flames, whereas the conflict was limited to a very few local areas and involved a very small fraction of the population. The focus of the stories was similar to those from Bahrain (poor civilians brutally oppressed by armed police or soldiers).
I hope that this event might bring the general public’s attention to the fact that media reporters are more interested in a story than in reporting the facts. Personally, I no longer believe any of it.
Interesting piece here Joe. I’m interested to see your take on this article by Gulf Daily News, which quotes you and yet doesn’t report on your viewpoint that F1 didn’t need to be put in this situation. What is your take on it?
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=328550
Joe,
I think media reporting vs. over all reality is a tough nut always.
About 1/2 a decade ago I went to San Diego a week after they had the major wild fires there. Destroying 100s of homes. And the fires stopped not too far from the office of the company I worked for back then.
The flights from north follow the coast line, then turn inland and make a u-turn to land. I had a window seat, and was expecting to see carnage. I saw nothing.
I though surely when I drive up to my hotel, I must see plenty of burned houses, as the fire got so close to that area. I saw none. Not even burned grass or trees.
Had I had the time to drive a mile north, I would surely have seen burned areas, but I didn’t. From what I saw, nothing at all had happened in San Diego.
From the reporting, one would have thought it was a disasted zone.
People died, 100s of homes were burned. Was it a disaster? Yes. Was it over whealmingly visible there? No.
So was the reporting wrong, or exaggarated? I don’t know. For the hard hit areas it was reality, for 99+% of the areas and population it wasn’t.
Now of course it’s a bit different when you talk about oppressed majority, who does feel the oppression in many fronts, regardless where they live. Whether it’s close to the hot spots of not.
I’m glad you’ve finally seen what I told you about more than a year ago. And I respect you for having the honesty to call it how it is.
Thanks.
we residents of Bahrain have been saying about the press coverage on Bahrain for ages for those that have the time and want a wider view read this I wrote on the 11th before the F1 http://fredwillie.newsvine.com/_news/2012/04/11/11136571-bahrain-f1-and-the-media-manipulation-to-get-it-cancelled
I’ve just read your piece. Very interesting. Ahead of the race, in my eyes at least, there was a perception of attempts at peaceful protest being over-zealously ‘policed’ by a hardline government. I thought F1 should go, because it would cast a spotlight on the whole situation – good and bad. It did, and it did – to an extent.
Now that F1 has been, and now that I have read a number of views, including Joe’s, I think that the international media over-egged the omelette on both sides – it seems the protesters weren’t peaceful, the government wasn’t that stupid, and the danger wasn’t especially large. I still think it was right for F1 to go.
Many respected journalists were, in my opinion, guilty of over-egging, not by reporting things which were not true, but by being sucked into the general hysteria over the event. Many were scared, and many tried to give voice to their fears in terms of matters and events which they did not understand, or by referencing risks which they could not comparatively quantify.
Fear is a powerful emotion. It drives the best people to make poor choices, or to run for justificatory cover amidst doubtful statistics, or to not report what they haven’t seen but rather to report the widespread conjecture and opinion (informed or otherwise) of others.
I hope that a little balance can be drawn from the weekend’s events. I hope that we will not, instead, get a succession of ‘we were lucky that nothing terrible happened, but think about what could have happened’ or ‘we didn’t see any oppression, but that may be just because the government stopped being oppressive for a weekend’ or similar. But I’m not hopeful.
F1 went to South Africa, a land dripping in far more blood than any other. I supported that. F1 goes to Brazil (where team members face real risk every year), to China (where fear, oppression and human rights abuses are rampant state policy), to Turkey (where minorities are abused and even bombed by their own government); I support F1 for going, for showing everybody what people from free countries can do, for taking non-political journalists with them.
And, yes, it was a cracking race!
a big Thank You to Joe for all the insight into this difficult situation. No one outside F1 knew how it was in Bahrain during the weekend, but thanks to Joe, now we do. Thanks!
Thank you Joe, you lived upto your expectation, As a journalist you have showed the world the real situation currently prevailing in Bahrain. Virgin Bahrain is innocent but it is unfortunate to see her being a victim of international media, who depend on the PR of the opposition, the Khawajas and the Rajabs, who never represent Bahrainpeople and of course their grand mother..guess..Iran. Well done buddy, keep it up.
I’m sorry no, just because the majority of the majority of people’s experience was positive does not mean that we should ignore the negatives. If they are true they should be reported. If they are being too heavy handed anywhere that should be reported.
Otherwise we should pardon the Murderer because in court he offers the defense “hey think of all the thousands of people i met that year who i didn’t stab in the neck!” Likewise talk of what Bahrain did last year being forgotten because time has passed is like pardoning a murderer because it took the police a couple of years to catch him.
If the Bahrain regime did imprison/torture doctors for helping the sick then that should never be forgotten or pardoned as we would had a person done this.
I have led most of my life in countries in turmoil: and whilst turmoil there was, it was not recognisable in the descriptions written in the world press.
Thank you for this article Joe. I am a Bahraini citizen and i could not agree more with what you have written. “Bahrain is not a war zone”, the media will always over exaggerate. Bahrain is beautiful, safe and most business and tourist friendly island. We welcome everyone with open arms to come visit.
Please see the below video of our CP with the media. Proud of our leaders.
I am happy the F1 helped us Bahrainis to get into the picture, Bahrain is fine and the visitors saw that with their own eyes…. If only they went to the “hot spots” they will discover media is faker than they thought, media is lying because protestors are carrying Molotov, home made weapons and home made gas and poison gas whereas police defend the citizens and themselves with teargas only …
Yes I do not doubt that, but what percentage of the population are you people? And why are you not part of the dialogue. If you through Molotov Cocktails at policemen what do you expect to achieve? Your people will get arrested and if police discipline is no good then worse, but is it not better to find other solutions?
Playing devil’s advocate here:
The protestors are calling for more and better democratic processes. Were these available then the other solutions you mention should/would be an option.
However if from the protestor’s point of view the police answer to a monarchy who ignores them/imprisons them then I can understand how people feel there is no other choice.
Freedom from monarchies has normally only been won at the barrel of a gun, or at least with the threat of it. How else do you protect people from their government when there is no functioning democracy?
I’m guessing that because Joe didn’t see this it didn’t happen.
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3487161.htm
Personally I see this bog entry as a really poor attempt to curry favour with whoever is renewing Joe’s pit pass or something like that. Not to be funny, but what is a motorsport journalist who is NOT making an effort to go and see the trouble areas doing writing an article that almost goes as far as suggesting that the problems are only small and most people don’t care.
Sure, if the media are presenting the situation as being one where every single Bahraini as being up in arms and the trouble being everywhere then that’s wrong, but for Joe to suggest that the problems are small is insulting.
You are 100 percent wrong and wildly ill-informed but people with your attitude always know best, so love in your bubble and enjoy it.
Disgruntled Joe rants again. I guess you never saw Hitler coming either. Joe, you were always the pub bore. Nobody loves you for it.
“Yes I do not doubt that, but what percentage of the population are you people? And why are you not part of the dialogue. If you through Molotov Cocktails at policemen what do you expect to achieve? Your people will get arrested and if police discipline is no good then worse, but is it not better to find other solutions?”
When the thing strts like this:
http://www.youtube.com/verify_controversy?next_url=/watch%3Fv%3DUEw3E3POc7Y
Army is shooting at demonstrators who are clearly unarmed and threatening nobody. I can see how some people feel at loss of finding any other solutions than molotov coctails…
How do you know what happened before the films were taken? How do you what is representative of the reality? Coverage of this stuff is so hard to judge. But in the overall scheme of things, don’t you think that hearing from the majority is just as important as seeing video clips of specific snapshots. Have you seen picture of policemen on fire from the Molotov Cocktails? Is that nice?
One thing I asked the three guys I met was about the policing and the claims that they were all imported from abroad.
“They are all human beings,” was the reply.
I have been a keen follower of your F1 blog for a while now. You really need to chill out Joe, rude replies do nothing for the blog. You ask people to give their opinions but are then insulting them when they do. Just my opinion of course !
You miss a point here. Curt replies are reserved for those who are offensive to me. If they argue reasonably and do not abuse me then I treat them with respect. As to whether I need to chill out. If someone insults you, do you shrug and wander off? These rude people hide behind the anonymity of the Internet and give false e-mail addresses. They would never say such a thing to your face. The Internet makes them brave and unrestrained.
Joe, while this is brief, I want to thank you for having the eyes, ears and courage to see the truth, then report it. As a Bahraini, it is a great relief for me to see someone say what I have felt for so long. Nobody here denies the recent happenings, which have been regrettable, but ever since the last few months, it has been few violently vocal, misguided members of our community that have caused the vast majority of issues. Indeed, for the majority of the Bahraini populous it is a game of cat and mouse to avoid certain areas known for riots after certain hours of the night… nothing more, nothing less.
Am I with the government? In a way, yes, I am- they mean stability, and what they have given to this country far outweighs their mistakes, of which there has been many, some of which are very hard to forgive. The reform, promised by His Majesty has been slow, perhaps too slow for my liking. If we were in England, then I’d probably belong to the official opposition- those which want a bettering of the political system, not a complete destruction of all that is good. Anyways, I am going off on a tangent. I guess the fact that even I am tempted to go off on a political commentary here, on an F1 blog, supports your point of F1 not needing Bahrain, but Bahrain needing F1. It is hard for me to admit, as a Bahraini, that this is true- that perhaps, from a purely F1 point of view, coming here was somewhat unnecessary. Yet, as a Bahraini, maybe selfishly, maybe not, I am very proud of the show we pulled off and truly glad that Formula 1 made it here… and out both safely and successfully.
Thank you Joe, for spelling out the truth. I have spent many years of my life in Bahrain and always remember it as a peaceful place to live in. I currently live in New Zealand.
For the past few days we have been seeing horrific news on T.V which makes me wonder.
Thank you from one of the 98% of Bahraini’s who are vilified as living in a war zone. The youngsters want only mayhem it has become a sport try and kill the police then to film each and every action, and they have not been in the past or are now interested in coming to the table to give their views and work to make positive changes.
The king has done an enormous thing the past 10 years and we are confident that all will be well.
The media is and has been biased since February 14th 2011 you are a breath of fresh air.
Western style democracy will never work as long as they do not want their wives and daughters to have rights and freedom under the laws of the Kingdom including voting for the person they choose and not the choice of husband and religious figurehead.
Thank you all for your comments on this subject. It is now over. I have read some interesting views from all sides, and have noted particularly the number of people who were pleased that the silent majority has had a voice, albeit a small one. Everyone has a different viewpoint and finding the right balance between the various parties is not easy at all. I hope that there can be some balance found so that the bloodshed can stop. However, this is a motor racing blog and we must now move on.