I haven’t written for a LONG time. An article in today’s MediaGuardian has changed that. Sir Ian Blair has criticised the media for being institutionally racist in their reporting of crimes. Naming several high profile case as support for his statement he said:

We do devote the same level of resources to murders in relation to their difficulty. What the difference is, is how these are reported. I actually believe the media is guilty of institutional racism in the way they report deaths.

I don’t always agree with Sir Ian Blair, but on this, he is spot on. Aside from Damilola Talyor, and more recently Anthony Walker, the mainstream media devotes less time to ethnic victims of crime. Those two cases were ironically viewed as important by the national press, because the media associated them with Stephen Lawrence’s death which, following a police bungle of the investigation led to the McPherson Report, led to the police being defined as institutionally racist.

31-year-old lawyer Tom ap Rhys Price was murdered on Jan 12 near Kensal Green station, NW London recently and recieved media focus. Balbir Matharu in contrast did not. He was killed on the same day in north-west London - dragged to his death behind his car by thieves who had tried to steal his £70 car stereo. No-one has even been arrested for this latter crime against the 54-year-old Asian father of two, while Rhys Price continues to dominate coverage following the charging of 2 people.

The tabloids paint the starkest picture of the racial bias - Rhys Price was mentioned in 98 articles, while Matharu was covered in just 14. The Media as the fourth estate, is well aware of how their coverage motivates people to approach the police with intelligence on crimes. Their silence is unacceptable.

Referring to the lawyers murder, their was a media outcry, with several articles and shows dominated with white middle-class commentators sanctioning the carrying of weapons to protect themselves. They believed that Rhys Price’s murder was the turning point, and signified that it may be better to risk being stopped by the police that to be caught unarmed by a hoodie mugger. Several years ago, my friend’s 15-year-old brother was stabbed to death outside his school, after just finishing his last GCSE exam, by a fellow 11-year-old pupil. Do the commentators, who suggest the carrying of weapons from comfortable studios across the country, sympathise then with many other boys at the same school, who feeling unprotected and unrecognised may choose to protect themselves? How about 23-year-old men who actually reside within no-go-areas they refer to? The answer no, but the immediate question is: why?

Because they see themselves as distinct from the black working-class? Because they react only to their majority audience? In either case, minorities have zero hope of representation.

The present situation is a case of the pot calling the kettle racist. Both the media and the police have an impartial job to do. The police seem to have rectified some of their institutional failings. While numbers of black police officers are growing, i wonder whether the same is true of ethnic minorities in news media.

Sir Ian Blair is right. The media are racist, but like the pre-McPherson Met, may not even realise fully or even accept the charge. That must change.