Lousy Journalism, Lazy Journalism
Feb. 26th, 2007 06:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ed_rexThis story both delighted and irritated me.
In a nutshell, a Muslim girl was thrown out of a soccer tournament for wearing a hijab - apparently the headscarf is banned by the Quebec Soccer Association on grounds of safety, "...to protect children from being accidentally strangled."
I'll leave the question of the risk of being strangled by a hijab during a soccer game to the experts. But I want to talk about is the story itself - or rather, about how it was written.
Most of it was told as a human-interest piece - how the girl felt, how the coach felt, how the girl's team-mates felt. The girl's team withdrew from the tournament in protest, apparently with the full backing of the team itself.
To me, the real story here was alluded to in the second paragraph and then never mentioned again.
That sports leagues have rules about proper attire is not news. That a team withdraws from a tournament because one of its players was ejected is minor news. That four other teams in the tournament also withdrew to support another team's player is interesting news.
Why no interviews with players from other teams?
The CBC's headline was, "Muslim girl ejected from tournament for wearing hijab". Shouldn't it have been, "Four other teams support Muslim girl's right to wear hijab"?
That's the story! Jesus, somebody get re-write on the phone ...
In a nutshell, a Muslim girl was thrown out of a soccer tournament for wearing a hijab - apparently the headscarf is banned by the Quebec Soccer Association on grounds of safety, "...to protect children from being accidentally strangled."
I'll leave the question of the risk of being strangled by a hijab during a soccer game to the experts. But I want to talk about is the story itself - or rather, about how it was written.
Most of it was told as a human-interest piece - how the girl felt, how the coach felt, how the girl's team-mates felt. The girl's team withdrew from the tournament in protest, apparently with the full backing of the team itself.
To me, the real story here was alluded to in the second paragraph and then never mentioned again.
Calling the rule banning the headscarf worn by Muslim women racist, four other teams followed Asmahan Mansour's team, the Nepean Selects from Ottawa, after she was thrown out for running afoul of a Quebec Soccer Association rule.
That sports leagues have rules about proper attire is not news. That a team withdraws from a tournament because one of its players was ejected is minor news. That four other teams in the tournament also withdrew to support another team's player is interesting news.
Why no interviews with players from other teams?
The CBC's headline was, "Muslim girl ejected from tournament for wearing hijab". Shouldn't it have been, "Four other teams support Muslim girl's right to wear hijab"?
That's the story! Jesus, somebody get re-write on the phone ...
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Back to the Benefits of Being a Heathen!
Date: 2007-02-27 01:12 am (UTC)But I digress to rant.
On the other hand, I salute this young woman's persistence, as well as the actions of her peers.
I actually salute her peers with more enthusiasm, simply because it may be the girl (I say "girl", because I get the sense we're talking 10-12 year-olds) has been brain-washed. And also, because her peers (particularly those on the other teams) were apparently making what for them must have been a significant sacrifice, on what I would like to think was a matter of principle.
You might be interested to know that I wore a hijab till I was 13, out of my own will.
I am interested to know that. As an atheist raised by atheists, I can only imagine what is involved in throwing off a faith in which one was brought up. I remember shocking my kindergarten class by speaking up during some kind of class discussion to say, "I don't believe in God", but I had never been "churched" and no one I respected had ever had the chance to fill my mind with those sort of ideas, so it was easy for me.
P.P.S. SCRABBLE - Next Monday?