BBC News London Riots - 6th August 2011

Who do the reporters interview?
At the beginning of the broadcast the presenter back at BBC studios managed to speak to a local resident of Tottenham called Sam via phone call who describes what the situation has been like lately from what he has witnessed. Almost half way through a BBC reporter, Andy Moore reports live from Tottenham but didn't get the chance to interview anyone there physically due to the danger him and the crew were surrounded by.

What images were used in the broadcast? What does this suggest about representation of the riots?
The broadcast focusses on a group of youths vandalising a police car. He uses phrases such as 'attacked' and 'youths going around it' to emphasise how bad the scene is. The idea of calling them youths makes viewers have an image of young people such as teenagers doing the damage which is also clear to see throughout the broadcast. Describing the youths as going all around the car makes viewers realise that if the police were in the car they would be trapped and the youths had more control over them. Towards the end of the broadcast he shows the number of people crowding around him watching and starting to take part, wether this was purposely shown or accidentally by the camera being knocked is unknown but right at the very end you see the camera lowering and being handheld while crew of the BBC take down the equipment as those described as 'hooligans' in the description box steal the BBC camera and smash up the camera truck. This suggests that the rioters aren't afraid to have power over the mass media and prove this by breaking and vandalising BBC property. This makes those innocent more afraid of what is going on and aware that these riots are becoming out of control.

Is the broadcast biased?
From the context used and how Andy Moore and the local resident describe the situation, they both take the side of the law and agree it is all out of control rather than considering why the riot is going on. It is also biased as the images only focus on the youths vandalising the police car rather than what everyone else is doing, we only get a short glimpse of those stood back watching and doing nothing.

Are youths given a fair voice?
In this broadcast the youths are seen as the violent ones and are not given a chance to speak up for themselves and explain why they are doing what they are, they aren't even interviewed or questioned by anyone so all we can make conclusions for them is by their actions, therefore from this article they are not given a fair voice.