I never thought the next big international story I would cover would be on the streets where I live. Al Jazeera in London has not shied away from covering the underbelly of UK society, but this was different. Suddenly rioting Britain was worldwide news.
How had this happened?
Trying to get past the images of looting and rampaging and look at the reasons why seemed to be a journalistic no-brainer. Yet few media outlets seemed to want to broach this difficult topic.
Voices of kneejerk condemnation drowned out any soul-searching about what emboldened so many young people to take to the streets committing crimes regardless of the banks of cameras ubiquitous in today’s Britain - whether they be iPhones, street surveillance cameras, or amateur or professional TV news crews.
Some of the worst clashes took place in the borough of Hackney where I live. On the notorious Pembury Estate, police were baited into running battles with residents.
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