We’ve all heard in the news this week about the taking of nine British and American diplomats at gunpoint in Harare, Zimbabwe. They were reportedly stopped in the road by an unmarked van and attacked by war veterans loyal to President Mugabe. They have since all been released unharmed. In the same week it was revealed that the British taxpayer is paying millions of pounds to fund a Somali police force full of militiamen and led by one of the country’s most nototrious warlords Abdi Hasan Awale Qaybdib. Though these two things seem similarly news worthy (and terrible) only one of them has been widely broadcast. Only one of them Shows Britain in a poor light. So only the other one reaches the news. How willing are we to look beyond ‘the news’ to see the real news of hundreds of thousands of people being exploited day by day that go unnoticed. Do we really know (or want to know where our taxes go.) Let’s not allow the media to control our view of the world, be prepared to search a little deeper and be shocked by some of things you find.
