The British media, led by the tabloids, have decided that a brief panic over a fistfight in Oxford Street should become the focus of a discussion about terrorism whereas the 235 people killed in an attack on a mosque in Egypt was just an anodyne event.
As several outlets of the British media began an introspective examination of their own role in spreading fear, few even mentioned the car bomb in a North Sinai mosque that was followed by a savage attack by 20 terrorists armed with machine guns.
Simon Williams, newsroom editor at the Daily Mail, explained that his paper’s editorial choices were a function of the readership’s knowledge.
“Everybody knows Oxford Street. Many have been there on a trip to the West End before catching a musical. But ISIS attacking a mosque wouldn’t fit into the Muslims versus Us narrative we have been carefully spoonfeeding them.
“Plus they would have to know what’s going in the Middle East. That, in turn, would force them to learn about the complex web of nationalist, sectarians and religious armed groups whose nebulous history goes back past the days of pan-Arabism and has roots in the Ottoman Vilayets.
“That’s heady stuff, whereas early Christmas shopping is something all the family can relate to.”
Social media was also keen to ignore the terrorist atrocity whose body count dwarfed anything that ever happened in the UK.
Easily shrugging off the violent death of hundreds of brown people, most keyboard warriors were furiously debating whether to chastise convicted felon Tommy Robinson for spreading panic or deny him the attention that validates his utterly pointless existence.