The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair's accusations of institutionalised racism by the British mainstream media in their reporting of murders, has done little to help further race relations in the media. Speaking to a panel at the Metropolitan Police Authority, Sir Ian said that he couldn't understand why the murders of Soham school girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman became the "biggest story in Britain" at the time. He was later forced to issue an "unreserved apology to the parents of Holly and Jessica, for re-igniting this story". He remained defiant, however, stating in the same radio interview that "unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping" remained in the way the press reported murders.

Sir Ian seems, to me, to be almost as removed from the ethnic minority communities that he seems to want to champion. Although there may be "institutionalised racism" in the media industry, the area of crime reporting is not one I would have chosen. Indeed the media coverage of the murders of Damilola Taylor, Toni-Ann Byfield, Jeshma Raithatha, Anthony Walker and Kieran Rodney-Davies, to name a few speak volumes to the contrary. I agree that the media devotes more column inches to certain murder cases more than others, but this often as a launch pad to campaign about poor levels care in the Public Sector. The recent murder of Tom Ap Rhys Price has highlighted the poor level of security at Train Stations. The Victoria Climbie case highlighted the catalogue of errors in the handling of 'at risk' cases by the Social Services and the Stephen Lawrence case has shown the failures of policing and the justice system. The press has also devoted considerable attention to the murder of Zahid Mubarek, killed by a racist inmate in prison, highlighting weaknesses in the Prison Service.

JEAN CHARLES DE MENEZES SHOOTING

The one case that Sir Ian Blair has failed to discuss satisfactorily is the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian mistakenly identified as terrorist, who was shot in the head seven times in July 2005. I recall attending an Asian Awards ceremony in November last year with Sir Ian as chief guest - smiling and handing out awards -only weeks after he was accused of "cover up" by the Jean Charles de Menezes Family Campaign . The Menezes family maintains that Sir Ian Blair, as head of the Metropolitan Police, bears ultimate responsibility for the Menezes killing and that he deliberately tried to cover up what really happened after Jean's death. Would Sir Ian have been as welcome into the heart of the Asian community if Jean Charles had been Asian? Those attending might have wondered when the "assassinate without a trial" policy had come into effect.

The police already have significant powers to stop and search and detain terrorist suspects and yet the Menezes case highlights a series of communication failures in the enforcement of any of these. It seems Jean Charles's crime was merely to look Asian. The Asian community is already bearing the brunt of the new raft of anti-terror legislation, so it would be more helpful to have faith in the standards of policing. This brings me to the issue of "institutionalised racism". Although many might agree with Sir Ian about "institutionalised racism" in the media, more would agree that the same exists in the Police Service and that the eradication of racism in the Police Service would be far more in the interests of ethnic minority communities than any reporting of crimes.

MPS MEDIA POLICY

Asked about what he would like the media to do, Sir Ian replied "What I want the media to do is to understand the dynamics of how different minority communities feel about the coverage that is given to events in their communities". One could argue that this should be a goal for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) too. In their own media policy the MPS states "We need to refresh our approach to working with the media by developing effective and positive relationships with journalists from the wide range of news organisations that cover our work. This remains a job for everyone, not just the Directorate of Public Affairs (DPA) and should encompass the national, local, minority-ethnic and specialist media that serve the capital and its residents.

It is recognised that some people are cautious about dealing with the media, but over-caution can breed suspicion and contempt, while an open approach tends to encourage confidence and respect. If we are to gain the goodwill, confidence and support of the public we serve and achieve our vision of making London the safest major city in the world, we need to engage with the media and seize every opportunity to be far more proactive."

This media policy then lays out often contradictory guidelines about disclosure of information to journalists including "withholding putting certain information into the public domain" if the officer feels it may disadvantage an investigation, sticking to the facts when speaking "off the record", advising the DPA after speaking to reporters, guidance on 'the official line' to take and filtering all approaches from TV documentary of drama programmes through the DPA. Not surprising that the same policy ends by stating "relations between the police and media in London are inevitably complex and at times difficult"! Any police officer able to circumnavigate these guidelines with confidence would be fortunate indeed.

INSTITUTIONAL RACISM

Eradicating "institutionalised racism" in the media is an interesting dilemma. Firstly the media does not act singly like an "institution", each publication acts independently and in competition with each other. Stories are generated by individuals who may have their own viewpoint. The overall editorial policy may be guided by yet another individual and finally it will come down to what the readers of want to read. We all know that page after page of death, murder and mayhem palls on the attention span so it is important to achieve the right balance in reporting the salient points of a case in a meaningful way. Most of that will depend on the evidence available like photographs, CCTV footage, witnesses etc and the information pipe-line about progress on the case by the police service. The speed of the information pipe-line will also determine the level of continued coverage of a case.

The MPS media policy states, that "there is more to be done, because there are so many good news stories that still fail to reach the viewers, listeners and readers or those who report on the MPS." To attain the best level of coverage between good news and bad news stories, a consistent approach is needed.

SUGGESTIONS

Lest I be accused of not coming up with suggestions to eradicate "institutionalised racism" in media myself, here's a wish list of what I would like: 'US-Style' media briefings on all murder cases with all necessary images and information immediately available via Intranet, availability of knowledgeable spokespeople 24x7 via telephone, cultural awareness training for all Police Officers (not just defined spokespeople), Ethnic Minority police spokespeople for every minority community in the UK, greater access to senior police officer and an open dialogue between the Metropolitan Police Service and the media. For coverage of long term "good news" stories, the MPS also needs to maintain a consistent approach in the reporting of individual cases; perhaps going back and periodically reviewing progress for the benefit of journalists.

In the mean time, it might be better if Sir Ian Blair said as little as possible about "institutionalised racism in the media" as it really isn't helping.