Massed Media

There were a large number of photographers at a very small gathering of anti-debt, anti-tax protesters opposite Parliament last Saturday morning. Possibly as many as covered the much larger demonstration, against cuts to benefits and services for the disabled, earlier in the week. Amongst the rather smartly dressed agitators were a few rightist celebrities not normally seen out on the street – UKIP leader Nigel Farage, Conservative blogger Guido Fawkes (Paul Staines), Bill Cash MP – but hardly enough to justify such media interest.

Of course, the rarity of such an event makes it instantly more appealing as a news story, and photos duly appeared in various publications the next day. That novelty value illustrates an essential truth about news: that it has to be - new. It does not report what is, but what has changed, or is different. That is why a train crash makes the national headlines, but the average nine deaths a day on the roads only make the locals. And why so many of the ongoing issues that confront people every day go largely unreported.

The French Do It Better

On Tuesday, the sixth day of nationwide protests against the Sarkozy government’s pension reforms, there were demonstrations in around 200 French towns and cities. In Alès (above), an ex-coalmining town in the south of the country, several thousand took to the streets. There was lots of smoke, some very loud bangs, and not a single policeman in sight. At the end of a boisterous march, nobody knew what to do, so someone set fire to the gates of the Sous Préfecture (local government offices). They don't look too good now. More pictures here.

Down the Pub

Most of the regular drinkers had no idea it was happening until it started. When the piano struck up and the cast of OperaUpClose launched into Act 2 of La Bohéme in the bar of The Chippenham in North Paddington last night, it took most of those present completely by surprise. But although one or two looked somewhat nonplussed, the fifteen minute performance got a fantastic reception from a packed house. The event, part of the Paddington Festival, was organised by the Paddington Development Trust, currently under threat (like so much else) from the government’s public spending cuts.

France plans to deport Roma

The young Roma boy I photographed begging in a street on the outskirts of Paris last year is not likely to be in the French capital much longer.

The Guardian reported this week that France has begun a roundup of more than 700 Romany immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania, and has booked special flights to send them back to their home countries. The action seems to be an attempt by the Sarkozy government to appeal to the populist and far right vote, in order to deflect attention from a corruption scandal and other problems that it currently faces. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose - as they say over there.