Zahra Gordon

in a recent episode of the aljezeera programme surprising europe called “under pressure” the most surprising aspect of the show was the lack of analysis and “in depth” reporting. the episode was meant to highlight the harsh realities of african immigrants in europe but the show was seriously lacking. there didn’t seem to be any digging – the interviews with a prostitute and a small time drug dealer (who after 4 months of looking for a job decided that drugs was easier) and “experts” really did not shed any light on statistics or the systems that lead to these lifestyles. 

the first story about a village supported by african immigrants in italy was interesting but the last story about a tomato party in spain did not have anything to do with living in the “european jungle.” i’m also confused as to why the editors succumbed to the ideology of the “other” at the end by putting english subtitles when the host was speaking english. i’ve seen this many times when black people with “accents” speak on western tv programmes and i’m really curious as to why aljezeera is doing it…