That Manchester Airport ‘viral video’: Why it’s vital to see the whole picture

You know those “fun” quizzes that are so popular at this time of year. Well here’s a “fun” post-Christmas quiz. But it has only one question. And that is: “What is the connection between Iran’s terrorist surrogate in Yemen and Manchester Airport?”

There is also just one answer, which is “Absolutely everything.” And there are no prizes for guessing correctly. You will just have the satisfaction of knowing you are smarter than the news editors at the BBC, Sky News, etc, who utterly fail to understand the critical importance of context and of showing the whole story.

So let me explain why “Absolutely Everything” is the correct answer.

In summer ’24 there was a violent incident at Manchester Airport between police and two young, non-white men. A video, taken on an onlooker’s phone, went viral. It showed police officers “stamping on the heads” of the two young, non-white men. It was perceived as a brutal, unprovoked attack and sparked outrage that, based on the video, seemed perfectly justified.

Since then, however, CCTV footage has emerged showing the two young, non-white men appearing to attack police officers violently in the minutes before the events we see on the video-that-went-viral. In other words, when the incident is seen in in its entirety, rather than only partially, a very different picture emerges. And when that bigger picture is seen,  and the very real threat to the officers is apparent, the perception and opinions changed (at least for most fair-minded UK citizens if not for hard-core anti-police activists.)

Somewhat ironically, The Guardian once claimed to understand the value of context and of getting “the whole picture.” In an era of anti-Black racism – it ran an ad for itself that showed a Black male grabbing a White male from behind. It is only when the camera zooms out that we see the White man is being saved from falling masonry, rather than being mugged.

So as even The Guardian once understood, context and seeing the whole picture are vital. Without that, the truth is obscured and perceptions are skewed – sometimes with terrifying, far-reaching consequences.

And that brings me to the Houthis, the Yemen-based terror group with strong ties to Iran. Houthis have been sending explosive-packed drones and firing missiles at Israel for several months now. These attacks, however, have gone mostly unreported outside Israel – as have the rockets and missiles fired into Israel by Iran’s other surrogates, Hezbollah and Hamas.

But when Israel acted against the Houthis – as it did a day or so ago – to halt their ability to terrorise its citizens on an almost daily basis, that of course, was reported.

But because viewers, listeners and readers have no context and have been told only part of the story – ie. they are unaware of the near-daily drones and missiles – Israel’s actions appear like an unprovoked attack. It feeds the narrative that Israel is a gratuitous aggressor. As with the Manchester Airport incident, it is only when we can all see the whole picture and see the context that it becomes instantly clear that Israel’s use of force – like those police officers – is entirely justified. by the threat they were facing.