Poppy Burning? When?

I thought when the BBC didn't run with the poppy burning story on their website, it was simply them avoiding all things poppy related - their logic being to stop short of giving those disrespecting 11/11 the time of day. Fair enough, you might say.

But then they run a feature on the idiot who stole a poppy collection tin. Hmm?

Couple this with the media storm that gathered around the Terry Jones saga (remember, the US pastor who - only in September - threatened to hold a Koran/Quran/Qur'an/etc. burning event) and you begin to wonder where the BBC stands on all this stuff...

I know that covering the poppy burners would have 'stirred up hatred' and all that, but that happened anyway - The Mail were (of course) one of many who had no reservations over publishing the story and people got hold of this. Because the BBC website isn't the only place people go for their news. Ditto for SkyNews and ITVnews.

The point is that, though what they were trying to avoid was right, their obligation to the public should have took priority - especially since we knew we could get the story elsewhere.

Here's what they should have done if they really wanted to help: run with it - but simmer the tensions when they do so. It doesn't take a genius to write an article in a way that doesn't turn on the EDL.