‘Don’t look there, look here!’ UK media much more excited about Iran protests than those in neighboring France

‘Iran is thousands of miles away from Britain, yet because the power elites support them, anti-government protests in Tehran receive much wider coverage in the UK than the ones in France, just across the Channel.

How many British people have ever visited Iran? How many have lived there or have second homes there?

I suspect the figures are very small. It’s quite a contrast with France. In 2018, it was revealed that France came top in a survey of countries which Britons had visited. 76% of Brits had been to France at some time in their lives. According to the UK government’s own website, about 17m Britons visit France each year.

The last time I went to France was in October. Then there’s the expats. In 2017, France was home to 190,000 UK-born people. For many Brits, a year (or more) in Provence is a reality.

Now let’s pretend you’re a UK news editor. You’d think it would be reasonable to assume that British TV viewers would be more interested in mass anti-government street protests in France, a country they know very well, than in faraway Iran, wouldn’t you?

Yet, the reality is that while this weekend’s anti-government protests in Iran (over the unintentional shooting down of a Ukranian airliner), led the news bulletins and were the top story for all Sunday on the BBC website, the coverage of the protests in France, and a nationwide strike over pension reform, has been scant.’