A former director of Policy and Policing at Ken Livingstone’s office, Lee Jasper has hailed this year’s Notting Hill Carnival as a great success with very ‘little trouble’.

Lee Jasper however wondered why such a great event did not get adequate coverage from the mainstream media and said the media were only interested in negative news when it comes to carnivals and that good news ‘does not sell’.

“Rather than giving extensive coverage to positive news story which is a successful carnival, we have a media that are choosing to randomly ignore such news and are still hunting around looking for scraps of negative stories with which they can sell their wares,” he said.

The former organiser of carnivals made these remarks on Voice of Africa Radio’s People’s Parliament which was dedicated to the Notting Hill carnival today as part of the station’s efforts to promote the cultural event.

Jasper announced that carnivals contribute more than £94 million yearly to London which is a huge economic benefit to the nation and asked the media not to downplay its importance.

Asked if multiculturalism has failed as stated by Prime Minister David Cameron during a visit to German, he said the opposite was true “the carnival has proved that multi-culturalism is vibrant and alive, and is one of the most wonderful attractions for London as a city” he added.

He praised the carnival as one the safest outdoor events in the United Kingdom compared with football matches and Glastonbury festivals which should not be over-hyped as problematic, and urged carnival organisers to get a ‘proactive media strategy’.

Source: Voice of Africa Radio