Backpacking Europe '94: London calling...

This is part of a blog series commemorating the 30th anniversary of a life-changing backpacking tour of Europe that I experienced with my friend Joey.

In 1979, the British punk rock band, The Clash, released a song called "London Calling..." 

London calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared, and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come outta the cupboard, ya boys and girls
The Clash (1979)

For Joey and me on our European adventure, London was indeed calling... 

Joey in front of Buckingham Palace in London, England. He is holding our trusty guidebook, Let's Go Europe 1994.

​London, England, is an essential stop for everyone on a trip to the UK.

Yet, as amazing as this city is with all of its history, famous sights, and dazzling architecture, what I remember most about my first visit was what I didn’t see. 

When Joey and I arrived in this sprawling metropolis, the date was Saturday, October 8th, 1994. With the aid of my Let’s Go budget travel guidebook, we managed to find a very low-budget dorm in a youth hostel in a very rough neighbourhood and far from the city centre. These sorts of places are filled with an array of odd people–and the cheaper the rate, the stranger the folks there... 

The next day, we found a church to attend–Westminster Baptist–with a Welsh preacher. After the service, we set out to explore the city, from Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square, 221B Baker Street, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Piccadilly. We saw a lot that first day.

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Piccadily Square at night.

A City With Two Tales

When we returned to our sketchy youth hostel after that first day of exploring, we settled into the common room and played a few hands of cards. The lounge had a low ceiling, graffitied walls, stained couches, and tired, worn-out tables and chairs. Only a handful of the eclectic youth hostel guests were scattered around the room–reading, writing, or munching on snacks. A television was mounted in one corner, broadcasting the evening news. Someone near the TV turned up the volume, and Joey and I were drawn away from our card game by the news. It turned out that there had been mass protests and rioting in London throughout the day. With all the things we saw that day, somehow, we missed that! 

What we saw on TV was intense and chaotic. It looked as though the entire city of London was ablaze with rioting. The images on the screen depicted complete bedlam all across the city. This total breakdown of law and order occurred on the very same day Joey and I were trekking around the city. The date was October 9th, 1994.

​Ministry of Truth: 1994

George Orwell's dystopian novel, 1984.

Joey and I had attended the same high school, and when we were in Grade 11 English class, we studied George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. As I watched the news portraying a different reality from the one we experienced that day, I couldn’t help but recall the job of Orwell's main character, Winston, who spent his days rewriting the news at the behest of Big Brother.

As we sat in the common room watching the images flash across the television set, we were struck by the incongruity between what we had seen on October the 9th and what the news portrayed. 

This left an indelible mark in my mind when it comes to the way media tells the story when reporting the news.

​Here is what we saw that day as we wandered around town: 

​Here is what we saw on TV that night:

​London is a big city, and we covered a lot of ground that day. There is no doubt that there were clashes between protesters and police. Massive crowds had assembled in Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square that day. Even though we didn’t see all the dramatic clashes and massive crowds, I have no doubt that what the news showed actually happened. In other words, I am no conspiracy theorist. The media outlets didn’t stage or create any of these events. 

However, what struck me was how the images were framed. It looked like all of London had gone to hell. But, if the camera had panned to the left, then perhaps the lens would have caught a glimpse of Joey feeding the pigeons, or if the camera had zoomed out, the lens would have caught a glimpse of me trying to read the plaque on Nelson’s Monument. Sometimes, the way the picture is framed can tell a different story. Media thrives on sensationalism, whether real, perceived, or produced.

​When I see rioting and chaos on the news today, I have learned to pause and think. Is this the whole story? Does this four-second clip capture everything that unfolded that day? Are there only ten people involved instead of the “ten thousand” that is hinted at? What is outside the framed shot? What larger context or events are the media outlets leaving out? The term "fake news" hints at this, but it can be misleading; the events aren't necessarily fake, but the way the story is told can be exaggerated, manipulated, or entirely untrue.

We are quick to judge. We are prone to “confirmation bias.” We often see what we already believe we will see. That day in London taught me a powerful lesson in media literacy. I will never forget what I didn’t see that day in London.

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