World media not really bothering with Toronto’s G20 riots

Canadians will have to wait and see if Jon Stewart picks up the G20 story tonight, but so far the international media’s attention to the summit could best be called “whuzzat?”  Even as smoke was rising from the besieged downtown core, Fox, CNN and MSNBC were all more interested in the World Cup. Maybe it’s because for most people outside of Canada, the idea of Canadians rioting must sound impossible, like Russians smiling or the French using margarine. Despite flaming wreckage so close to a gathering of world leaders, we just can’t seem to get people’s attention.

The New York Times Web site ran a Reuters piece about the rioting at 11 p.m. last night (about a full day after the riot had ceased) and printed a piece about the treatment of protestors today. A much-reprinted Associated Press piece saw a similar treatment, getting picked up after the police cruisers had stopped smouldering. About the only British paper to cover the G20 substantially was The Guardian—perhaps because one of its bloggers had been arrested. Outside of the Canadian media, you’d barely know the G20 had happened at all.

What does a Canadian have to do to make the news these days? Oh, right.

• Police Clash With G20 Protesters, End In Standoff [New York Times]
• Police arrest more than 600 at Toronto summit [Yahoo News]

UPDATE: New York Times on Toronto riots: meh