In reply to MarkJH:
> Because a protest is more newsworthy than an annual religious observance. In the examples that you link to, they are almost all either UK domestic protests, or specific responses to current political events that would (or could) have had significant consequences in important regional powers.
> Coverage of a religious observance is the kind of thing that might be interesting to read about in the magazine pages as a culturally informative article, possibly with a commentary about regional politics, but there is nothing there that warrants a place in the news pages.
That's a well thought through reply. I guess it depends on what one sees as news. With how the BBC can seem to have a range of stories which it decides is news, from protests and world events, to the occasional 'good feeling' story which doesn't impact on anybody's life except for who is being mentioned, within the context of there being a (quite understandable) fearful reaction towards the rise of Islamist terrorism, causing people to withdraw one might say, it struck me as being newsworthy, from seeing part of the role of news broadcasters (within the limits of being one) as giving as wide a perspective on groups which frequently appear in the news as possible, to aim to avoid what may arguably be a one sided narrative developing. Which, where Muslims are concerned, can currently seem to be one of 'Muslims, threatening us, bombs, extremism, otherness...', making me see a religious occasion which has taken on the significance for those involved as also being a form of protest against ISIS, as something which is newsworthy to people in the west.
I take your point about the difference between 'news' and 'cultural interest' however.
My use of 'media blackout' was a poor choice.
Post edited at 13:36
