Sad Web site: Tamil Express

 Tamil Express is a French site about and for Tamils in France.

I found this idea brilliant because this community is quite important and the French media hardly ever deal with it. Indeed, Asian issues ( when I say Asian, I mean people from the whole Asian continent) are not often developed by French journalists. Tamil Express tends to address this problem by publishing different kinds of news about what is going on in France among Tamils and also abroad, in Sri Lanka or in Tamil Nadu. These articles are most of the time written by wannabe journalists or people living in the Tamil community.

I was very excited to read so much news about « les Indiens français » but what I read on this site made me a little puzzled and uneasy.

Contrary to what people think, Tamils are not always that submissive and discreet. When you read Tamil Express, you realise that rivalry and competition are sometimes harsh among them and that people have to fight everyday for their rights and against acts of violence.

Indeed, violence is on every page of this site: harrassment, attacks, rapes, street fights, fraud, the little Tamil world seems to be overwhelmed by evil deeds. Is that really what Tamil life is like in France? Even offenceless articles like the organisation of Indian parties in Paris may end up dealing with moonlighting!

Too much crime news. Too much sensationalism, maybe?

In my opinion, this site lacks a bit of humour and culture. Why not write reviews about books, films, shows or religious festivals? The Tamils’ existence in Paris is not only based on burglary and bus attacks! In addition, a high number of comments published are offencive and threatening, which can be easy to understand, when the articles are controversial.

Hopefully, Tamil Express also informs people about entertainments, especially new Tamil films, actors and sometimes, Indian gossip. And despite a few doubts about the accuracy of some news, (for instance, the article about the Taj Mahal doomed to fail within five years), you can read uncommon and interesting topics such as the Tamil Evangelist Church or the French election results in South Asian areas.

My reading advice on this site:  

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