Our blogs about
America's Wars
War on Iraq
War on Drugs
War on Afghanistan
War on Columbia
War on Philippines
War on Venezuela

MORE
Matrix Masters
Blogs
World Events
Katrina's Aftermath
US News
Bush Crime Family News
Science & Health
Earth News
Free Speech
News from Africa
News from Palestine
Bill of Rights Under Attack

Support Bloggers' Rights!

Lorenzo's
Random Musings
. . . about Chaos,
Reason, and Hope

 

Robert Fisk: Railing against the 'facile acceptance of authority'
(Thomas P. Healy, The Bloomington Alternative, November 24, 2002)
Fisk railed against "the facile acceptance of authority" by most journalists in the post-9/11 era who rely heavily on anonymous official sources, and worse, who don war clothing. . . . The Bush Administration was also the object of his ire. Fisk said the tragic events of 9/11 "gave an excuse for George Bush to manipulate the American public's grief and fear." Listening to the president speak to the United Nations this past September, Fisk said, it was apparent that "Bush is starting an attempt to reshape the Middle East" to suit his own and Israeli objectives. . . . "Almost invariably, investigative reporting in the Mideast generates hate mail," Fisk said. "The easiest way out of this problem for most journalists is to change the story." . . . He quoted from an official CNN memo that informed reporters that henceforth they should refer to Gilo as a Jewish neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem - not as "occupied territory" - despite the fact that the settlement was constructed in violation of international law. When Fisk confronted a CNN editor about the memo, he was told, "We really don't want to talk about this." . . . Asked about the American Left, Fisk said, "Look, the problem with the progressive, Left activists is that all they do is talk to each other. I went to this seminar at an East Coast college and all these middle-class women were sitting around talking about 'bridge-building between progressives and activists and socialists' and they want to 'build a bridge to the mainstream press.' And I said, it's irredeemable. Don't waste your time. First of all, stop calling it mainstream. Start calling your press mainstream and theirs alternative. I said, "You are a very privileged little elite in this room. And I'm not giving you advice for what you ought to do; I'm a journalist. But if you want to reach out to people, stop talking to each other in your privileged little room. Talk to ordinary Americans: the truck drivers and the rail crews and the bellhops whose brothers and fathers are going to be sent to Iraq."

posted by Lorenzo 1:34 PM