What a surprise !The Nobel Peace prize was awarded to Barack Hussein Obama, the US President and the commander in chief of an Army involved in two wars. A guy who has escalated the war in Afghanistan by sending more troops there, around 20,000 men and women and is thinking about sending 40,000 more soldiers.To his credit he has made great speeches about the importance of dialogue, but the last time I’ve checked there were still wars in Afghanistan,Irak,Congo…
President Obama did not ask for the Nobel Peace Prize, and he has admitted that he did not deserve it. It is also true that the Prize is not only about achievements but also effort.
Rachel Maddow in her show reminded us that the Price was awarded in 1935 to a journalist called Carl Von Ossietzky and that he did not really achieve anything, same thing with Aung San Suu Kyi because the junta is still in power… There is a difference though. Those Nobel Prices fought or are still fighting with their lives and the million dollars which is given with the Prize is very useful for the fight. Now the award goes to the more powerful man in the World protected by more than 400 men and women of the secret service, and the million dollar will go to charity. How sweet...
There are hundreds of people fighting with their lives in China, Congo Cuba,Burma,Russia,Zimbabwe with no secret service protection, with no money and the guys from Oslo decided to give that Prize to the President of the United States. Wrong choice.
Saturday, 10 October 2009
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
The Ethics of Journalism
Today in class I've seen " Absence of Malice" of Sydney Pollack with the late Paul Newman. The son of a mobster is being investigate concerning the murder of a union leader. This movie made in 1981 is still contemporary despite the facts that newspapers all around the world especially in Western countries are dying. Newsrooms become smaller than ever.
The movie shows how a journalist can be manipulated. Indeed many journalists are more PR than real journalists. They are supposed to seek the truth in theory. In the real world they are some kind of puppets and above them government and big companies are pulling the strings. Of course in this movie or in l'affaire Julien Dray, it is not serious. When journalists are manipulated in order to prepare the opinion to go to war, that is a different matter.Thousands may be millions of lives are in danger. Indeed concerning the Iraq War journalists all around the word especially in the States and in Britain have been successfully manipulated.
However it also the job of journalists to sell newspapers or to write or broadcast a good story;how do we judge the quality of a source especially if it's from the police or the government?How do we investigate with limited resources?
The movie shows how a journalist can be manipulated. Indeed many journalists are more PR than real journalists. They are supposed to seek the truth in theory. In the real world they are some kind of puppets and above them government and big companies are pulling the strings. Of course in this movie or in l'affaire Julien Dray, it is not serious. When journalists are manipulated in order to prepare the opinion to go to war, that is a different matter.Thousands may be millions of lives are in danger. Indeed concerning the Iraq War journalists all around the word especially in the States and in Britain have been successfully manipulated.
However it also the job of journalists to sell newspapers or to write or broadcast a good story;how do we judge the quality of a source especially if it's from the police or the government?How do we investigate with limited resources?
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Clearstream
Le procès Cleastream entre maintenant dans sa troisième semaine. Pitoyable spectacle auquel participe l'ensemble des journalistes. Aucune enquête de fond, des dizaines et des dizaines de noms sont apparus dans ce fameux fichier et on ne parle que de celui du Président de la République. Rien sur l'affaire des frégates de Taïwan. Comme d'habitude on ne s'attarde que sur ce qu'il y' a de plus spectaculaire,de vide et de facile. Le procès continue...
The conservatives are back?
The general election in UK should be called in several months. The Tories has started their conference;" Ready for change is their motto". They should change it to ready for cuts, cuts and cuts.
The Labour is doomed, and the Lib Dems are not being taken seriously.I rephrase that; the Labour thinks that it's doomed and the Lib Dems don't want to be taken seriously.
So the Tory party is triumphant. The election has already be won,it's been a while now that all the newspapers are dancing around Labour's coffin. The prime Minister takes pills to get through,he is blind,stubborn,anxious,sick,mad,crazy...in other words his policies are wrong.
On the other hand David Cameron is fluent in english, the Prime Minister is not, he probably speaks some Scottish dialect that no one but himself and probably his wife can understand.
6,7, 8 months are an eternety in politics, wait and see.
The Labour is doomed, and the Lib Dems are not being taken seriously.I rephrase that; the Labour thinks that it's doomed and the Lib Dems don't want to be taken seriously.
So the Tory party is triumphant. The election has already be won,it's been a while now that all the newspapers are dancing around Labour's coffin. The prime Minister takes pills to get through,he is blind,stubborn,anxious,sick,mad,crazy...in other words his policies are wrong.
On the other hand David Cameron is fluent in english, the Prime Minister is not, he probably speaks some Scottish dialect that no one but himself and probably his wife can understand.
6,7, 8 months are an eternety in politics, wait and see.
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