Links | “Journalists Are the Biggest Terrorists”
These are my links for January 19th through January 22nd:
- PhotoScavengerHunt — recent flickr upload
Night. -
- Journalism.co.uk :: 'To succeed online student journalists must collaborate outside their own university': Greg Linch gives a good overview of the current state and goals of CoPress
- “Whitney is an accomplished Times veteran whose work I’ve admired over the years. But this memo sums up some of the very reasons why so many believe the mainstream media is doomed to irrelevance.”- ‘The New York Times’ Facebook problem | Coop’s Corner - CNET News
- Journalistopia » Tinkering | Danny Sanchez -
- Barack Obama's inauguration speech ... crafted by 27-year-old in Starbucks | World news | The Guardian: The Guardian (of all newsorgs) has a great profile on Obama’s head — 27 y/o — speech writer.
- UI.Layout Plug-in - Home: jquery plugin that allows for ajax layout of massive proportions.
- Journalists are biggest terrorists: Zardari - PakTribune: “Journalists are the biggest terrorists,” —President Zardari
A showreel of work from the Guardian’s Dan ChungViews:
318
2
ratings- Inside the Transition: Technology, Innovation and Government:
Members of the Transition’s TIGR team explain how technology can bring reform and transparency to the… - Photographing the President: A look from 2 TIME photogs on covering the Bush White House.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=972e8811-aecd-4e96-9c0d-00cabce6f665)
No Wonder They Don’t Trust Us
Warning: the following is a rant. I'll keep it short.
It drives me crazy to see journalist putting the nail in their own coffin. E&P just republished an AP story that politely complains that Israel still isn't letting journalists into the Gaza war zone.
No wonder 54% of the public doesn't trust the media anymore. Instead of playing Fourth Estate watchdogs, these journalists have been nicely asking the courts of Israel for permission to do their jobs. Nevermind the fact the Israeli government and Hamas are controlling the story and spewing propaganda. It's still a good idea to wait on one of these governments to allow you into a region when they can control what you see.
Grow some balls.
Do your jobs. Please. You're only hurting yourselves through your laziness and ignorance. Don't moan about how hard it is. If were easy, we wouldn't need professional journalists in the first place!
Journalists are expected to add value to what people on the ground tell us in order to curate and inform the mass-public about the actions of governments, industry, and events of the day. How can we do any of that if we're not able to report!?
Journalists. Step up. Now.
How to Save Afghanistan – TIME
Our efforts in nation-building, governance and counternarcotics should be smaller and more creative. This is not because these issues are unimportant; they are vital for Afghanistan's future. But only the Afghan government has the legitimacy, the knowledge and the power to build a nation. The West's supporting role is at best limited and uncertain.
-How to Save Afghanistan - TIME
TIME's article How to Save Afghanistan is fantastically written and simply worded. It presents a surprisingly easy solution for how to fix Afghanistan – do less.
The solution is deceptively simple when you think about it. We suck at building a government. We're good at education (well, better than Afghanistan anyway). We're good at farming. We can train an army. We can build power plants. Let's stop trying to fight all these insurgents. Let's stop trying to tell the Afghans how to run their country. Let's just give them the support ask for to build their country up. If they try to build something we don't like? We don't support it.
Transforming a nation of 32 million people is a task not for the West but for Afghans.
Audio Slideshow: Afghanistan’s Ongoing War
Members of D Company search for weapons in the village of Kajaki Olya. Many areas which the troops can patrol without incident by day fall under the sway of the Taliban at night.Some great photos and a really good script for the narration. Zalmai does a decent narration, but her voice lacks some of the emphasis that a good narrator requires. Well worth the watch, and worth hearing the story.
Don’t Get Caught Photoshopping, We’ll Laugh at You
-Iran: You Suck At Photoshop (updated) - Boing Boing
This week, the Iranian National Guard photoshopped a picture of their missile test to make it look like a missile the presumably failed to launch had taken to the air successfully.
Needless to say, when the Media Industry found out, they were outraged. Several top papers had already run the image on their front pages, and their corrections were necessarily harsh on Iran.
Boing Boing had a different take. They asked their readers to submit a funny photoshopped version of the same phone. My (and their) favorite above. (click for more)
The Other Front – Back in Kabul, Never at Peace – Tyler Hicks – NYTimes.Com
-The Other Front - Back in Kabul, Never at Peace - Photographer's Journal - Tyler Hicks - NYTimes.com
Interesting but rather brief audio slideshow by Tyler Hicks on Kabul.
Hicks narrates the show himself in a boring, monotone voice, and with some slow string music in the background. I'd have liked to hear more details like the escalator, but I do really like the choice to crop all photos wide and short.
Blogging Off an Car Battery
Normally, I would add a short article like this to my Tumblr feed with a few tags and move on. But this is a really important story about the importance of spreading the freedom of the press to third world. Furthermore it's a great example of how an educated (literate) populace needs a Fourth Estate to assure that the government remains in check.
I don't often go for human interest stories, but this is truly inspirational.
 |
Meet Afghanistan's most fearless blogger -Slate Magazine |
The Middle East Gets Press Freedom?
“We aim to produce an excellent newspaper out of the region” that will set a new standard for other publications to aspire to, said Hassan M. Fattah, the deputy editor, who was a correspondent for The New York Times in the Middle East before joining The National. “Being government-owned does not equal being government-run,” he said. “There are no ministers sitting in my office” telling the paper what to write.
-A New Mideast Paper Vows to Be Different - New York Times
Abu Dhabi has a new, free newspaper – despite being owned by the crown prince (and therefore the government) So far so good, today's front page of their website had a story about rock quarries producing too much dust for government standards. The story not quite an exposè – it's actually not even new news, and the story doesn't specify the government's role in the matter beyond saying that the judiciary has already ruled on the matter. However, it is a good issue to call attention to, and good to see on a front page of a newspaper that's trying to separate itself from the government.
Already, the paper has attracted some serious competition: on Monday, The Financial Times of London said that it was introducing a new edition for the Middle East, with editorial offices based in Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi is one of the more westernized countries in the Middle East, and things look good so far, but it's definitely a 'wait and see' case.
Pakistan: Great US Ally?
Maulvi Omar, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said his group had demanded Mohammad's release in discussions with the government.
"We hope the government will take more such confidence-building measures," he said.
-Pro-Taliban Leader Released by Pakistan - washingtonpost.com
So much for not negotiating with terrorists: the Pakistani government strikes again. First they ask us not to cross their borders – they will take care of their terrorist problem on their own thank you very much.
Well, looks like their way of taking care of it, is to release prisoner in exchange for talks. I understand that Pakistan doesn't want the US "meddling" in what are admittedly, their affairs, but this is just another problem that the US has and cannot control.
[House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] added that Bush needs to tell the American people how keeping 140,000 troops in Iraq will help reduce the threat the nation faces because the U.S. military is bogged down in Iraq, what conditions will be needed for further troop withdrawals beyond July and how much longer the threat from extremists hiding along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border will be allowed to "grow because our resource commitment in Iraq makes is impossible to respond adequately."
Inside Saudi Arabia. – By Nicholas Schmidle – Slate Magazine
At his home in Riyadh, his family kept a Filipino cook, driver, and maid who washed his briefs. "I don't know how to cook or to clean my clothes," he told me. "So, whenever I am in the United States, I just wear my underwear once … and then throw them away."
Inside Saudi Arabia. - By Nicholas Schmidle - Slate Magazine
What a great quote to pull out in a brief article about the state of social progression in Saudi Arabia. The article is short, but worth a read to get an idea of what a modern, islamist, monarchy is like.
The Power of Photo Editorial Decisions
Speaking at the parade, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was the most powerful nation in the world.
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Iran shows off its military might
The laughable statement made by Ahmadinejad is just another in is list of half-truths and lies that he's said on the world stage.
This however, is not what I want to address. This article, which is not much more than large blurb (it has no direct quotes, is only 11 paragraphs), is accompanied by the photograph above.
Now, I can guarantee that there are shots of large missiles, tanks, and even the 200+ aircraft that flew over as part of the parade. The editor, however, chose this rather humorous picture of Iranian troops on ¿dirt bikes? It looks like they're riding two to a bike.
I think that this a perfect example of editorial bias – for the better.
China ‘Gold Medal’ For Executions – BBC
In case you're wondering what all the Olympic torch protestors have been complaining about, the BBC is running an article about a recent report from Amnesty International on the death penalty around the world. The article focuses on China.
"As the world's biggest executioner, China gets the 'gold medal' for global executions," said the organisation's UK director, Kate Allen.
"According to reliable estimates, on average China secretly executes around 22 prisoners every day - that's 374 people during the Olympic Games," she added.
Apparently, the idea of capital crimes is a bit different in China than the rest of the world:
More than 60 crimes can carry the death penalty in China, including tax fraud, stealing VAT receipts, damaging electric power facilities, selling counterfeit medicine, embezzlement, accepting bribes and drug offences, Amnesty [International] said.
…and the idea of due process is a bit different than western states:
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville, in Beijing, says justice is usually swift - most of those sentenced to death are executed only weeks after they are found guilty.
The article then goes on to discuss the findings in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries – where the death penalty is also prevalent. Iran was the only country to have more reported capital punishments than China.
The report and article end with a call for the world to stop employing the death penalty.
Iranian Blogosphere Tests Government’s Limits – New York Times
Like women who inch their head scarves back to see how much hair they can show or people who flout the ban on alcohol by drinking at home, bloggers seem to be testing just how far they can push. And, like Iran’s other rule breakers, some pay a price.
Iranian Blogosphere Tests Government’s Limits - New York Times
Blogging from Iran is … challenging. The Iranian judicial system is divided into two. The first is essentially a criminal court, they try things like murder or theft. The second is a religious court which can try … anything that is declared to be against the Islamic state of Iran.
It's a dangerous place to test the limits.
Turkey Court Takes Politically Explosive Case – New York Times
Turkey Court Takes Politically Explosive Case - New York Times
The secular government of Turkey has gotten the Supreme Court to hear a case on banning their main party from politics. The competing party, which insists that they to are secular has been increasing in popularity and represents the single biggest challenger to the current government.
My question is this: Which is less democratic: to ban a religiously tilted political party or to ban a political party?
Muslim ‘Hearts and Minds’
"At first I thought these were American soldiers and I wanted them to leave but when they said they were Muslims I knew they were our brothers," a young Afghan man says.
Muslim Troops Help Win Afgan Minds – BBC News
Apparently, the United Arab Emirates (the UAE, a small little country south of Iraq for those not familiar with the region's geography) has secretly had troops in Afghanistan helping both the American and British soldiers on the 'hearts and minds' campaign.
Fascinating and really good to hear.
In Shiite Slums, Victory Must Be Won in the Alleys – New York Times
Here is what happens in the dream: Because I know a little Arabic, I somehow find myself a translator for the invaders, even as some of my Chicago buddies are in the alleys plotting against my employers. And each night when I walk home along my beloved Dearborn Street under the rusty elevated tracks and past the White Hen grocery store, I wonder what the guys poring over maps in their armored vehicles plan to accomplish against a few million South Siders fighting in their own alleys. That’s usually when I wake up.
In Shiite Slums, Victory Must Be Won in the Alleys - New York Times
An incredibly personal account by James Glanz, who tells the rather amazing story of Sadar City from a depressingly personal way that shows greater knowledge of the Iraqi political and cultural realm. It's a short and good read.
Behind the Lens With John Moore – Pop Photo
No matter how long you're in this business of conflict photography you will always feel fear. When you no longer feel it, then it's time to get out.
- John Moore
US Death Toll in Iraq Hits 4,000
The milestones for each 1,000 deaths — while an arbitrary marker — serve to rivet attention on the war and have come during a range of pivotal moments.
Five Years in Iraq
Been meaning to post this for a while now: Fantastic collection of photos from Iraq. Truly some of the best I've seen. Five Years in Iraq - Photo Essays - TIME
Election Day – The Digital Journalist
Election Day - The Digital Journalist A very cool dispatch that of the election in Pakistan – uneventful and remarkable for being so.
