I've written for newspapers and magazines, but I've always been apprehensive about calling myself a journalist because it was never my major in college. In fact, my college didn't even have that as a major. I've always been fascinated by the career itself, however, and learning about all the obstacles that go along with getting a story.
If you share my interest in anything having to do with the media, and independent media especially, you'll probably enjoy Democracy on Deadline, which appears as part of the PBS series Independent Lens on November 21 at 10 pm. The documentary looks at independent journalists in several parts of the world, from right here in the United States to places like Russia and the Middle East. In the US, the problem for journalists is breaking through the wall of secrecy put up by the Bush White House during the days leading up to the Iraq war, and during the war itself. The documentary does not, however, place all blame on the government, it also points out how shoddy journalistic standards and a disinterested public have played a significant role in slowing down the flow of information.
The special also goes inside Haaretz, the only Israeli newspaper with reporters assigned exclusively to covering Palestine, which makes the paper a traitor to Israel in the eyes of many Israelis. One reporter laments on the difficulty of making citizens understand what the role of a newspaper is supposed to be, which is not to champion one side or the other, but to get information out to the people.
The opinions of the American journalists are interesting enough, but the most affecting scenes from the documentary come from abroad, where simply being a journalist can be a death sentence. One reporter for a Russian newspaper who tries to work around the strict restrictions Putin has put on journalists finds herself served poisoned tea on an airplane, but miraculously making a full recovery. This same journalist later interviews the mother of a fallen soldier who has gone completely bald from stress.
Clips from the documentary can be seen here.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-10-2006 @ 1:33PM
gomered said...
no wonder Israelis think of it as a traitor, 'cos Israel seems to have an ultimate weapon for it's enemies: forgettness
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11-10-2006 @ 6:34PM
Jerri said...
Haaretz may think/claim/hallucinate it's the only newspaper covering the Palestinians, but that's obviously their way to create an interesting spin to explain why they have the smallest amount of readers. Off course they're not the only ones - every other major newspaper in Israel has reporters on the Palestinian front (including all the TV channels) – its an absurd and stupid claim considering the fact that most of the non- Haaretz reporters on the subject (like Tsvi Yecheskely or Yoram bin Nur) are practically celebrities given the amount of time and exposure they get, and other reporters (like Saliman el Shaphy or Ali Waked are Palestinian themselves, unlike Haaretz' white-Ashkenazi reporters. Some of them - like Gideon Levy - don't even bother learning Arabic). The "traitors" stigma given to the newspaper has noting to do with having Palestinian reporters, and has more to do with the fact that while most of the Israeli newspapers have diverse opinions and reports on matters of the day, Haaretz insists on being one sides and on not correcting errors (which cost them heavily in several publicized liability trials).
It's really sad how American TV shows are so easily duped into airing such lies, haven't they heard of research?
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