[Peace-discuss] media whores of babylon

[Ricky Baldwin]

I thought folks, particularly those interested in
media myopia, might like to see this letter from my
friend who's reporting from Baghdad these days...
 
> Dear Rolling Stone editors:
> 
> I’m an American reporter in Iraq. I interview Iraqis
> almost every day. 
> Two days ago, I narrowly escaped a bombing on the
> way back from 
> interviewing an Iraqi family. There are plenty of
> others like me, and we 
> all have similar stories.
> 
> So why did Janet Reitman claim that “American
> reporters seldom interview 
> actual Iraqis” in her lazy, inaccurate piece about
> Iraq? 
> [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story?id=6186837]
> Because she never 
> met us; she spent most of her time hanging out with
> other reporters in 
> their hotels. As a result, her story--all 5,393
> words of it--does not 
> quote a single “actual Iraqi.” Unless you count the
> Iraqis talking to 
> other American reporters--you know, the ones who
> “seldom interview 
> Iraqis”--while she was tagging along.
> 
> But maybe I’m being unfair. There is a grain of
> truth in Reitman’s 
> article: there are journalists in Iraq who don’t hit
> the streets, who 
> waste their days sitting around the pool with other
> reporters. They’re 
> the ones who work for Rolling Stone, and places like
> it. You can’t 
> really blame them: why interview Iraqis, when
> magazine editors in New 
> York don’t give a damn about them?
> 
> Rolling Stone, you’ve rejected plenty of articles
> about Iraqis, from 
> myself and my colleagues, in favor of promoting Bush
> Administration lies 
> about us. It’s beyond hypocritical of you to parrot
> Pentagon propaganda 
> about war correspondents, reporters who are risking
> their lives to write 
> about Iraqis, when you haven’t bothered to run a
> single article about an 
> Iraqi during this war. (Or so I gather from your
> online archives—sorry, 
> but we don’t have Barnes & Noble here in Baghdad.) I
> challenge you to 
> publish an article—just one!—about an Iraqi. You may
> not find Iraqis a 
> sexy enough topic, especially when compared to your
> own colleagues, but 
> I assure you that your readers would.
> 
> And Janet Reitman, next time you’re in Iraq, I dare
> you to spend just 
> one day walking around Baghdad with me, talking to
> ordinary Iraqis. I 
> think you’ll find it’s a lot more interesting—not to
> mention tougher and 
> riskier--than hanging around the pool with other
> Americans, repackaging 
> Paul Wolfowitz and Danielle Pletka’s party line.
> 
> Annia Ciezadlo
> Baghdad
> 
> -- 
> 
> Annia Ciezadlo 
> Baghdad
> Iraqna 0790-1-450-324
> 
> From outside Iraq: 
> +964-790-1-450-324 (and keep trying)
> 
> 
> 



		
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