In a time of war, great journalists are rare. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is a truly unique reporter. His recent dispatches from deep inside Yemen, including Al-Qaeda territory, were remarkable. Now he’s inside Syria, alongside rebel forces (his photos are here). Read him to understand what is happening inside a civil war: The column of eight rebel…
Category General
How to interview an alleged war criminal part 1
Look and learn journalists, admiring the powerful isn’t how it’s done. Here’s an Irish interviewer talking to George W. Bush in 2006: Today, America gives the world Thomas Friedman, a New York Times columnist who loves to dish out American fire power and takes no responsibility when it causes chaos.
An alternative view from Damascus on a war we barely understand
French journalist Thierry Meyssan, with a controversial record, has sent the following dispatch from Damascus, in French, and below is a rough translation from a French friend of mine. One more piece of the exceedingly complex Syrian puzzle: Damas, the volcano’s been extinguished This is 23 July at 7 pm and we are standing on…
Why profit-making prisons distort justice
The outrage of vulture capitalism in practice (via the American Constitution Society): The failed “war on drugs” certainly helped the proliferation of for-profit prisons, but the federal government’s increasing reliance on many of the same companies to detain undocumented immigrants and others awaiting court resolutions is not only furthering private prison profits but the need…
Breaking news; CIA is fairly clueless in Syria (and that’s fine, by the way)
This Washington Post story is written with sadness. If only the CIA had any clue about the reality inside Syria, it implies, they could do what they do in many nations around the world and meddle in internal affairs: Sixteen months into… the uprising in Syria, the United States is struggling to develop a clear understanding…
New Yorker editor on writing profiles
David Remnick, just out with this stunning piece on Bruce Springsteen, talks about profile writing: STORYBOARD: The Art of the Profile with David Remnick of ‘The New Yorker’ from Tumblr on Vimeo.
What everybody has done to Afghanistan (screw it up)
The legacy of 30 years of war in Afghanistan is profound. A recently released report of atrocities during the Soviet era highlights individuals currently in high positions of government. So much for accountability and thank you Western nations for ignoring such things when enabling these forces. And if you think the US-led occupation is coming…
How do we define terrorism? Anybody who’s opposed to us
Medialens ask the questions most in the media aren’t: When is an act of terrorism not terrorism? When the victims are officially sanctioned state enemies. This was clear from the political and media response to the assassinations of senior ministers of the Syrian ”˜regime’. On 18 July, a… bomb attack… on the national security headquarters in Damascus…
What is tearing Syria apart
The horrors inside Syria are increasingly clear. This is both a civil war and a proxy war with various powers determined to oppose and isolate Iran. Here’s a very powerful piece in today’s New York Times by Janine di Giovanni that highlights the chaos of Assad’s Syria: What does it feel like when a war…
McClatchy teaches journalists how to be real journalists
McClatchy’s Washington Bureau just sent out this important directive. Mainstream media, listen and learn: To our staff and to our readers: As you are aware, reporters from The New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg and others are agreeing to give government sources the right to clear and alter quotes as a prerequisite to granting an…