Results matching “eason jordan af 1”

Thanks to CBS - Public Eye for inviting me to participate to their media debate. I tried to look at American Journalism from a European perspective:

"What worries me most is the process of self-destruction into which American journalism seems to be falling since the wave of grassroots or “citizen journalism.” It is very difficult to understand how theories such as “news is no longer a lecture but a conversation” and “breaking news is the beginning, not the end of the news process” have imposed themselves on the media scene...

... Take the case of Eason Jordan -- most of the pressure in the blogosphere was placed on Jordan to resign, completely overshadowing the real issue -- whether journalists were being targeted in Iraq. A small number of bloggers were able to turn the attention of the public and the media from major issues to secondary details..."

Citizen journalism has been haunting newsrooms since Dan Gillmor wrote We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People in 2004. Suddenly, for Gillmor epigone and imitators (not for Gillmor himself), there was a new hero, the citizen journalist, struggling against a bad guy called the traditional journalist.

In fact a very bad guy this old journo: outdated, working for a mainstream media – disgusting, isn’t it ? -, linked to corporate interests, limited by the newsroom horizon, not very well connected (nor well educated) and with no knowledge of what can interest average people! Moreover, truth and accuracy were no longer his cup of tea…

On the contrary, the citizen journalist had so many qualities: as a newcomer, he was young, fresh, innocent, independent, with a lot of new ideas on journalism and democracy and on top of that a real love of truth.

But the problem is that this ideal citizen journalist only exists in some bloggers’ views.

Strange article from David Schlesinger, global managing editor and head of editorial operations for Reuters in the International Herald Tribune. Schlesinger doesn't believe that journalists have been targeted by U.S. military and his position is shared by a large majority of media analysts (see below excerpts of his article). So, what's the issue?

What is not acceptable is to generalize the word "journalists" as if there was no difference between Western journalists (or Arab journalists working for Western media) and Arab journalists. That is not the case. When reporters from Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya were killed in very specific conditions in Irak, who cared? The media and the organizations to ask for serious inquiries were scarce: the issue is that, almost systematically, double standard is applied!. It explains why - as Schlesinger does - you can consider that the community of journalists is not targeted. And in fact you forget that, in this "community", some journalists are seen as "friends" and some others as "hostile reporters". On the battlefield, ask Arab journalists or editors, they know that this idea of "community" is a myth...

I regret that David Schlesinger doesn't mention that, but I appreciate this first reflexion on journalists' safety. Here are some quotes of his article: "With Eason Jordan's resignation from CNN, newly powerful bloggers reveled in their unseating of another mainstream-media powerhouse. The term "Easongate" briefly entered the English language. And world attention was distracted from the serious issue of journalists' safety... I personally do not believe that journalists have been targeted... I know that too many journalists have been killed and kidnapped, and I know that to keep the vital flow of news out of that country going, we need to do everything in our power to make the situation safer.

Strange article from David Schlesinger, global managing editor and head of editorial operations for Reuters in the International Herald Tribune. Schlesinger doesn't believe that journalists have been targeted by U.S. military and his position is shared by a large majority of media analysts (see below excerpts of his article). So, what's the issue?

What is not acceptable is to generalize the word "journalists" as if there was no difference between Western journalists (or Arab journalists working for Western media) and Arab journalists. That is not the case. When reporters from Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya were killed in very specific conditions in Irak, who cared? The media and the organizations to ask for serious inquiries were scarce: the issue is that, almost systematically, double standard is applied!. It explains why - as Schlesinger does - you can consider that the community of journalists is not targeted. And in fact you forget that, in this "community", some journalists are seen as "friends" and some others as "hostile reporters". On the battlefield, ask Arab journalists or editors, they know that this idea of "community" is a myth...

I regret that David Schlesinger doesn't mention that, but I appreciate this first reflexion on journalists' safety. Here are some quotes of his article: "With Eason Jordan's resignation from CNN, newly powerful bloggers reveled in their unseating of another mainstream-media powerhouse. The term "Easongate" briefly entered the English language. And world attention was distracted from the serious issue of journalists' safety... I personally do not believe that journalists have been targeted... I know that too many journalists have been killed and kidnapped, and I know that to keep the vital flow of news out of that country going, we need to do everything in our power to make the situation safer.

Comments by Eason Jordan, Chief News Executive of CNN, at a World Economic Forum (WEF) panel in Davos, Switzerland, concerning journalists killed in Irak have stirred up controversy in the blogging world. Apparently, Jordan, perhaps speaking before thinking, implied that journalists had been the targets of US soldiers. Accounts of the discussion vary and the WEF will not release the tapes. Some, such as David Gergen of Harvard's Kennedy School and US News, assert that Jordan did indeed say something to that effect, but quickly clarified his statement saying that he didn't believe they had been targeted specifically because they were journalists. Others, like Barney Frank, a US Congressman, said Jordan backed off on his comments and when asked to provide proof in order to start an investigation, did not respond. Richard Sambrook, Director of BBC World Service and Global News, gives his own opinion of the situation on PressThink: "This culture of "closing ranks" coupled with hostile comments about the media from senior politicians and others, has led some in the media community (not necessarily Eason or myself) to believe the military are careless as to whether journalists are killed or not and to no longer respect the traditional right to report." Sambrook is now "leading an international committee of inquiry into the reasons for the major increase in journalist fatalities around the world," in hopes of improving journalists' safety and facilitating investigations into their deaths.

Source: PressThink and BuzzMachine. See also The Washington Post (registration required).