Making News, Not Breaking It
This document was uploaded by user and they confirmed that they have the permission to share it. If you are author or own the copyright of this book, please report to us by using this DMCA report form. Report DMCA
Overview
Download & View Making News, Not Breaking It as PDF for free.
More details
- Words: 1,008
- Pages: 2
iamnews.com - article : Making the news, not breaking it
26/09/09 7:31 PM
Hey Lina /
Newsroom
$0.00 /
/ My Account / Log Out
My News
Post items
We're test running iamnews. Learn more Home / Newsroom / Article
Delete
Making the news, not breaking it Added 1 minute ago / Location:
India / In Political News
Tags: Media | Iraq | citizen | journalist Word Count: 715
Edit
<<More Articles
Contact owner for more info
License This
Last Update: 26/09/2009 10:00:00
Making the news, not breaking it It wasn’t a bomb. Not even a grenade. It was an ordinary article of daily use that got thrown at the president of the world’s most officious nation. It must be something really confounding the people who guard the powerful of the world. Because you can run security checks and extract pencil bombs, knives, pepper spray or the other paraphernalia of our fearful times. But how can you prevent people from walking in with their shoes on, or for that matter with a hard book, or other potential everyday ‘missiles’? Everyday. That’s the key. Because Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw a pair of shoes at US President George Bush, was not just a member of the media. He represents the everyman. The ordinary persons whose lives are turned upside down by the political establishment of their own and other countries, but who in the ordinary course of events just shrug, and continue as best as they can. When a dam displaces them, they move to a city slum. When they lose their life’s small savings to a bank scam, they blame it on their own bad luck, just suffering the slings and arrows of fortune. It’s the stuff of which resistance fighters are emphatically not made. What then, could have pushed this quiet young man into doing something that put him in prison, and could well have ended in his peremptory hanging from the nearest tree, if the Americans hadn’t been so keen to prove how much they believed in a fair trial (never mind Guantanamo). Was it a premeditated assault or a spontaneous moment of unendurable anger at seeing the invader felicitated, the man responsible for turning his country into shambles? A bit like expecting the Palestinians cheer on Netanyahu or the victims of Ahmedabad pay tributes to Narendra Modi. Or for that matter, the perpetrators of 9/11 being felicitated at Harvard. Except, of course, that Muntazer al-Zaidi is a journalist. In which capacity he got the sort of access to President Bush that the ordinary Iraqi citizen wouldn’t have. One could argue that he abused that privilege, or that he used the opportunity brilliantly. The stories of al-Zaidi, and others who were inspired by his act, such as Indian journalist Kuldip Singh, who threw his shoe at India’s home minister P Chidambaram to protest inaction against an accused in the 1984 Sikh killings, have sparked off a debate about the extent of engagement permissible for members of the press, who are expected to be objective. Neutral. Not taking stands. This argument is a little flawed when you consider that the media nowadays is part of the charmed circle, whose members usually flaunt their closeness to politicians, or are subject to business lobbies favoured by their publishers. In that sense, al-Zaidi represents the old fashioned reporter whose faculties haven’t been dimmed by pelf. Then again, reportage of any sort, inevitably involves a point of view. Al-Zaidi’s usual course of action could have been to highlight the inadequacies of the US/Iraqi regime. Artists and journalists have, in past such situations, used poems, protests, provocative theatre or other intellectual means to make their point. Choosing to take personal hands-on action, and his choice of a shoe as a weapon, specifically insulting in eastern cultures, argues a far more intense and personal response. Here is where the line between journalist and citizen blurs.
About the author Lina ( Lina Krishnan ) Writer
Rank :
0
by 0 users
Varied communication projects over 18 years. Environment projects for TV, Programme Mgmt. at the United Nations, writing for print and web, NGO work. Began with advertising (copy, campaigns, training creative teams). An exposure to grassroots projects prompted a switch to environment and development communications. Last job as outreach manager/website editor involved turning research findings into popular communication. For my articles, see http://www.pdfcoke.com/chalkabout
Complete Profile >> Location: India Member since Jun 01,2009
Latest Content Making the news, not breaking it Dreaming inside a dark room Jaduguda Fallout Barpak gets a ropeway
More In this topic (96) More from India (75)
But if you move away from the motives and look at the effects, look at the sheer awareness his simple but daring act brought to the issues belabouring the Iraqi people. Overnight, a disparate society of war-weary Iraqis and other oppressed societies, had found a new cause to rally around, a new form of expression. Every nation that has felt the pinch of US bullying could empathise. Writers like Arundhati Roy have talked about the value of taking matters head-on. When criticised by Ramachandra Guha for her strident activist writings, she responded, "I am hysterical. I'm screaming from the bloody rooftops. And he and his smug little club are going 'Shhhh.. you'll wake the neighbours!' I want to wake the neighbours, that's my whole point. I want everybody to open their http://www.iamnews.com/Users/Lina/Articles/Making%20the%20news,%20not%20breaking%20it
Page 1 of 2
iamnews.com - article : Making the news, not breaking it
26/09/09 7:31 PM
eyes". So maybe it’s on the wrong foot, but the message is straight from the heart. Lina Krishnan, Bangalore, India
License This
Contact owner for more info
<< Back To Lina Newsroom
Comments Add Your Comment
Add this Comment
Newsroom:
What is iamnews.com?
Looking for reporters, photographers, experts and more: Main Business Entertainment
It is an open content exchange spot that connects publishers and contributors from around the world. Join iamnews here
Health & Lifestyle
Political News
Technology
Travel
Sports
World News
About Blog Contact Terms Privacy Help
http://www.iamnews.com/Users/Lina/Articles/Making%20the%20news,%20not%20breaking%20it
Page 2 of 2
26/09/09 7:31 PM
Hey Lina /
Newsroom
$0.00 /
/ My Account / Log Out
My News
Post items
We're test running iamnews. Learn more Home / Newsroom / Article
Delete
Making the news, not breaking it Added 1 minute ago / Location:
India / In Political News
Tags: Media | Iraq | citizen | journalist Word Count: 715
Edit
<<More Articles
Contact owner for more info
License This
Last Update: 26/09/2009 10:00:00
Making the news, not breaking it It wasn’t a bomb. Not even a grenade. It was an ordinary article of daily use that got thrown at the president of the world’s most officious nation. It must be something really confounding the people who guard the powerful of the world. Because you can run security checks and extract pencil bombs, knives, pepper spray or the other paraphernalia of our fearful times. But how can you prevent people from walking in with their shoes on, or for that matter with a hard book, or other potential everyday ‘missiles’? Everyday. That’s the key. Because Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw a pair of shoes at US President George Bush, was not just a member of the media. He represents the everyman. The ordinary persons whose lives are turned upside down by the political establishment of their own and other countries, but who in the ordinary course of events just shrug, and continue as best as they can. When a dam displaces them, they move to a city slum. When they lose their life’s small savings to a bank scam, they blame it on their own bad luck, just suffering the slings and arrows of fortune. It’s the stuff of which resistance fighters are emphatically not made. What then, could have pushed this quiet young man into doing something that put him in prison, and could well have ended in his peremptory hanging from the nearest tree, if the Americans hadn’t been so keen to prove how much they believed in a fair trial (never mind Guantanamo). Was it a premeditated assault or a spontaneous moment of unendurable anger at seeing the invader felicitated, the man responsible for turning his country into shambles? A bit like expecting the Palestinians cheer on Netanyahu or the victims of Ahmedabad pay tributes to Narendra Modi. Or for that matter, the perpetrators of 9/11 being felicitated at Harvard. Except, of course, that Muntazer al-Zaidi is a journalist. In which capacity he got the sort of access to President Bush that the ordinary Iraqi citizen wouldn’t have. One could argue that he abused that privilege, or that he used the opportunity brilliantly. The stories of al-Zaidi, and others who were inspired by his act, such as Indian journalist Kuldip Singh, who threw his shoe at India’s home minister P Chidambaram to protest inaction against an accused in the 1984 Sikh killings, have sparked off a debate about the extent of engagement permissible for members of the press, who are expected to be objective. Neutral. Not taking stands. This argument is a little flawed when you consider that the media nowadays is part of the charmed circle, whose members usually flaunt their closeness to politicians, or are subject to business lobbies favoured by their publishers. In that sense, al-Zaidi represents the old fashioned reporter whose faculties haven’t been dimmed by pelf. Then again, reportage of any sort, inevitably involves a point of view. Al-Zaidi’s usual course of action could have been to highlight the inadequacies of the US/Iraqi regime. Artists and journalists have, in past such situations, used poems, protests, provocative theatre or other intellectual means to make their point. Choosing to take personal hands-on action, and his choice of a shoe as a weapon, specifically insulting in eastern cultures, argues a far more intense and personal response. Here is where the line between journalist and citizen blurs.
About the author Lina ( Lina Krishnan ) Writer
Rank :
0
by 0 users
Varied communication projects over 18 years. Environment projects for TV, Programme Mgmt. at the United Nations, writing for print and web, NGO work. Began with advertising (copy, campaigns, training creative teams). An exposure to grassroots projects prompted a switch to environment and development communications. Last job as outreach manager/website editor involved turning research findings into popular communication. For my articles, see http://www.pdfcoke.com/chalkabout
Complete Profile >> Location: India Member since Jun 01,2009
Latest Content Making the news, not breaking it Dreaming inside a dark room Jaduguda Fallout Barpak gets a ropeway
More In this topic (96) More from India (75)
But if you move away from the motives and look at the effects, look at the sheer awareness his simple but daring act brought to the issues belabouring the Iraqi people. Overnight, a disparate society of war-weary Iraqis and other oppressed societies, had found a new cause to rally around, a new form of expression. Every nation that has felt the pinch of US bullying could empathise. Writers like Arundhati Roy have talked about the value of taking matters head-on. When criticised by Ramachandra Guha for her strident activist writings, she responded, "I am hysterical. I'm screaming from the bloody rooftops. And he and his smug little club are going 'Shhhh.. you'll wake the neighbours!' I want to wake the neighbours, that's my whole point. I want everybody to open their http://www.iamnews.com/Users/Lina/Articles/Making%20the%20news,%20not%20breaking%20it
Page 1 of 2
iamnews.com - article : Making the news, not breaking it
26/09/09 7:31 PM
eyes". So maybe it’s on the wrong foot, but the message is straight from the heart. Lina Krishnan, Bangalore, India
License This
Contact owner for more info
<< Back To Lina Newsroom
Comments Add Your Comment
Add this Comment
Newsroom:
What is iamnews.com?
Looking for reporters, photographers, experts and more: Main Business Entertainment
It is an open content exchange spot that connects publishers and contributors from around the world. Join iamnews here
Health & Lifestyle
Political News
Technology
Travel
Sports
World News
About Blog Contact Terms Privacy Help
http://www.iamnews.com/Users/Lina/Articles/Making%20the%20news,%20not%20breaking%20it
Page 2 of 2
Related Documents
Making News, Not Breaking It
June 2020 10
Breaking News
June 2020 12
Breaking News
July 2020 8
Breaking Bad News 8
August 2019 18
It Investment Decision Making
May 2020 10
Ccs Breaking Bad News Letter
August 2019 17More Documents from ""
Tripped
May 2020 15
Undercover Activity
May 2020 18
When Accidents Become The Norm (assamese)
May 2020 14
Nobody's Child
May 2020 8