Hard News: Spinning and soldiering
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It would be fair to say that Jon believes Garth had some help with his homework. Garth, in return, says he stands by everything he wrote. Things might get lively.
This would be a clue wouldnt it?
Were you perhaps intending to mention they would be your guests on a forthcoming Media 7?
:)
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"independent journalist", how does that differ from "political activist"?
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independent journalist", how does that differ from "political activist"?
Someone who asks questions and interpretes the multiple realities as opposed to someone who writes a short succinct phrase on a placcard?
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Neil Morrison, in reply to
Someone who asks questions and interpretes the multiple realities...
which could just as well describe Michael Laws. Not that I would mind if he called himself an independent journalist, that would not make up for being a complete dick.
I suppose I'm really aiming at the crusading journalists such as Pilger who for me are much more like political activists.
Jon Stephenson has some quite firm views on the politics of the Middle East, Israel and the US. Some of what he writes I would call journalism and some I would class as activism. Maybe that's just a measure of how much I agree or disagree and perhaps that's the defining factor for most people as well.
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Do you know / can you ask if the full paper will be available anywhere?
An independent journalist is a journalist who isn't contracted to a particular outlet. Doesn't necessarily mean they're particularly activist, just that they have to sell their output story by story. Which means they have to be good, have to be juicy, or have to have other jobs.
Laws is neither independent nor a journalist. But I guess he's juicy, and he does have other jobs.
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An independent journalist is a journalist who isn't contracted to a particular outlet.
So what's the difference between that and a freelancer?
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nzlemming, in reply to
| Someone who asks questions and interpretes the multiple realities…
which could just as well describe Michael Laws.
No. Laws asks questions, doesn’t wait for answers and then makes up multiple realities and spews them forth.
[edit] Ah, seems we can't nest quote tags. okay.
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Good on you for returning to this old chestnut Russell, It was 30 years ago today (or tomorrow figuring the time difference). How sorely his imperatives and challenges are missed.
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Does anyone know/would it be a good idea to ask, if reporting on NZ armed forces involvement in Afghanistan has anything like the constraints that reporters operate under when reporting on UK armed forces.
Reporters with UK forces have to abide by a set of conditions outlined in a publication called 'the blue book' (or something similar). It is, apparently, long, highly detailed, and highly presecriptive, to the extent that a lot of journalists don't bother. They would far rather embed with the US forces, where it is actually illegal to read a reporter's copy before he/she files it (which doesn't mean there aren't other ways of spinning the story).
If I can remeber where I saw the references, I'll post it up.
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One of the aspecst of independent journalists such as Pilger that I have a problem with is their consipratorial approach to how people arrive at their political opinions. That's the - "people have a different opinion to me on Afghanistan/Israel etc because the don'lt know the full story and they don't know the full story because of the capitalist media and the Lobby etc" theory.
I wonder if Jon Stephenson believes that NZers would not support the "illegal, immoral, and intractable conflict" if they were given the full story - ie the version of the full story he believes in. It sounds like he has that sort of theory about the relaltionship between journalism and public opinion.
I don't think things (ie the human mind) work that way and I think that view has potentially troublesum consequences.
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Martin Lindberg, in reply to
That's the - "people have a different opinion to me on Afghanistan/Israel etc because the don'lt know the full story and they don't know the full story because of the capitalist media and the Lobby etc" theory.
Well, it's not like that theory lacks examples to support it.
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Sorry, is it Garth George, Stephenson and Paul Buchanan tonight?
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If I can remember where I saw the references, I'll post it up.
OK, the UK armed forces document for journalists is called the green book.Copy here.
As it states, it was produced as a co-operative document between the army and various journalist organisations. But that notwithstanding, it has attacted rumblings of criticism from some quarters, such as this one:
no journalist can travel with the British in Helmand if he or she has not given signed agreement to an annex to the MoD "Green Book" which sets out the procedures for coverage, including the requirement for pre-publication approval of all text, audio, and pictures. A soldier even sits in on my interviews. No wonder American journalists decline to report on the British in Helmand. Their own government makes no such demands of the embedded press. Astonishingly, I learn the Newspaper Publishers Association, the National Union of Journalists, the Society of Editors and the BBC were consulted in producing the Green Book.
Does the NZ military have an equivalent? If so, what are it's requirements?
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Sorry, is it Garth George, Stephenson and Paul Buchanan tonight?
Yes, it is. Haven't had time to update the blog post.
PB first on embedded journalism, then JS and GG having it out.
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"then JS and GG having it out"
surely that'll just be some dude beating up a pensioner?
not that i don't think he deserves it.
uppercut Jon, uppercut!!
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Righto, you should watch this show. It rocked along from beginning to end.
The transition from Garth and Jon in mortal combat to Sarah Daniell discussing bad literary sex with Emily Perkins was particularly pleasing.
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This is off topic, but seemed the kind of thing GG would get on his geegees about.
National's Wayne Mapp, the only minister to speak during the debate, said offenders who were sent to jail lost their fundamental rights.
"It is surely logical that when you are incarcerated you also do not have the right to vote," he said.
First, no. Second, WTF?
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Sam F, in reply to
The transition from Garth and Jon in mortal combat to Sarah Daniell discussing bad literary sex with Emily Perkins was particularly pleasing.
After which the combat promptly resumed on the steps of the set. There was some vigorous gesticulating and after I heard the word 'credibility' a couple of times I decided to make for cover.
An excellent show - I would have liked to hear a little more from Paul Buchanan on embedded journalists; that was fascinating stuff. I was put in mind of Sebastian Junger's latest book on his experiences with a US unit in Afghanistan, which gives a great insight into the psychological effects of being embedded in a combat unit (thus depending on and to some degree identifying with the soldiers protecting you).
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After which the combat promptly resumed on the steps of the set. There was some vigorous gesticulating and after I heard the word 'credibility' a couple of times I decided to make for cover.
Wow, so Media 7 is going all Sally-Jessy? If there's going to be biffo I might actually show up for a recording!
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Wow, so Media 7 is going all Sally-Jessy? If there's going to be biffo I might actually show up for a recording!
If only they'd resumed hostilities while we were applauding for the credits - cameras were well off by that time.
I ended up chuckling a couple of times at the stuff Garth said, but I genuinely felt bad for it. It's more sad than anything that he remains arguably the highest-profile Herald columnist despite having had so little to say for so long. I don't think he's really up to mounting any kind of reasoned defence of his work, at least not from what I saw last night.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
After which the combat promptly resumed on the steps of the set. There was some vigorous gesticulating and after I heard the word 'credibility' a couple of times I decided to make for cover.
You may have noticed me bolting the second the credits ended and leaving them to it :-)
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recordari, in reply to
Prisoners banned from voting.
Is there a rule against replying to yourself?
So no one wants to pick this up? Some activity on Twitter. I'll go feed my indignation over there.
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Martin Lindberg, in reply to
"It is surely logical that when you are incarcerated you also do not have the right to vote,"
Anyone who clams that it is surely logical that if A then B is by default wrong. Doubly so in this case.
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Sacha, in reply to
show up for a recording
I highly recommend the experience
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