20424: Severe: RE: 20387: (Chamberlain) 20366: Antoine: (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Constantin Severe <csevere@hotmail.com>

   The Press coverage of Haiti so far has been in my opinion has been mixed.
Some of it has been brilliant(Sun-Sentinel, esp. Tim Collie), some of it
inane(BBC reporter--racine is the Haitian version of rock n' roll), and
others just misinformed(see the previous, Goniaves 25 miles from PaP). I
understand a lot of the reporters, particularly the Americans, don't speak
French much less Creole and end up relying on certain gatekeepers of
info(Haitian Media, spokesmen for the different political factions, and
members of the political elite) as their sources. But, the cut and paste
jobs that I've had to read in the AP and some of the other wire services
that could of come straight out of a 184 press release are inexcusable.

   Seriously, how can someone call Radiovision 2000 "independent?"  The
response that M. Chamberlain gave on that issue didn't really persuade me.
If we contrast what's going on in Haiti with the recent elections in Spain
it might clear up my point. A recent news story quoted an anti government
radio station and called the station  "left-leaning."  Did that cause me to
rip up my newspaper and say that the radio station's opinion was wasn't
worth listening to? No, I was able to weigh the station's bias against the
government and continue reading the story. In the current Haiti crisis many
of the radio stations being quoted by the foreign press have their own
agenda when it comes to the issues of the day. It would of been nice if the
press would have taken a little of time to identify the radio station's
political affiliation. Stamping "independent" on someone and being done with
it because of some rusty journalistic canon is lazy and doesn't inform the
reader. A little context would be nice.


              Constantin

_________________________________________________________________
One-click access to Hotmail from any Web page – download MSN Toolbar now!
http://clk.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/