"...our job as journalists..(is to) say to people, '...This is something you should know about...'"

[Up2Late]

-- Allen Pizzey on CBS's "The Public Eye"

Another part of this interview, his comments about John McCain's stupid Baghdad Market comment, was already posted, but I thought this part was very important too, at least to those of us who miss being able to Watch the T.V. News that isn't an insult to our intelligence.

Here's the link: <http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/04/04/publiceye/entry2648776.shtml>

Brian Montopoli just asked him about why he thinks none of the American "news" Media is covering the problem areas in Africa...

Brian Montopoli: Do you think that it's due, primarily, to lack of interest from news consumers? Or is it also an issue of news organizations not having a lot of people out there? Or both?

Allen Pizzey: I think it's a combination of both, although news organizations will tell you "Oh, people don't want to read about it, people don't want to see it on television." Well, how do you know that if they don't?

I think that part of our job as journalists, as news organizations, is to go out and say to people, "this is an important news story. This is something you should know about. This is something that cannot be ignored. This is something that affects you. We've gone and found it for you. Here it is." If you don't want to read it, don't want to look at it, OK fine. But we have a certain responsibility to go out and tell people about things that are happening.

You can't get away not spending money by saying, "Oh, well, people don't want to know about anyway." Well, they may not want to know because they don't know. So maybe we ought to tell them. And that's probably the biggest problem of all.

We don't have enough people there – news budgets have been crunched, and so you spend your money where it needs to go. I've just come from Baghdad, which is a great, sucking black hole for money as far as newspapers and television stations are concerned. So it is an excuse, because you have to cover Iraq. But I think that more effort could be and should be put into covering places like Africa.

(more at link) <http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/04/04/publiceye/entry2648776.shtml>

[Gabi Hayes]

1. more effort could be, and should be, put into covering....

Washington DC. there are enough stories about criminally insane kleptocrats to employ all the journalists in the world until the end of time as we currently understand it, and STILL not untangle the byzantine web of treason, murder, depredation, constitutional destruction, and ordinary corruption they've unleashed upon the our country, not to mention the world

we'll NEVER understand breadth and depth of what they've 'accomplished' in their brief reign of error/terror

I daresay the legacy of this filthy regime will have FAR worse, far more longlasting effects on the earth than even Hitler or Stalin did. could be wrong, but I doubt it.

[babylonsister]

2. I know:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3200319

But this made DU's home page:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x584122

I'm happy it's out there.

[Kurovski]

3. It's always good to hear from good journalists.

K&R.

[Up2Late]

4. kick n/t

:kick: