Comments on: Reporting Alan Johnston http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/ Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:53:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Jon http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-8044 Jon Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:00:50 +0000 http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-8044 ...and his motivation is? …and his motivation is?

]]> By: Frank http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-8041 Frank Fri, 01 Jun 2007 10:46:49 +0000 http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-8041 Alan Johnston is a conartist. There is no such thing as the "Army of Islam" group. It`s just a scam that Johnston himself cooked up as a political stunt. Meanwhile, he looks and healthy after taking is vacation. Johnston wasn`t kidnapped by terrorists .. he himself is a terrorist. Alan Johnston is a conartist.

There is no such thing as the “Army of Islam” group. It`s just a scam that Johnston himself cooked up as a political stunt.

Meanwhile, he looks and healthy after taking is vacation.

Johnston wasn`t kidnapped by terrorists .. he himself is a terrorist.

]]> By: Philbert http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7775 Philbert Tue, 29 May 2007 21:50:32 +0000 http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7775 Steve, you're an intelligent guy - don't become a polarised steroetype!! It's this kind of closed-minded thinking that perpetuates the troubles in this part of the world. Just because Alan Johnston is described by his family (and not by the BBC - this was a quote from his father) as "a friend of the Palestinian people" this does not mean a priori that he isn't a friend of the Israeli people, the French people, the Welsh people... "The People" aren't the ones who are firing rockets, launching airstrikes, blowing people up in pizza restaurants, pontificating on the political stage... "The people" are the ones whose shops are empty, whose wages haven't been paid in months, whose very fabric of life is being torn apart by the intransigence of politicians on all sides. Alan Johnston was reporting the story of PEOPLE Steve, people like you and I who are just trying to get on with their lives but don't have the privileges we have. It could have been anywhere in the world - they could have been suffering for any number of reasons, victims of drought, hurricane, earthquake, disease, or in this case politics. He has done a great job, as have other journalists from the BBC and elsewhere. If they didn't highlight the human aspects of the tragedies in our world then our understanding of them would be far poorer. Steve, you’re an intelligent guy - don’t become a polarised steroetype!! It’s this kind of closed-minded thinking that perpetuates the troubles in this part of the world.

Just because Alan Johnston is described by his family (and not by the BBC - this was a quote from his father) as “a friend of the Palestinian people” this does not mean a priori that he isn’t a friend of the Israeli people, the French people, the Welsh people…

“The People” aren’t the ones who are firing rockets, launching airstrikes, blowing people up in pizza restaurants, pontificating on the political stage… “The people” are the ones whose shops are empty, whose wages haven’t been paid in months, whose very fabric of life is being torn apart by the intransigence of politicians on all sides.

Alan Johnston was reporting the story of PEOPLE Steve, people like you and I who are just trying to get on with their lives but don’t have the privileges we have. It could have been anywhere in the world - they could have been suffering for any number of reasons, victims of drought, hurricane, earthquake, disease, or in this case politics.

He has done a great job, as have other journalists from the BBC and elsewhere. If they didn’t highlight the human aspects of the tragedies in our world then our understanding of them would be far poorer.

]]> By: Peter http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7735 Peter Wed, 09 May 2007 11:53:03 +0000 http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7735 The BBC is also biased in favour of using nouns and adjectives correctly. Hats off to Sam for redressing the balance here. The BBC is also biased in favour of using nouns and adjectives correctly. Hats off to Sam for redressing the balance here.

]]> By: Jon http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7734 Jon Wed, 09 May 2007 10:38:58 +0000 http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7734 You're right about the BBC being anti-smoking, I often wish they'd talk more about the advantages - helps concentration, staves off hunger, gives structure to your day, looks cool. You're also nearly right about the 2012 Olympics; I have seen several critical pieces about the funding and arrangements and so on but not much about how all sport is a waste of time and shouldn't be encouraged, which is my view. But then the BBC's coverage is also biased against murder, rape, theft and war. Do you really think that they should take an entirely impartial view on absolutely everything? Is that realistic? Also, do you have any examples of the BBC's bias against Israel and the US and in favour of Islam and the EU? Saying that something is clearly true isn't really an argument, you're just expressing a prejudice. I may not be very bright but I do at least have some examples to back up what I'm saying. You’re right about the BBC being anti-smoking, I often wish they’d talk more about the advantages - helps concentration, staves off hunger, gives structure to your day, looks cool. You’re also nearly right about the 2012 Olympics; I have seen several critical pieces about the funding and arrangements and so on but not much about how all sport is a waste of time and shouldn’t be encouraged, which is my view. But then the BBC’s coverage is also biased against murder, rape, theft and war. Do you really think that they should take an entirely impartial view on absolutely everything? Is that realistic?
Also, do you have any examples of the BBC’s bias against Israel and the US and in favour of Islam and the EU? Saying that something is clearly true isn’t really an argument, you’re just expressing a prejudice. I may not be very bright but I do at least have some examples to back up what I’m saying.

]]> By: Sam http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7733 Sam Wed, 09 May 2007 10:18:01 +0000 http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7733 If the BBC isn't bias then how come it is clearly:- anti smoking anti israel anti US Pro EU Pro Islam Pro 2012 olympics Also how comethey won't reease the Balen report? If you think the BBC is unbias then you are obviously not very bright. If the BBC isn’t bias then how come it is clearly:-

anti smoking
anti israel
anti US

Pro EU
Pro Islam
Pro 2012 olympics

Also how comethey won’t reease the Balen report? If you think the BBC is unbias then you are obviously not very bright.

]]> By: Jon http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7371 Jon Sun, 29 Apr 2007 12:38:49 +0000 http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7371 What about someone who fires a missile into a pizza shop to kill someone whom they believe to be a political enemy? The mothers and babies probably don't care about the motivation of the person who causes the explosion. A killer is a killer, it doesn't make much difference to their victims if they are wearing a uniform or a checked scarf. Israel and Gaza are in a situation which is very similar to two countries that are at war. In that kind of situation journalists have to report from one side or the other, the difficulty in crossing the front line makes it impossible for anyone to report both sides at once. My experience of working on News programmes is that the Israeli government are very effective at getting their message across; they are usually helpful, articulate in English and available. Until Kylie Morris, who established the job that Alan was doing, decided to start reporting from Gaza it was much more difficult to hear anything from the Palestinian side. Not many of the politicians spoke good English and that meant that we heard a great deal from a very few spokespeople. Because so many of the people of Gaza are living in terrible conditions (I think you'd agree with me about that even if you don't agree with me about the reasons) it is inevitable that their suffering will form a background to any story from Gaza. I think that the fact that Alan was reporting on the suffering of the people of Gaza is why he has been described as a "friend of the Palestinian people". As I said earlier I don't think it was a good choice of words. What I'm claiming here is that the BBC is not biased in its coverage, not that every report from every journalist gives equal weight to every opinion. Sometimes it's not possible for an individual journalist to tell the whole story. In cases where a reporter only has access to one dimension of a story then it's the job of the programme editors to ensure that their programmes cover those other dimensions. Did you listen to the edition of Newshour that I mentioned? I think that it's a very good example of the sort of balanced reporting that the BBC produces. If you don't want to listen to the whole programme here's a link to the Claire Bolderson package on its own (<a href="http://www.ditdotdat.org/audio/newshour_bolderson_27_4_2007.mp3" rel="nofollow">Gaza history package 8.7 mb)</a>. I'd be very interested to hear what you think of it. What about someone who fires a missile into a pizza shop to kill someone whom they believe to be a political enemy? The mothers and babies probably don’t care about the motivation of the person who causes the explosion. A killer is a killer, it doesn’t make much difference to their victims if they are wearing a uniform or a checked scarf.

Israel and Gaza are in a situation which is very similar to two countries that are at war. In that kind of situation journalists have to report from one side or the other, the difficulty in crossing the front line makes it impossible for anyone to report both sides at once. My experience of working on News programmes is that the Israeli government are very effective at getting their message across; they are usually helpful, articulate in English and available. Until Kylie Morris, who established the job that Alan was doing, decided to start reporting from Gaza it was much more difficult to hear anything from the Palestinian side. Not many of the politicians spoke good English and that meant that we heard a great deal from a very few spokespeople. Because so many of the people of Gaza are living in terrible conditions (I think you’d agree with me about that even if you don’t agree with me about the reasons) it is inevitable that their suffering will form a background to any story from Gaza. I think that the fact that Alan was reporting on the suffering of the people of Gaza is why he has been described as a “friend of the Palestinian people”. As I said earlier I don’t think it was a good choice of words.

What I’m claiming here is that the BBC is not biased in its coverage, not that every report from every journalist gives equal weight to every opinion. Sometimes it’s not possible for an individual journalist to tell the whole story. In cases where a reporter only has access to one dimension of a story then it’s the job of the programme editors to ensure that their programmes cover those other dimensions. Did you listen to the edition of Newshour that I mentioned? I think that it’s a very good example of the sort of balanced reporting that the BBC produces. If you don’t want to listen to the whole programme here’s a link to the Claire Bolderson package on its own (Gaza history package 8.7 mb). I’d be very interested to hear what you think of it.

]]> By: Steve http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7347 Steve Sun, 29 Apr 2007 11:08:53 +0000 http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7347 Someone who goes into a pizza shop to blow up mothers with babies and children are terrorists. I dont know about the Jerusalem Post (dont read it), but the BBC, which is what we're talking about here, claims to be impartial, and you Johnston's "friend of the Pals" proves to me that they're not. S Someone who goes into a pizza shop to blow up mothers with babies and children are terrorists.

I dont know about the Jerusalem Post (dont read it), but the BBC, which is what we’re talking about here, claims to be impartial, and you Johnston’s “friend of the Pals” proves to me that they’re not.

S

]]> By: Jon http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7327 Jon Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:13:35 +0000 http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7327 I've only ever seen Alan showing emotion when he was talking about children who had been killed. I'm not sure what your definition of 'terrorist' is, it varies for different people. Would you like to tell me where you think impartial coverage of the Middle East can be found? Would it be in the Jerusalem Post by any chance? I’ve only ever seen Alan showing emotion when he was talking about children who had been killed. I’m not sure what your definition of ‘terrorist’ is, it varies for different people.
Would you like to tell me where you think impartial coverage of the Middle East can be found? Would it be in the Jerusalem Post by any chance?

]]> By: Steve http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7280 Steve Sun, 29 Apr 2007 05:12:19 +0000 http://www.ditdotdat.org/bigcity/2007/04/reporting-alan-johnston/#comment-7280 of course Johnston is biased. Did you ever hear his reports? It(always)sounds like he is about to cry out of emotion over some terrorist (or in BBC's vocabulary, "militant")death, almost like Barbara Plett did with Arafat. Doesnt sound impartial to me. Steve of course Johnston is biased. Did you ever hear his reports? It(always)sounds like he is about to cry out of emotion over some terrorist (or in BBC’s vocabulary, “militant”)death, almost like Barbara Plett did with Arafat. Doesnt sound impartial to me.

Steve

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