A Bird-Eat-Bird World
I could not help but post
this little gem from the BBC's website.
I won't post a link out of respect for the pidgeon, but I can assure you there is a video on YouTube if you'd like.
I'll let the content speak for itself, but I would like to point out that this story basically exists thanks to Cathal McNaughton. There was no BBC photographer on the scene to get a shot, the picture was taken and sent to the BBC by somebody completely unaffiliated with journalism.
I won't call it citizen journalism, because I still feel it's just a fancier form of newsgathering. But it
is a perfect example of what Paul Brennan talked to us about a couple weeks ago.
Courage in Journalism
On January 7, 2006,
Jill Carroll was abducted by Sunni insurgents in Bagdhad. She was held prisoner for 82 days before being released. She was 28 years old and a reporter for he Christian Science Monitor.
A bomb was planted under the driver's seat of
May Chidiac's car in September of 2005. She lost her left hand and left leg in a blast. She is a famous broadcaster in Lebanon, and the attack came shortly after a show she hosted that discussed Syria's possible involvement in the Lebenese prime minister's assassination.
Gao Yu is 62 years old and fights against censorship in China. She supports democracy in a nation where that can be dangerous. She has, in fact, been imprisoned twice for reporting.
These three women will receive the Courage Award from the
International Women's Media Foundation on Wednesday, and I'll be there to see it happen. Jill Carroll's story is well known in the United States, but it's really enlightening to learn what people around the world go through in the name of journalism.
Gao Yu actually recieved this award back in 1995, but couldn't receive it because she was
imprisoned in China. Next time you're walking past the National Archives, take a nice, long look at the First Amendment.
The obvious question that I, and I'm sure everybody, wants to know is why do these women continue being a journalist after what happened to them? I'd also really like to ask Jill Carroll if she'd ever go back to Iraq after what happened to her. Apparently she's taking some time off and working on a study regarding the fewer foreign bureaus in the world - I would like to ask her what she thinks of the current coverage in Iraq and what, if anything, should be done. And I would like to know Gao Yu's opinion of the Chinese press's freedom is, and if she thinks it is making gains or if the government is strengthening its hold.
