February 25, 2009 by dafyd
This BBC headline confused me for a few moments:
I didn’t think turkeys were flightless (wild, they’re not), so why the plane? Images of Chicken Run came to mind…
Bad bit of journalese there, I think. Not a great idea to associate plasticine poultry with a plane crash, however unintentionally.
Update: The BBC has updated the title to “Jet crashes…” – much clearer.
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May 3, 2007 by dafyd
Courtesy of Popbitch, here’s a wonderful little Boris Yeltsin anecdote. He was being interviewed by a British journalist:
Journalist: “So, President Yeltsin, how would you describe the state of the Russian economy in one word?”
Yeltsin: “Good”.
Journalist: “Okay then Mr President, perhaps you would describe it in more than one word?”
Yeltsin: “Ah, in that case – not good.”
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April 18, 2007 by dafyd
Alan Johnston, the BBC’s correspondent in Gaza, was abducted on his way home on March 12th. He remains missing, almost six weeks on.
Alan Johnston has lived and worked in Gaza for three years, the only Western reporter permanently based in the often violent and lawless territory.
He has reported on all sides of the Palestinian struggle, and is known and respected by key Palestinians of all factions.
His abduction has been condemned by the Palestinian prime minister and president, the Saudi foreign minister, the UK government, and leading clerics of all religions. 300 British journalists, editors and media personalities signed an advertisement in the Guardian asking that “everyone with influence on this situation increase their efforts, to ensure that Alan is freed quickly and unharmed”. 35,000 users of the BBC News website have signed a petition demanding his release.
Journalists should never become targets. Their job is to fairly and accurately report on what is happening. For that, they should never fear retribution. Sadly, of course, this is not the case. BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner was shot in Saudi Arabia three years ago; his cameraman, Simon Cumbers, died, and Gardner was left paralysed from the waist down. BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson was bombed by a US warplane in Iraq in 2003; his translator, Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed, was killed. The BBC’s North America Business Correspondent, Stephen Evans, was on the ground floor of one of the World Trade Centre towers when the planes flew into the complex on September 11, 2001; he gave his eyewitness account live to the BBC’s radio and television networks.
That all of these journalists continue to report for the BBC, continue to put their lives at risk to ensure that we can receive fair and balanced coverage of world events, is a testament to their courage and integrity.
I’ve added the button on the right to show my support for Alan Johnston and to urge his captors to release him immediately. I’d encourage any bloggers or website owners reading this to do the same – the BBC has instructions on how to do so.
Category 1 | Tags: alanjohnston,bbc,gaza,journalists | Comments Off