BY DAN
KENNEDY
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See the World Through My Daughter's Eyes (Rodale, October 2003),
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Monday, September 15, 2003
John Burns's disturbing
whodunit. The New York Times' John Burns, whose courageous
reporting and darkly lyrical dispatches while Baghdad was under siege
comprised some of the best journalism of the war in Iraq, has
some
astounding things to say on
the Editor & Publisher website.
The piece -- excerpted from an oral
history -- demands to be read in full. But here is what is sure to be
the most controversial paragraph:
In one case, a
correspondent actually went to the Internet Center at the
Al-Rashid Hotel and printed out copies of his and other people's
stories -- mine included -- specifically in order to be able to
show the difference between himself and the others. He wanted to
show what a good boy he was compared to this enemy of the state.
He was with a major American newspaper.
The whole business is going to be
buzzing over whom Burns is referring to. Glenn
"InstaPundit" Reynolds
calls this and other Burns tales of pro-Saddam lackeydom as
"journalism's Nuremberg." Andrew
Sullivan describes Burns's
revelations as evidence of how "compromised and corrupt" much of the
reportage out of Iraq was, and I won't disagree.
Burns calls to mind nothing
so much as the admission by CNN's Eason Jordan earlier this year that
his operation engaged in years
of shameful toadying to
Saddam Hussein's regime in order to maintain access.
Whether you're prowar, as Burns
seems to be, or antiwar, as Media Log is, you don't want to be forced
to depend on media that cover up evil in the course of doing what
they think are their jobs. Their jobs are to tell the truth. Period.
If they get kicked out of the country, so be it.
Burns's revelations are sickening,
and they only increase my admiration for the bravery he showed while
stationed in Baghdad.
They should also lead to a lot more
than a one-day story.
posted at 5:28 PM |
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Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
