Posts Tagged ‘courage’
Placing conscience above career
I’ve written before about my disappointment with the Obama administration’s persecution of whistleblowers … in direct contradiction to 2008 candidate Obama’s statements about the matter. This article A whistleblower salutes Bradley Manning by Thomas Andrews Drake writing at Politico is a worthwhile read, suggesting as he does that Bradley Manning’s actions in exposing ‘the dark […]
Lighting a candle versus cursing the darkness
A friend I respect asked me today why I write here about some of the subjects (and people) I do. What do I hope to achieve? Coincidentally, I saw this (below) in the latest Parachute music festival magazine just this morning: That’s a different spin on Edmund Burke’s much-quoted saying: ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph […]
He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it
That’s a quote from Martin Luther King. One of the themes of this blog (apologies to those who don’t like recurring topics) is whistle blowers (as I write this, 66 posts are so tagged). I believe in supporting and encouraging them. As I have explained, I think the *urge* to tell the truth, despite possible […]
Quote approval is a defeat for journalists any way you look at it. Call their name.
Following up on my comment Flacks will always try this on. Resist. here’s an insider’s view from Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary to George W. Bush 2001 to 2003 … How Washington officials bested the media The problem with quote approval is it’s too easy. It turns the relationship between a source and a […]
Someone who asks questions for a living does a good job of answering some
From one of the most thoughtful and illuminating* ‘Twelve Questions’ columns I’ve read … NZ Herald: Knowing what you know now about the media, would you still want to be a journalist if you were starting out in 2012? Anita McNaught: It has changed, but with a few reservations I love the way it has […]
Engaging, rather than demonising
I respect and pay tribute to people whom engage with others with whom they disagree — and I try to do so myself. I’m reading veteran BBC journo Peter Taylor’s book Talking to Terrorists. It’s very good, deeper than I expected, and insightful of the motivations of people involved in struggle. This is from the […]
Astonishing corruption at Murdoch’s Wall St Journal
Crikey. If this is how Murdoch’s flagship Wall St Journal operates, what’s going on in the background at Fox News? This tale of corruption, money-channelling and ‘news’ articles used as bribes to keep the conspiracy alive is devastating. It’s from Nick Davies who exposed News International’s phone hacking and police & political corruption … The Guardian […]
Eloquent Eliota Sapolu on Campbell Live
I saw this interview between TV3’s John Campbell and Eliota Sapolu — the Samoan rugby centre who faced a judiciary hearing following his angry tweets accusing an IRB ref of bias and racist decisions during the South African/Samoan pool game in the Rugby World Cup. It’s a fabulous interview which impressed me very much. See […]
Authentic use of a following …
Brooke Fraser gets the value of using her ‘brand’ … and putting her body in the space to support good causes. Here’s what she says about the poverty of Africa, on her way to Ethiopia: “This is my eighth visit to the continent but my first to Ethiopia and I’m expecting it to be a […]
Against expectations
Watching the Wallabies go down to Ireland in their Rugby World Cup pool match last night one couldn’t help thinking, Oops, that’s not what the Australians expected. Full credit to the Irish, and the inspirational, courageous Brian O’Driscoll. – P
Blast from the past has lessons for today
A very clear and loud whistle was blown … Born in London from German parents, Frederick Voigt was the Manchester Guardian correspondent in Germany from 1920 to 1933. Voigt was one of the most important of the newspaper’s foreign team in the 30s, becoming famous for exposing the threat of the Nazi regime Today, when […]
Everything we know about you guys is wrong
I just watched How to Train Your Dragon with my son and some friends … it’s a magnificent, heart-warming movie, which incidentally addresses one of the perennial themes of ThePaepae.com — recognising our fear of ‘the other’ or ‘the out-group’ (in this case, dragons) and that fear’s role in conflict. Embedded in the storyline is […]
