The curious case of BBC and Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy
A standing ovation for Angelina Jolie’s courage in coming publicly forward with her decision to undergo a double mastectomy. Surely, it wasn’t an easy step to take and her openness about it will certainly inspire many women across the globe. But let’s take a short pause here and ask ourselves why this tale featured as...
The case of El País & Chavez’s wrong picture
Spanish prestigious newspaper El País had a case of bad judgment when it published an unverified photo of an ill man believed to be Venezuela’s president Hugo Chávez. The head of state is currently in a Cuban hospital to treat his cancer.
Press expelled from MP Geert Wilders political party
A reporter for the Dutch TV programme PowNews was shown the door out of the café where Geert Wilders’ (anti-Islam and anti-EU) Freedom Party supporters gathered for the election night. Jan Versteegh and his cameraman were taken by security after they were told they were posing “unwelcome questions” (sic). Moments before they were expelled Versteegh...
Parachute journalism
An article by New York Times’ Steven Erlanger got some Dutch readers raising a few eyebrows when he described them as seemingly ‘melancholy and sedate’. Erlanger wrote about the atmosphere in the country just days before it elected a new parliament. Melancholy and sedate don’t seem to be words that fit well with the Dutch....
Reporting live from the comfort of home
Reporting on international courts has become more of a television club attended by journalists than a media coverage. Dozens of broadcasting vans are parked outside the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague area. Media from all over the world has flown in to cover one of the most gripping international cases: Charles Taylor’s...
Say what?
Elections seem to have a special effect on producers. For the next 24 hours they will be working around the clock under a sort of spell which urges them to feel whatever result was achieved it will mean dramatic change. As if the rest of the problems in the rest of the world were nothing...
Who are you Jackie?!
A recent controversy between the Dutch glossy magazine Jackie and singer Rihanna has raised once more, in my opinion, a rather important question: how much of a statement should journalism make? Jackie’s most recent issue featured an article about how to dress like Rihanna. It was titled ‘De Niggabitch’. The Barbadian music star wasn’t amused and took it to...
voxpops vs journalism
Most radio journalists will have done it: voxpops. It’s this dreadful thing where you walk to strangers in the middle of the street and ask them about whatever topic you are working on: Should Greece leave the euro? Who will win the next election? Should the royal family pay taxes? Of course, as a producer...
Three sides to every story
Everyone has heard the expression: there’s three sides to every story – yours, mine and the truth. I recently came across this photo and claims of how it had been misused. It’s been suggested that Al-Jazeera and CNN cropped it to their liking with Al Jazeera making use of the first part of the picture...
Is Orwell’s Ministry of Truth based at RNW?
One could think that a certain Winston Smith worked at Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) by comparing the screen shots of its main news article taken within a span of 15 minutes. As reports that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi had died started circulating, RNW’s newsdesk rushed in to publish the news as a confirmed fact: ‘Gaddafi Killed’,...
No Freedom of Choice for Journos?
Journalism stands for freedom of speech, fact finding, democracy, objectivity, among other values. Or at least it stands so in theory. US National Public Radio (NPR) has got a freelance journalist fired for participating in the Occupy Washington protest. The journalist in question, Lisa Simeone, has worked as an independent for shows like Soundprint and...
Knox is guilty – but only according to the Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is investigating how they ended up publishing a story saying Amanda Knox was guilty of murdering her former roommate Meredith Kercher. Knox’s acquittal for the murder of the British student was undoubtedly this week’s biggest story and every media organization wanted to be the first to tell the news. We were taken...
