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I hope the @nytimes will do a thorough re-investigation of ALL Callimachi's coverage, not just the infamous Caliphate podcast.
For you, dear reader, some advice: please remember this debacle next time you get all excited about some thrilling, titillating tale from far-off lands.
For you, dear reader, some advice: please remember this debacle next time you get all excited about some thrilling, titillating tale from far-off lands.
Remember that it's easy to spread stories about people in other countries—especially the kinds of people that, as @benyt points out, aren't exactly going to call up & demand a correction.
(Fun fact: ISIS loves negative press—it's great for recruiting.)
(Fun fact: ISIS loves negative press—it's great for recruiting.)
The great Les Payne, whose book on Malcolm X just won the National Book Award, had a name for this. He called it "ooga-booga journalism."
Okay I have a lot more to say but now I'm late for a meeting, so as always, if you've made it this far, THANK YOU FOR READING!
Okay I’m back & still hopping mad. “the NYT has not retracted the series, but rather has put Michael Barbaro’s daily-style interview w Baquet & Mazzetti atop the caliphate page,” my friend @RobertNeuwirth points out. “Like it’s just one more part of the podcast.”
“the Times reckons only w the damage done to the Times — but not the damage done in the wider world.”
(I haven’t listened to it yet, I’m too f’ing angry.)
I hope they do some honest self-examination.
This isn’t just about Callimachi. Why did editors let this stuff slide?
(I haven’t listened to it yet, I’m too f’ing angry.)
I hope they do some honest self-examination.
This isn’t just about Callimachi. Why did editors let this stuff slide?
Why did they repeatedly shield her from accountability? Why did they allow ethics violations from her that they wouldn’t have from others? Why did they hire an Islamophobe who speaks zero Arabic as their ISIS reporter?
I have an answer, & it’s not pretty.
I hope I’m wrong, but:
I have an answer, & it’s not pretty.
I hope I’m wrong, but:
Western news outlets apply different standards when it comes to stories about Muslims & Arabs.
You can get away with some outrageous bulls**t if you’re writing about the Middle East. I’m sorry, it hurts to say this, but it’s a fact.
Not just at the Times, either.
You can get away with some outrageous bulls**t if you’re writing about the Middle East. I’m sorry, it hurts to say this, but it’s a fact.
Not just at the Times, either.
This is a bigger problem. It goes beyond Callimachi, or her editors. It’s on us too—news consumers, people who read stuff.
Why the endless appetite for sensationalized stories? I’m including myself here, I’m not immune to this stuff. Why?
I’ll leave you with this thought:
Why the endless appetite for sensationalized stories? I’m including myself here, I’m not immune to this stuff. Why?
I’ll leave you with this thought:
What’s the story we’re lapping up today that’s going to be the next Caliphate tomorrow? The story that seems too good to be true, that excites us in a way we don’t examine as much as we should? Does it demonize people, esp people our society finds it convenient to demonize?
On that thought: thank you for reading! good night, and good luck.
(Not-so-fun fact: did you know beloved journalistic icon Edward R. Murrow supported the internment of Japanese-Americans during WII with viciously racist rhetoric? George Clooney left that part out of the movie)
(Not-so-fun fact: did you know beloved journalistic icon Edward R. Murrow supported the internment of Japanese-Americans during WII with viciously racist rhetoric? George Clooney left that part out of the movie)
