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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Keiva's post: "Memorium to a hero - Daniel Pearl"
Rubrick's post: "to label him a hero ... is just sickening."
Helen's post: "He didn't say the post was sickening."
Helen, I must respectfully disagree with you.
As I said, "I do not appreciate my posts being called 'sickening'."
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old hand
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old hand
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I'm inclined to agree with you, CK.
Front-line reporters often try to make news, rather than report it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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War correspondents are essentially isolated egoists
Really? Such as Winston Churchill? Whatever he was, I find it admirable.
It seems to me that the blue sentence should be qualified a bit, as b-youth did.
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addict
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How about Batavia, NY native, Terry Anderson, a journalist who was captured in Beirut and held hostage for seven years? How do we feel about what he went through? Was he just a journalist trying to make news? Or is he a hero?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Terry Anderson was just another newshound who became news. He had no choice about his captivity. He was unlucky to get grabbed and lucky to survive, but he was hardly heroic! Terry Waite, on the other hand could possibly be regarded as heroic. He wasn't merely trying to cash in on pre-existing events, he was trying to change things, to make things better. He misjudged the situation and wound up being taken prisoner and held for five years. I suggest that the difference between the two is quite clear! Here's something worth a read: http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,637821,00.html
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Veronica Guerin was the crime correspondent for the Irish Independent for five years up until her murder in June 1996. Although a well-respected and highly radical journalist (The Independent is the Grauniad of Ireland so this is high praise for one of their journalists) she did little in the name of heroism. Her radical style of investigating the highly dangerous Dublin underworld scene (not including the provisionals) was brave and, for a while, gained her the confidence of many of the infamous gang leaders incuding the General who was the subject of two recent films and who was also a nasty piece of work.
This bravery and over-confidence resulted in a midnight visit and a bullet in the thigh as a warning from an unknown gunman. She became increasingly pushy and, six months after being shot in the leg, she was shot twice in the head whilst driving back from a minor court case just outside Dublin.
Her death was a shock to the country because she was a journalist doing her job and the power she wielded in her investigative practices made her a real threat to the criminal gangs and drug lords. But no journalist had ever been murdered in this country for any reason. The public outcry resulted in a determined crackdown on organised crime and several draconian laws being passed including the Criminal Assets Bill which allowed the state confiscation of assets attained through criminal activity. This applied to relatives of the criminal as well as to the individual himself.
No one has ever been convicted of her murder but many of the top criminals who were suspected have suffered greatly as a result of the new legislation. Many are now doing long overdue sentences. Veronica was not a hero in my opinion but her persistence in the face of danger brought to light a number of issues which many were afraid to address. Now that there was unanimity the government could act with impunity against a common threat to society. She has a strong legacy and her family can be proud of that achivement but her death was a tragedy not borne of heroism.
Orla Guerin was the RTE (Irish television) East European correspondent since the late '80s. Her meteoric rise in the journalistic ranks was due to a few lucky breaks. She was at the Berlin wall when it came down and was in Hungary for the first Warsaw Pact country's revolution the same year. Another well-respected journalist she did herself no favours by running in the General election of 1993 by standing for the Labour party (at the personal request of the leader) against another long-standing and popular Labour TD (Irish MP) in the same constituency. The press jumped on the high profile mud-slinging match with gusto and rumours abounded that she and the leader were having an affair (amongst other ugly rumours). Needless to say, public opinion was on the side of the other candidate (she won easily) and Orla left Ireland later in the year never to return. She worked for a while for the London Examiner before getting the plum job in the Beeb.
Guerin isn't a common name here. It's derived from the French and probably came here via the Normans or the Switzers but two female journalists sharing the same surname is purely coincidental.
Cate Blanchett struck me as an unusual choice to play Veronica Guerin. But the story is based loosely on Ms.Guerin's life and concentrates more on her methods. Ms. Blanchett's serious demeanour should make her a very convincing crime correspondent.
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Pooh-Bah
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Thanks for your post, Rubrick, I was keen to hear about the story from someone who lives in Ireland. It is hard to tell the accuracy of the reports we had.
As you point out, Olga is in fact Orla - I wonder if the link that I included is yet another Guerin or just a typo? I suspect the latter. Orla is clearly a very accomplished journalist.
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Carpal Tunnel
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De mortius nil nisi bonum. (For those who may be unfamiliar, http://www.bartleby.com/81/4724.html)
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old hand
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old hand
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.......was the motto of my first high school!! Thanks for the blast back to 1971.
"Nothing if not good/the best" as I recall.click the link stales old mate.....
stales
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