And they say bloggers are sloppy!!!!!

Foreign coverage of the events in Greece has been a mixed bag. There have been some very good articles on the causes of the protests, for example the Guardian wrote in depth about the situation (click here) and the BBC's Malcolm Brabant gives a very accurate account of the underlying causes (click here) .

On the other hand I have come across a lot of "remote - control" journalism. The kind where the person has done little more than Google the subject for an hour or so or chatted to some guy in a bar. You know the classic foreign correspondent tactic when abroad and disconnected from the culture. I think this article in the Economist definitely falls into the second category. Sweeping generalisations, lack of context and a blind acceptance of other media sources make for pretty sloppy work.

So, instead I recommend Twitter (#griots hash) which has been a very good source of information and links written by those actually involved or on the scene. Most of it is in Greek but you can translate the page into English by clicking on the button on the right hand side. Also Technorati and Google's blog search can often prove very valuable.

Separated at birth?

I just came across this strange coincidence. In March I wrote this on the blog and for NowPublic.com.

The ghost of Mexico City comes back to haunt Beijing

Stop me if you've heard this one before. An authoritarian one party state uses blunt military force to squash a popular uprising. Hundreds are killed or injured and the government fears that attempts to burnish its image abroad by holding the Olympic games will be tarnished by images of dead protesters splashed across the world's media. (Click here to read the rest).

and today I came across this article in the Economist from April 24th.

The ghosts of Mexico 1968

A DEVELOPING country gets the Olympic games as an acknowledgment of its new, exalted status. An authoritarian government, awash with money, exploits the chance to project a peaceful, progressive image. Critics of the regime use the games as a chance to demand more democracy and human rights. There are demonstrations, forcefully broken up. (Click here for the rest of the article).

Actually, the rest of the article is radically different from mine but it follows the same logic. But before I say that have been plagiarised I have to say that I use other sources all the time. Indeed the idea for my post came from reading 1968: Marching in the Streets by Tariq Ali and Susan Watkins. That and my anger at the way the Greek authorities did their best to surpress any possible protests on the Olympic torch route (see here).

Still, it is gratifying to think that you have perhaps influenced the flow of news and ideas in the mainstream media.

The Economist via Odeo

Playing around with some ideas.