It is hard to believe that four years have passed since this courageous journalist was murdered (October 7, 2006), but sadly the same political turmoil that claimed her life remains rampant and has not abated. Russia recently was awarded the right to host the World Cup in 2018, but amidst the euphoria and the collective effervescence (to borrow Durkheim's theory) that this announcement has generated, we must not avoid what is going on beyond the purview of the television cameras.
Russian journalist Oleg Kashin barely survived a beating by two youths in Moscow. In his opinion piece "A Beating On My Beat, Kashin postulates that the state has adopted a more insidious approach to squelching the journalistic voices of anyone who might question government policies, etc. Mr. Kashin has paid a severe price for his work. How many of us are taking in his message?
It seems like we have a very short memory when it comes to remembering what these journalists have sacrificed. We must stop thinking of these tragedies as occurrences that take place 'far away' and have no direct effect on us, thus not requiring our attention.
Kudos to Daniel Ellsberg, who recently was arrested at an anti-war rally. Now, dear reader, do you know who Daniel Ellsberg is? What was he famous for?
No comments:
Post a Comment