Sunday, January 22, 2017

Fed Up with Lily-Livered Journalists

I understand that tourists may not be willing to visit Djenné or Mali because of the perceived danger and the blanket 'NO!' which emanates from all foreign office travel advisory websites. But I am less tolerant of the journalists and  other professionals who are making their living from reporting from here. What happened to the intrepid war correspondent? Why do these people think they are able to do their job- often highly paid- from the pool side in Bamako?
This year started well for the hotel. Or at least so it seemed on paper. There were going to be several teams of journalists and others arriving, making documentaries, articles etc. about Djenné. But one by one these teams are cancelling their reservations. WHY? What on earth has changed?
If you are frightened by the distant events in Gao, which seems to be the case, why did you chose to be a journalist in the first place? And I am talking also about  those journalists who feel they can carry out their job in Timbuktu, watched over by UN security forces, but feel that Djenné is too dangerous for them. Go home!
Nothing has ever happened in Djenné : still! Sure it is possible that it will one day but meanwhile, surely, as a journalist, your work must continue? You are not a dentist. You are not a 'management consultant'. You are not an insurance broker. You are a journalist. Do your job or if you do not dare, change it! Go and take up your alotted place amongst the safe jobs of your home country where you belong.

1 Comments:

Blogger David said...

Absolutely right. Double standards. They'll go into war zones and be photographed/filmed running for cover. Is it because they can't control their take on things in this kind of situation?

12:04 AM  

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