In recent years cash-strapped media services have closed foreign bureaus around the world and dropped foreign correspondents from their permanent payrolls. Inevitably, the quality of journalism has declined, with correspondents reporting from distant cities or traveling abroad only when a promising story develops (called ‘parachute journalists,’ they often lack the regional expertise necessary for effective reporting). The trend towards lean coverage is worrying, with reporters failing to convey the many ambiguities that make conflicts so difficult to resolve. Worse, with such diminished numbers of correspondents in the field, the public no longer benefits from the “diversity [of opinions and analysis] and competition” that once defined foreign correspondence. Darfur itself has been effortlessly described as an ethnic struggle between identifiable aggressors and victims, invaders and invaded, foreigners and natives. This frame is sufficiently concise to satisfy the lean editorial standards of the ‘wire,’ but not the kind of image Darfur needs to establish a lasting peace.

Read the rest of this entry »

TAMARAMA are playing with BIRDS OF WALES at the Beautiful Berkeley Church in Toronto on Tuesday June 2nd. This show is a benefit concert for both the Canadian Red Cross and STAND, a Darfur Awareness Org. All profits are donated to these causes.

Tuesday June 2nd, 2009
BERKELEY CHURCH
315 Queen St East
Toronto, Ontario

ONLINE TICKETS

FACEBOOK INVITE