Over the weekend, I read a commentary from Chicago Tribune columnist Julia Keller. It was kind of a wishy-washy piece about that Boston rag publishing the Daniel Pearl pictures and linking to the video on their website. I can’t link the article since the Tribune asks you to register, but I’ll post snippets from the article and then my comments.
The three-minute-or-so video of the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl was posted this week on the Web site of a popular and respected newspaper
Respected? If it was, it’s not anymore.
And then, so swiftly that it takes the viewer by surprise, comes what seems to be Pearl’s decapitation. The qualification is necessary because there is no way to independently verify the video. Pearl’s executioner, who is not seen, then brandishes the severed head for several seconds
Let that sink in for a minute.
Given the video’s grotesque content, why would the Phoenix, for which Pearl once worked, post a link to it?
I didn’t know he once worked for that rag. That makes it even a bigger slap in the face.
why would the Phoenix, for which Pearl once worked, post a link to it? The Phoenix, after all, is a responsible news organization, an alternative weekly with a circulation of approximately 118,000 that was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1994, one of only two alternative weeklies ever to receive journalism’s top honor (the other was The Village Voice).
To gain national media attention and sell a few more issues. Then again, the Pulitzer isn’t what it used to be.
In an interview, Mindich (the publisher) expressed dismay that the U.S. government had apparently taken pains to suppress the video. In fact, he added, the government should have aided widespread dissemination of the video, so that Americans could fully comprehend the murderous virulence of the anti-Semitism among Islamic extremists.
I don’t understand why our government hasn’t expressed their outrage. I don’t understand why President Bush didn’t get on the air and say, `This is completely intolerable.’”
No one has to say that this is intolerable. Most people with any amount of sanity know that this is a despicable act.
“If Daniel Pearl had his choice, he’d want it seen.”
I highly doubt that, since you didn’t try to get his widow’s permission.
Mindich said he was aware of the brave new journalism world that he has helped initiate by instructing his Webmaster to link to the video.
“It was literally an instant from decision to execution. I just thought, `Wow. I can do this immediately.’ I felt empowered.”
Like a six-year-old with a new toy. This one just happened to garner national media attention.
Mindich said. It will remain indefinitely on the Phoenix site, he added. “I don’t see any reason to take it down.”
How about respect for Daniel Pearl’s family? No? I didn’t think so.
This is nothing more than an ego trip for Mindich so he can see his own name in national print. Stephen M. Mindich, you are nothing more than a sensationalist scumbag. Spitting on the memory of Daniel Pearl. Edward R. Murrow is spinning in his grave. I hope you rot in hell.
