Author: Trent

  • Cranberg wants a serious probe of why the press failed in its pre-war reporting

    Nieman Watchdog:

    The shortcomings of Iraq coverage were not an aberration. Similar failure is a recurrent problem in times of national stress. The press was shamefully silent, for instance, when American citizens were removed from their homes and incarcerated solely because of their ancestry during World War II. Many in the press were cowed during McCarthyism’s heyday in the 1950s. Nor did the press dispute the case for the fact-challenged Gulf of Tonkin resolution that led to a greatly enlarged Vietnam war.

    The press response to the build-up to the Iraq war simply is the latest manifestation of an underlying and ongoing reluctance to dissent from authority and prevailing opinion when emotions run high, especially on matters of war and peace, when the country most needs a questioning, vigorous press.

    Here.

  • In Books, a Clash of Europe and Islam

    NYT:

    The resulting stir within the usually well-mannered book world spiked this week when the president of the Circle’s board, John Freeman, wrote on the organization’s blog (bookcriticscircle.blogspot.com): “I have never been more embarrassed by a choice than I have been with Bruce Bawer’s ‘While Europe Slept,’ he wrote. “It’s hyperventilated rhetoric tips from actual critique into Islamophobia.”

    The fusillade of e-mail messages on the subject circulating among the Circle’s 24 board members mirrors a larger debate over a string of recently published books that ominously warn of a catastrophic culture clash between Europeans with traditional Western values and fundamentalist Muslims — books including “Londonistan” by Melanie Phillips, “The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World’s Most Intolerant Religion” by Robert Spencer, and “America Alone” by Mark Steyn.

    Here.

  • Little Ideas We Love: Random Acts of "Public Embroidery"

    Little Ideas We Love: Random Acts of "Public Embroidery"

    Wooster Collective:

    To give a little life to drab seats on buses and trains in Sweden, Ulrika performs random acts of “public embroidery” – small images or short words (for example hello, hugs) that are quickly cross-stitched on seats in public transportations.

    Here.

  • Breaking the Myth of Megapixels

    NYT:

    It goes like this: “The more megapixels a camera has, the better the pictures.”

    It’s a big fat lie. The camera companies and camera stores all know it, but they continue to exploit our misunderstanding. Advertisements declare a camera’s megapixel rating as though it’s a letter grade, implying that a 7-megapixel model is necessarily better than a 5-megapixel model.

    A megapixel is one million tiny colored dots in a photo. It seems logical that more megapixels would mean a sharper photo. In truth, though, it could just mean a terrible photo made of more dots. A camera’s lens, circuitry and sensor — not to mention your mastery of lighting, composition and the camera’s controls — are far more important factors.

    Here.

  • Newspaper ties death at Club Deep to FSU

    PunkNews:

    The Asbury Park Press has released an article speculating on the possible involvement of the “crew” FSU, or “Friends Stand United”, in the recent death of a James Morrison at a scheduled Ramallah show in Asbury Park, NJ.

    According to numerous letters, emails and phone calls to both Morrison’s mother and the Asbury Park Press, Morrison and a few friends were allegedly attacked at the concert venue by FSU members because of one of Morrison’s friend’s shirt, which was southern rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd and featured a Confederate flag. According to the accounts, members of FSU immediately approched Morrison and friends, demanding the shirt be removed. When they refused, a brawl insued which lead to Morrison and two friends being pushed out the door by security, supposedly after a severe beating which may have included Morrison being struck with a bar stool.

    Here.

  • NoTxt #8

    Featuring Corey Smith, Meredith Edlow, Mario Sughi, Bryan Mitchell, Charlie Blackledge, Yana Payusova, Eduadorian children edited by Ashley Franscell, Ross Mantle.
    Check it out here.

  • Contact Press Images:

    Contact Press Images:

    Digital Journalist:

    Contact Press Images celebrated 30 years of remarkable photography in 2006. Founded by Robert Pledge and David Burnett in 1976, the agency has maintained its involvement with humanitarian and human-rights issues. This involves the responsibility to understand an issue and see that it could have consequences beyond the borders of one’s own town, region or country. Doing long-term stories on regime change, civil wars and genocide when they first appear on the horizon often means that a Contact photographer is aware and knowledgeable when the event evolves into a world news event. The vivid images of apartheid in South Africa, the civil war in El Salvador, the fall of the Shah of Iran, and 9/11 are visual markers of the 20th–21st centuries. Contact is one of the agencies that changed the landscape of photojournalism in Europe and America during the 1970s–1980s.

    Here.

  • The Gangs of Port Moresby and Suicide Bombers in Gaza

    The Gangs of Port Moresby and Suicide Bombers in Gaza

    Digital Journalist:

    Plagued by 60 percent unemployment and chronic poverty, crime in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, in Oceania is rampant, earning the city a reputation as being one of the most dangerous places in the world. Much of the violent crime – armed robbery, rape, and carjackings – is committed by young gang members known as “Raskols.” In 2004, Stephen Dupont infiltrated a Raskol community to document the individuals behind the facelessness of gang warfare. Building trust over several visits Dupont was able to set up a makeshift studio in which to photograph his subjects. The resulting portraits depict the “Kips Kaboni” or “Red Devils,” Papua New Guinea’s oldest Raskol group.

    Here.

  • Seeing Red in Venezuela

    Seeing Red in Venezuela

    Ramin Rahimian, Digital Journalist:

    Being a citizen and a journalist from the U.S. worked in my favor and against me. In a busy deli in downtown Caracas, close to the capitol – a heavily Chavista area – I was approached by a middle-aged man wearing the party’s traditional red T-shirt. He was belligerent and seemed drunk. He got in my face in this crowded deli and pulled at his shirt, telling me that I’m the devil and that this was his country. He was unrelenting. All I could do was agree with him, “Yes, I know, I’m the devil. I know.” Anything so that he would not knock me out.

    Photographing, or should I say street shooting, in that neighborhood was very difficult for me. It is a Chávez stronghold. I had heard countless horror stories from other shooters of theft, knife attacks, and general harassment and distaste for foreign journalists. It was tough not to shoot; I felt like I missed out on showing the downtown environment in my own way.

    Here.

  • In Washington, Contractors Take on Biggest Role Ever

    In Washington, Contractors Take on Biggest Role Ever

    NYT:

    The most successful contractors are not necessarily those doing the best work, but those who have mastered the special skill of selling to Uncle Sam. The top 20 service contractors have spent nearly $300 million since 2000 on lobbying and have donated $23 million to political campaigns. “We’ve created huge behemoths that are doing 90 or 95 percent of their business with the government,” said Peter W. Singer, who wrote a book on military outsourcing. “They’re not really companies, they’re quasi agencies.” Indeed, the biggest federal contractor, Lockheed Martin, which has spent $53 million on lobbying and $6 million on donations since 2000, gets more federal money each year than the Departments of Justice or Energy.

    Here.

  • The Importance Of “Seeing” The War

    CJR:

    The most shocking, and simultaneously compelling, aspect of the Baghdad dispatch in the New York Times this past Monday was its intimate close-up of one soldier’s death. It was impossible not to feel frustrated by the story of Hector Leija, an Army staff sergeant who was struck down by a sniper while on a sweep through the apartments of the once posh Haifa Street. He was killed by a single bullet that came in through a kitchen window. The drama that ensued of getting Leija to a medic and then retrieving his gear, still on the floor of the now lethal kitchen, was captured by the embedded Times reporter, Damien Cave, with all the narrative tautness of a Hemingway short story. A shaky video later posted on the Times Web site further captured the panic of the moment and the despair of men who had lost a beloved leader.

    Here.

  • The camera operator’s testimony

    Providence Journal:

    Feb. 20, 2003, was a busy day for Brian Butler, a camera operator at Channel 12.

    He raced around to a handful of stories: A chess club event. The opening of a play. A man whose prayers for his son’s health had been answered. A pedestrian hit by a car. A brothel that had been raided.

    By the time he arrived at his final assignment of the day, he was tired. And it showed in his work, he said. He wasn’t being creative. He wasn’t getting the good shots.

    Shortly after 11 p.m., he peered through the one-inch-by-one-inch viewfinder of his camera. Rock band Great White took the stage, underscoring its entrance with fireworks, three fountains of sparks that shot up from the stage. Through the sparks, Butler noticed a black-and-white trickle of flame climbing the wall of The Station nightclub.

    Here.

  • Italian football reels after Sicily riot death

    Italian football reels after Sicily riot death

    The Observer:

    After a series of violent clashes at Serie A games, 1,500 police were drafted in for the Sicilian derby. The rivalry between the historically underachieving teams, which has reached fever pitch as both joust for Champions League places, took centre stage after half time as Palermo fans fired tear gas at the home support. Choking players fled the pitch as the game was suspended, while outside the stadium Catania fans showered police with rocks, flares and the small explosive that arched its way towards Filippo Raciti who, investigators believe, may have already been stunned by a rock when the charge went off.

    Here.

  • US 'victory' against cult leader was 'massacre'

    Another view of Iraq Waco, from the Belfast Telegraph:

    The cult denied it was involved in the fighting, saying it was a peaceful movement. The incident reportedly began when a procession of 200 pilgrims was on its way, on foot, to celebrate Ashura in Najaf. They came from the Hawatim tribe, which lives between Najaf and Diwaniyah to the south, and arrived in the Zarga area, one mile from Najaf at about 6am on Sunday. Heading the procession was the chief of the tribe, Hajj Sa’ad Sa’ad Nayif al-Hatemi, and his wife driving in their 1982 Super Toyota sedan because they could not walk. When they reached an Iraqi army checkpoint it opened fire, killing Mr Hatemi, his wife and his driver, Jabar Ridha al-Hatemi. The tribe, fully armed because they were travelling at night, then assaulted the checkpoint to avenge their fallen chief.

    Members of another tribe called Khaza’il living in Zarga tried to stop the fighting but they themselves came under fire. Meanwhile, the soldiers and police at the checkpoint called up their commanders saying they were under attack from al-Qai’da with advanced weapons. Reinforcements poured into the area and surrounded the Hawatim tribe in the nearby orchards. The tribesmen tried – in vain – to get their attackers to cease fire.

    American helicopters then arrived and dropped leaflets saying: “To the terrorists, surrender before we bomb the area.” The tribesmen went on firing and a US helicopter was hit and crashed killing two crewmen. The tribesmen say they do not know if they hit it or if it was brought down by friendly fire. The US aircraft launched an intense aerial bombardment in which 120 tribesmen and local residents were killed by 4am on Monday.

    Here.

  • Invaders' FAQ

    Invaders' FAQ

    Wooster Collective:

    Along with hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, we’ve been obsessed by Space Invader’s work for years. This week, Invader updated his website, and for the first time, posted a Q&A which gives some background and explains what his project is all about. We thought we’d pass it along. In addition to checking out Invaders site here, you should also check out Invader Flickr pool which includes over 3,600 photos.

    Here.

  • Sally Mann Portrait in Which She’s the Star

    Sally Mann Portrait in Which She’s the Star

    NYT:

    Ms. Mann’s approach to her subject certainly had precedents in art. In the 1920s the photographers Imogen Cunningham and Nell Dorr took nude pictures of children in the wilds as expressions of their own interest in naturalism. But Ms. Mann’s images arrived just as the country was beginning to fall deeper and deeper under the thrall of a new culture of obsessive child-rearing, and she seemed, however voyeuristically, merely to be letting her children be.

    But she was not letting them be, or so it is implied in “What Remains: The Life and Work of Sally Mann” on Cinemax this evening. It is one of the most exquisitely intimate portraits not only of an artist’s process, but also of a marriage and a life, to appear on television in recent memory.

    Here.

  • Cult had dug in for massive battle

    LA Times:

    But the camp itself, amid lush groves of eucalyptus and palm trees, offered a trove of details about the members of Heaven’s Army.

    They had plenty of food. Each fighter had his own supply of chocolate and biscuits. They were prepared: A 6-foot dirt berm and an equally deep trench surrounded the 50-acre compound.

    They were well organized. Living in at least 30 concrete-block buildings, all the fighters had identification badges. The group published its own books and a newspaper. The members apparently were enamored with their leader, a charismatic man in his 30s named Dhyaa Abdul-Zahra, whose likeness adorned the newspaper.

    And they were well armed and ready for battle. High-powered machine guns, antiaircraft rockets, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and late-model pickup trucks with mounted guns were scattered around the eight farms that make up the compound, about 10 miles north of Najaf.

    Here.

  • Bush Is Not Above the Law

    Op-Ed by James Banford, NYT:

    LAST August, a federal judge found that the president of the United States broke the law, committed a serious felony and violated the Constitution. Had the president been an ordinary citizen — someone charged with bank robbery or income tax evasion — the wheels of justice would have immediately begun to turn. The F.B.I. would have conducted an investigation, a United States attorney’s office would have impaneled a grand jury and charges would have been brought.

    But under the Bush Justice Department, no F.B.I. agents were ever dispatched to padlock White House files or knock on doors and no federal prosecutors ever opened a case.

    Here.

  • Look up in the sky! It's a bird, It's a plane, No, It's Chuck Connors pretending a log is his kak!

    Look up in the sky! It's a bird, It's a plane, No, It's Chuck Connors pretending a log is his kak!

    WFMU’s Beware the Blog:

    This is probably the funniest comic book related website out there – devoted to proving that, contrary to popular belief, Superman was an a*hole. Featuring sections devoted to unintentionally sexual comic book covers, comic book war propaganda, comic covers featuring apes (it’s ridiculous just how many there are), stupid super powers, and confoundingly bizarre covers.

    Here.

  • GORGOROTH Frontman Calls For More Church Burnings; Police To Investigate

    Blabbermouth:

    “Black metal was never meant to reach an audience,” Gaahl told The Observer. “It was purely for our own satisfaction. Something entirely self-centered. The shared goal was to become the true Satan; the elite human, basically. The elite are above rules. So people did what they wanted to do. And they had a common enemy which was, of course, Christianity, socialism and everything that democracy stands for, especially this idea that every man is alike and equal to his neighbour. That, of course, is a fake.”

    Gaahl’s extremist outlook is undoubtedly influenced by his surroundings. He lives on a farm three hours outside of Bergen, isolated from the mass of humanity. “My family owns three mountains,” he said. ‘There’s not much else around there. Love of nature is a big part of black metal. It’s easy to feel isolated in nature. And solitude and distance from everyone else is very important to us.”

    Here.