Is it “Revenge or Glory” or
Journalism for Sale
Response to Jeffrey Gettleman
Can journalists be bought? Would it be unscholarly to say that everything in our world is for sell? After all we all are humans, at some point in time, we may compromise our integrity for personal gains and glories. My article is in response to Mr. Jeffrey Gettleman “story”.[1] I called him “Mr.” because I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.
I sometimes wonder if Journalists are the people who are considered the trust worthiest of the world. Are they really? Can you name one that you think is trust worthy : priests, politicians, teachers, professors, mom and dad, lawyers, doctors, or journalist? My life experience tells me to trust myself and to trust in God/Alah.
My very concern about Mr. Gettleman’s story is his one sidedness. The following quotes show how this journalist is opinionated and biased. He added his opinion when mentioning the government and yet he credited peoples’ name when quoting them. Mind you, those people quoted are self-declared refugees and member of the ONLF. I am not making up this but please read through Mr. Gettleman’s story.
Mr. Gettleman wrote, “In a recent report, government officials in the region called upon elders, traders, women and civil servants to form local “security committees” and mobilize their clans to destroy the rebels and their bases of support. The government says that the rebels are terrorists who have carried out assassinations and bombings, and that civilians have volunteered to fight them. “ [2]
Mr. Gettleman added, “According to the recent government report, which was published by regional authorities, rank-and-file civil servants are not the only ones called upon to fight the rebels. It also lists several employees who work for programs financed by international donors.”
In the above paragraphs, he has not mentioned the names of any government officials to validate his story. What he used was a global name “government officials”. A respectable journalist and the New York Times employee is allowed to make such a global statement without mentioning the source of those statements. This is what we call in Amharic “Allu” and its English equivalent “gossip”. Mr. Gettleman, next time, you should mention the names of officials. If you mention a “government report”, you should also indicate the date of the report, the name of the government official (Federal or regional) who delivered the report
Now, let’s read the next paragraph which purports to hide Mr. Gettleman’s bias reporting
He said, “Anybody who works for the government — teachers, doctors, clerks, administrators — has to join a militia,” said Hassan Abdi Hees, who worked as the head accountant in a government office in the Ogaden and is now seeking asylum in Kenya. “I left because I didn’t want to die.”
I will add more of the same quotes for clarification. He also mentioned, ‘They [The Ethiopian Defense Forces] don’t know the bush,” said Daous, a commander for the Ogaden National Liberation Front.”
Examining the above two paragraphs, Mr. Gettleman tried to show credibility by mentioning the names of individuals. Who are these individuals, a few are refugee seekers and the other is the ONLF commander. Has the common sense kicked in yet? What should one say to be accepted by the UNHCR as refugee and what should a commander of ONLF say about the Ethiopian Defense Forces.
Those of you who came to the Western world as refugee claimants know very well the stories some people made to have their refugee claims accepted. Let’s be honest, for the sake of fairness. The green pasture is in the West. Don’t get me wrong, there are some refugees who truly needed protection during the Derg Era and may be in the first few years after Derg had vanished. But in general, these days refugees have made so many stories that they have fictionally killed their moms and dads, imprisoned and tortured themselves, and traveled through the terrain of war zones to save their lives. Now, a UNHCR officer hearing those stories cannot deny the refugee claimant a status of refugee. My point is, when Mr. Gettleman interviewed the refugees, what would be the expected answer from them, any common sense? You guessed it, the refugee is not going to paint our government a rosy pictures. What about interviewing the ONLF commander, any common sense? Well, let me help you. For those of you who are familiar with the geography of Ogaden, it is nothing compare to the rigid mountain of the Northern Ethiopia. So, do you believe that the Ogaden region is difficult to our Ethiopian Defense Forces to monitor considering how flat it is? I don’t think so. The only thing that Mr. Gettleman has missed is that the Ethiopian government preferred peace over war. The misinformed ONLF soldiers are our brothers, because of that the government is giving them a chance to come to their senses through exerting the utmost peace and diplomatic initiatives.
Is Mr. Gettleman the official defender and speaker of ONLF? In a vulgar sense, I believe he is. First, if you read his article, it is full of pictures only showing the ONLF fighters. I am not sure, though, if those pictures are old or new. Second, he interviewed only refugees with the obviously expected answers which are defaming the government and our people. Third, I believe ONLF and other Ethiopian enemies are using him because they believe that since he was arrested in Ethiopian, he could be an easy target to collaborate with them to disseminate their fabricated stores through a trusted New York Times newspaper.
So what are the motives of Mr. Gettleman that pushed him to disseminate such biased stories? Could it be to revenge for his arrest as a result of violating the conditions of his travel visa to Ethiopia? Could he be influenced by ONLF or anti-Ethiopian elements? Could he simply want to glorify himself because the Ethiopian government and the enemies are giving attention to his biased stories?
Let’s look at “Glory” in journalism. Journalist, to find glory, may apply bias to their stories. Glory bias defined as, “Journalists often assert themselves into the stories they cover. This happens most often in terms of proximity, i.e. to the locus of unfolding events or within the orbit of powerful political and civic actors. This bias helps journalists establish and maintain a cultural identity as knowledgeable insiders (although many journalists reject the notion that follows from this--that they are players in the game and not merely observers).” [3] Does Mr. Gettleman think that he is a knowledgeable insider, is he an observer or a player in the game? What I understand from his current and previous stories about Ogaden is that he is scrambling for glorification. His close ties with ONLF and the attention given to him from the Ethiopian government are what he is looking for. The more we oppose his “stories” and “whine” about it, he is getting more glorification.
What makes people compromise their integrity? Greed, glory, and revenge are some of them. In this particular case I believe, after reading his articles on ONLF and Ogaden, he is craving for glorification and revenge. Revenge for his arrest and glorification for personal gain and “Journalism popularity.”
Mr. Gettleman, I think you have done enough damage. Now, come to your senses and undo what you have done. I hope, my government, will allow you to interview government officials. I also hope you attempt to find my government’s initiatives to bring peace in the region and you dwell on that. If you have known the true pictures of my country, you wouldn’t have decided to be an anti-81 million Ethiopian citizens.
I look forward to reading your next article.
Haile B.
Dec 21, 2007