Posted on 07/29/2002 2:48:33 PM PDT by mhking
The following exchange is part of a much longer group of posts on the blog "Little Green Footballs." The blog-owners were able to get John R. Bradley, News Editor of the Arab News to answer a handful of questions posed to him, before he ran off in a huff, once regular users began to posit some questions to him. I've included three posts, first one where questions from Joe Katzman were directed to Bradley. The remaining posts are from Bradley. Note that in the final post, Bradley storms off in a huff, after referring to the users of LGF as "white trash," presumbaly because the users took him to task for some of the things he's written there. 7/28/2002: questions for the arab news We’ve had a lot of excellent comments in response to John R. Bradley of the Arab News. We’ve also had a few comments that simply expressed anger. Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with expressing anger. But since, in his second comment, Bradley threw out a challenge to engage in a “constructive debate,” let’s try to bring this discussion back on track in case he decides to visit again. (I suspect he won’t, because I don’t think he really is interested in a contest he will surely lose.) Joe Katzman has authored a good set of rational questions to anchor the debate, and I’m going to repost them here in the hope that Mr. Bradley will try to respond. I for one am very interested to hear his answers. The questions: (1) Let's start with this one: what do you see as the core mission of the Arab News? (2) How does that mission relate to your paper's envisioned style of coverage of the following issues: A. Political liberalization in Saudi Arabia beyond better treatment of non-Saudis (3) You said some interesting things in "Why ‘freedom of expression’ is such a slippery term". For instance: "These readers were to be pampered, not challenged; dissension was gradually replaced by conformity. As with British and American politics, every mainstream newspaper editor on both sides of the Atlantic sprinted toward the middle ground. The result was a colossal lowering of standards, a wholesale abandoning of principles." Please explain the ways in which the Arab News challenges, rather than pampers, the conformist majority views of Saudi culture. So far, I can't say I've seen much of that. (4) Indeed, catering to racist prejudices via articles by David Duke and Lyndon LaRouche (presented as mainstream American opinion, no less!) certainly strikes me as conformity and pandering to the basest human impulses. Do you view those articles in a different light? If so, how do you view them and what was the thought process behind running them? (5) In your "freedom of expression' article, you also wrote this about the media's post 9/11 reaction: "There has been absolutely no cultural sensitivity. There has been absolutely no respect for Islamic law. There has been absolutely no sympathy for the necessity in this part of the world of employing the honorable tradition of patient diplomacy." A. What kind of cultural sensitivity did you want them to show? Can you give us an example of an incident or two that was particularly lacking in this regard? B. What kind if respect do American and British newspapers owe to Islamic law (or Catholic canon law, or any other aside from their host countries')? What would you have accepted as evidence of "respect for Islamic law"? C. Why is patient diplomacy a necessity in this region? What would "sympathy for this necessity" from the media look like? For that matter, what do you believe the USA should have done post 9/11? The ball is in your court, Mr. Bradley. I welcome the opportunity to engage in a real debate, but considering the replies so far I don't hold up much hope. Joe Katzman's questions are excellent and thought provoking -- indeed, the first posting so far to contain anything other than personal insult -- so we'll give it a go. I like the fact that you block messages from hostile Saudis but allow personal insults against my loved ones. Now that's the kind of ethical journalism I miss! Are there no depths of hypocrisy to which you will not sink in the hollow name of freedom fo expression? But just for the record: I have an assistant who filters my email so hate mail does not reach me. I have received literally thousands of such messages since Sept. 11. However, I have never failed to respond to a civil email, however opposed to my views its author may have been. The only hope left for the world after Sept. 11 is cultural dialogue. And to clear up one other thing before we start: I was partly educated at Darmouth College, Hanover NH (on a scholarship) and I have spent months driving around the US on a number of different trips with American and other friends. I have an extensive range of friends who are American scholars in various fields, and have regularly published work in American publications. So please don't get it into your heads that I somehow hate Americans or America, or that I'm ignorant of what America is about. What I hate -- yes, hate -- is American foreign policy, as do tens of millions of ordinary Americans. John R. Bradley NOTE: I am writing this as a personal response in my capacity as News Editor employed by the Jeddah-based Arab News. This posting is not in any way to be taken as an official statement on behalf of Arab News. The person to ask for such a statement is my editor-in-chief, Khaled Al-Maeena. I will only reply to questions from Joe Katzman, so all you “oh I can’t believe this idiot etc etc” guys please try to give it a rest for a few hours? Or at least try to think of something __interesting__ and __constructive__ to say. STARTS: Q: Joe Katzman: What do you see as the core mission of Arab News? A: John R. Bradley: I would distrust any international publication that had a “core mission”, if by that you mean it is being used as a vehicle to promote crude propaganda. World events are changing by the hour, if not by the minute; it is the job of any international publication to try and reflect that changing reality, while providing commentary on it. However, there is a guiding principle at Arab News, defined in its name: to bring to the English-language international media news and commentary that is presented from an Arab perspective. As Saudi Arabia is the home of the Arab race and the Arabic language, Arab News is excellently-positioned to perform this role. Q: How does that mission relate to your paper’s envisioned style of coverage of the following issues: (1) Political liberalization in Saudi Arabia beyond better treatment of non-Saudis? A: Our print-edition readership (from which our advertising revenue derives; we are a private publication) is about 60 percent educated immigrants from the Indian subcontinent, 30 percent Western expatriates, and 10 percent Saudi. (These figures are current estimates.) Our website gets about 175,000 hits a day, almost exclusively from Americans (or at least people residing in the US). Considering that audience, the job of covering “political liberalization” in Saudi Arabia is largely left to the local Arabic-language media, and we have a daily section “from the local press” consisting of four translated articles from the many Arabic daily newspapers here. Although we do have occasional articles on domestic politics, it is through the “from the local press” section, prominently displayed on page 3, that we cover hard-core domestic political debate. Because our readers are largely immigrant workers we focus, as you correctly observe, more on the need for “better treatment of non-Saudis”, who can face unimaginable exploitation here (as elsewhere in the Gulf). What is happening in the local press here is, incidentally, quite exciting post 9/11, and I have just finished a series of interviews with all the leading editors-in-chief of Saudi papers and Saudi-based columnists for pan-Arab publications like Al-Hayat. An article will appear in English and Arabic in September, and will address very specifically your frist question. (2) The Arab-Israeli conflict? A: It is almost impossible to publish anti-Israeli articles in the American media, print or otherwise (although of course they do sometimes slip through the net, and Harper’s and The Nation are still providing a refuge for dissenters). Arab News tries to provide a counterweight to this fundamental censorship on this specific issue. We are basically on the side of the Palestinians, because we think they have historically been done a great injustice. However, that is not to suggest that there is not a wide range of opinions on the nitty gritty of the Palestinian issue, and Palestinian tactics, among our contributors. (3) Coverage of political Islam in other areas of the Arab world. A: Please clarify what you mean by “political Islam”. That’s a very vague term. Q: You said some interesting things in “Why ‘freedom of expression’ is a slippery term”. For instance: “These readers were to be pampered, not challenged; dissension was gradually replaced by conformity. As with British and American politics, every mainstream newspaper editor on both sides of the Atlantic sprinted toward the middle ground. The result was a colossal lowering of standards, a wholesale abandoning of principles.” Please explain the ways in which Arab News challenges, rather than pampers, the conformist majority views of Saudi culture. So far, I can’t see much of that. A: What are the “conformist majority views of Saudi culture”? Saudi Arabia is a very complex society, and neither the press here nor outside reflects that complexity. I'll be happy to talk about this, but please clarify, if you have some kind of first-hand experience or expertise. Q: Indeed, catering to racist prejudices via articles by David Duke and Lyndon LaRouche (presented as mainstream American opinion, no less!) certainly strikes me as conformity and pandering to the basest human impulses. Do you view these articles in a different light? A: I despise anti-Semitism from the very bottom of my heart, as does everyone else on the Arab News team. We regularly emphasize in editorial meetings that Jews are not and never have been “the enemy”. It is the extremes of Zionism we object to. Of course, Zionists are unable to distinguish between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism; but, as Edmund White wrote in the introduction to English translation of Jean Genet’s classic “Prisoner of Love”, that’s their problem. Just for the record: My private tutor at University College London, who taught me how to write literary articles and was a great inspiration for me during my undergraduate years, was Jewish. The present biographer of Henry James, who guided me through a number of Henry James projects, is Jewish. My closest friend at Oxford was Jewish. I could go on. I have Jews to thank for just about everything achievement I’ve ever made, in some small or big way, just as I have Christians and Muslims to thank. I could never work for Arab News, or any other publication, if I perceived that it had an anti-Jewish agenda, any more than I could work for a pro-Zionist publication like the Wall Street Journal. Re David Duke. I despise that individual and am sorry one of his articles slipped onto our website edition. When this fact was brought to the editor’s attention, the article was immediately removed. Even the Arab News-hater Taranto reported that fact. Lyndon LaRouche is similarly despicable in my eyes. We’ll carry on with the final two questions once we’ve exhausted this debate. It’s past midnight here, and in the words of the inimitable Morrissey: “I’m tired and I want to go to bed”. John R. Bradley Hi Joe, The excited little kids just won't shut up so that us adults can have a proper conversation. If you can find another website that has an invigilator, and which will allow ordinary Saudis to post comments as well, I will be happy to resume this debate. How am I supposed to answer 74 postings, most containing streams of questions? littlegreenfootballs reflects the mainstream American media in the way it completely shuts out one side of the debate out while allowing, indeed encouraging, the other to spew forth just about anything without reason or restraint. And all out of sheer ignorance! Is this the wonderful democracy I'm supposed to feel nostalgic for? While I'm not in the habit of hanging out with white trash, this experience has been welcome in as much as it reminded me of the kind of blind intolerance, complete lack of ethics and general stupidity that now largely defines political discussion in the United States. Yes, we're still pushing for more freedoms over here; but you guys just went and threw yours away. If you would like to reminded of just how low you have sunk as a media culture, have a read of Gerg Palast's The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: An Investigative Reporter Exposes the Truth about Globalization, Corporate Cons, and High Finance Fraudsters I'm off for a stroll down Jeddah's fabulous Corniche, the longest in the world and a kind of open air museum peppered with famous, giant-size sculptures. At dusk the largest fountain in the world bursts into life. Ordinary families settle down to have picnics. Polite smiles and hellos from strangers. A completely crime-free environment. Ah! A bit of civilization . . . Look out for Taranto part two in Friday's Arab News. John R. Bradley
B. The Arab-Israeli conflict
C. Coverage of political Islam in other areas of the Arab world
posted by Charles at 7:42 AM PST
News Editor, Arab News
Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
posted by John R. Bradley @ 7/28/2002 01:07PM PST | #17
News Editor, Arab News
Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
posted by John R. Bradley @ 7/28/2002 02:51PM PST | #36
News Editor, Arab News
Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
posted by John R. Bradley @ 7/29/2002 06:54AM PST | #76
There is no sow like unto allah, and mohammed is her pimp!
I think that is the most preposterous sentence I've read in a month.This guy obviously hasn't seen ALL of our Alphabet News Channels.
Entirely paid for by Western oil money. Before the discovery of oil, the entire peninsula was a foul, utterly destitute wasteland (read any account, starting with Sir Richard Burton). Now only most of it is.
Listen, pal. We have fountains and picnics and sculptures here, too. But over here they don't chop your damn head off for carrying a Bible.
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