By John Kusumi
OpEdNews, September 15, 2008
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=9352
I got the call.
::::::::
It's quite something to be called for an answer, where the question is essentially, "Please explain the U.S. news media for its failure to report the Chinese government's crime of transplant organ harvesting from live Falun Gong prisoners of conscience."
Well, in my shortest answer to the question, I could simply say, "They suck - for being bent, craven, depraved, and frankly stupid on this issue."
That's my abridged answer, and it would make for a short Q&A session.
But, when I was pressed by an inquisitive Chinese journalist, my take on matters seemed to soften a bit. An earnest, serious, good faith question should deserve an earnest, serious, good faith answer. My abridged answer is too flippant, so I turned to my unabridged answer. I expressed my answer in a poised, professional way, with whatever gravitas I could muster.
For 26 minutes, the journalist and I drilled down into details about the U.S. press. This is now emerging in the third radio program, following up to my article - 'CNN Caught In Genocidal Correctness.' The Chinese public is coming up the curve about my U.S. media criticism - chapter and verse. And, I am adding to the notoriety of Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper - albeit not in the light by which they'd prefer to be remembered.
I am referring to the third radio program below, and this one was in English rather than Chinese. In this 33-minute segment, SOH Radio first restated my article to be narrated in English. About seven minutes into the program, they begin grilling me, and it's almost like the same question was asked in twelve different ways:
Q.1): The U.S. mainstream discredited the organ harvesting story but why do you and your organization credit it?
Q.2): What is the reasoning behind the U.S. media discrediting the organ harvesting story?
Q.3): Do you believe the Chinese Communist Party is behind the U.S. media?
Q.4): Why does the media remain silent?
Q.5): How does the Chinese Communist Party make the U.S. media stand with them?
Q.6): Who controls the U.S. media?
Q.7): Media should be independent. But, why do the media take their cues from the U.S. White House?
Q.8): What made the media swing from being independent to being a state media?
Q.9): Are the U.S. media under pressure from the White House?
Q.10: Why do the media sometimes care more for human rights and sometimes not?
Q.11: What is the force pushing that pendulum?
Q.12: Some media are pro-communist. Are U.S. media under that influence?
Okay, so I was given the task to explain the U.S. news media. I was able to apply some gravitas, euphemisms, and conventional "wisdom" (blather) to explain or to partially excuse some U.S. journalists. It's really not my job to pull their posterior hindquarters out of a sling. But, I was able to avoid using the phrase, "bent, craven, and depraved." Twice, I applied the word "stupid," but I also provided an alternate way to explain the situation without the use of the word "stupid."
You can be the judge, and let me know how I did. The three programs are--
Sept. 6: 5+ minutes in Chinese
http://soundofhope.org/programs/162/104145-1.asp
Sept. 11: 4+ minutes in Chinese
http://soundofhope.org/programs/162/104521-1.asp
Sept. 14: 33+ minutes in English