You know what we're talking about, Kelly McEvers, in Beirut, repeats what US-government approved 'activists' in Syria tell her. Gets all weepy on air whenever one of them dies and pretends that she somehow saw it and knows who did the killing as she ignores all the other deaths to put out propaganda to start a war?
As Ruth pointed out last week, Danny Schechter finally discovered . . . . what Ava and C.I. were calling out as far back as February 12th:
It's her reporting on Syria that's destroyed her reputation, as each day seems to find her filing yet another breathless report of the violence being witnessed in Syria, the outageous violence, the deaths, the destruction . . . All of which she observes from Beirut. (That's in Lebanaon for those not familiar with the MidEast and, no, Lebanaon is not in Syria, it is its own country which, like Iraq, shares a border with Syria.)
Sometimes, after dispensing 'facts' on bombings and deaths and shootings, 'reporter' Kelly will add something like "the activists and witnesses and citizen journalists who we talk to on a regular basis" tell her this is what is taking place. Such a statement -- not always included -- will usually pass quickly. And no one will question whether her sources are one-sided (they certainly sound one-sided). Last week, when she was 'reporting' on rockets destroying a neighborhood and a hospital (unverifiable claims on her part) this exchange did take place:
INSKEEP: Now, Kelly, we should be clear: Few, if any, journalists are inside Homs, or in any of the contested areas in Syria. We're getting information from activists here. How confident are you of the picture that's emerging, of what's happening in Syria right now?
MCEVERS: It is so difficult to verify the numbers. And over the weekend, we saw that there were discrepancies about how many, exactly, had died in some of these government offensives. You had one activist group saying it was over 300. Another activist group saying no, it was only 60. And without being able to go there ourselves and verify it and see it with our own eyes, it's very difficult.
It's very difficult? We'd say it's impossible. And when the administration is pounding the war drums on Syria, we'd say the last thing the US needs is 'reporters' 'reporting' on something they can't verify with their own eyes. Speaking to people with vested interests and basing your report on that? Not only is that not objective journalism, it doesn't even rise to the level of news reporting. At best, it's a feature article -- a lighter category.
But nearly every day, there's Kelly on Morning Edition (or All Things Considered), breathless and insisting that violence is taking place all around her . . . Well, she watches some streams online from her echo chamber inner circle -- apparantly while preparing meals based upon what she declared on Morning Edition last week. Is she doubling as a Sous-Chef at Chez Sami?
Also bravely addressing the topic and blazing the trail Schechter would tip toe down much later were Rebecca with "media whore kelly mcevers," Elaine with "Syria" and C.I. on her own with "Blair gets called a War Criminal, BBC gets caught ..."
So where's the good news?
Last week, NPR finally got a reporter into Syria: Deborah Amos.
A real reporter. Author of Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile, and Upheaval in the Middle East -- which Common Ills community members chose as the book of 2010. We might not like the news out of Syria any better, but at least we'll know it's coming for a trained reporter, one actually on the ground in Syria.