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Journalists have a public responsibility, for sure. It'd surely lack moral sense to casually report on the mistreatment of Armenians, or not bother to really me

Journalists have a public responsibility, for sure. It'd surely lack moral sense to casually report on the mistreatment of Armenians, or not bother to really mention it at all, during the Armenian genocide when covering the plight of the Armenians. This has been recognized in history by many, to leave you with two quotes from Einstein and King respectively: "If I were to remain silent, I'd be guilty of complicity." "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people." I certainly don't want to get sentimental and I'm not one to favor hyperbole, being complicit in these crimes is too strong for my taste. But I agree with the sentiment of his post, which urges journalists to recognize their power and seize the opportunity to report on gross inhumane mistreatment of people, especially when these people are the subject of his writing. Again, I understand his wording was strong, but I wish we'd focus more on the intent of his post than on the semantics.

Karunamon 12y ago
That's fine, and I even agree with you, but hyperbole absent a rhetorical purpose like a contrast or illustration is a plague on modern media (loss of nuance). It needs to be challenged when seen, not passively accepted.
- eevilspock 12y ago
  "but hyperbole.. is a plague on modern media." Need I say more?
tedks 12y ago
>I wish we'd focus more on the intent of his post than on the semantics. But it's easier to score upvotes (and downvote away uncomfortable truths) by attacking semantics. As to the strength of my wording, there were 1.5 million deaths in the Armenian Genocide, according to Wikipedia; there are more prisoners than that in prison in the United States today, and the situation has continued pretty much the same as now for the last 20 or so years. Is the torture of tens or hundreds of millions, depending on how long the situation continues, equivalent to the genocide of 1.5 million? Maybe, maybe not. I find this sort of moral calculus distasteful, and I think that anyone who has the opportunity to reduce the amount of torture in the world, yet does not take that opportunity, is undoubtedly complicit. This journalist goes as far as dismissing a hunger strike 30,000 prisoners participated in as something "organized by gangs" as if it was just an organizational tactic. Those are 30,000 people who are being tortured to death (whether literally or by breaking their minds until they are no longer human). Belittling their struggle makes him undoubtedly complicit. All it takes for evil to triumph is for good to do nothing.

Karunamon 12y ago

That's fine, and I even agree with you, but hyperbole absent a rhetorical purpose like a contrast or illustration is a plague on modern media (loss of nuance). It needs to be challenged when seen, not passively accepted.

eevilspock 12y ago
"but hyperbole.. is a plague on modern media." Need I say more?

tedks 12y ago

>I wish we'd focus more on the intent of his post than on the semantics. But it's easier to score upvotes (and downvote away uncomfortable truths) by attacking semantics. As to the strength of my wording, there were 1.5 million deaths in the Armenian Genocide, according to Wikipedia; there are more prisoners than that in prison in the United States today, and the situation has continued pretty much the same as now for the last 20 or so years. Is the torture of tens or hundreds of millions, depending on how long the situation continues, equivalent to the genocide of 1.5 million? Maybe, maybe not. I find this sort of moral calculus distasteful, and I think that anyone who has the opportunity to reduce the amount of torture in the world, yet does not take that opportunity, is undoubtedly complicit. This journalist goes as far as dismissing a hunger strike 30,000 prisoners participated in as something "organized by gangs" as if it was just an organizational tactic. Those are 30,000 people who are being tortured to death (whether literally or by breaking their minds until they are no longer human). Belittling their struggle makes him undoubtedly complicit. All it takes for evil to triumph is for good to do nothing.