From an Aug. 15 commentary on globeandmail.com by Ross Howard, a journalism educator who has trained foreign journalists:
What depresses me beyond Mahad Ahmed Elmi's death is how little Canada does about basic journalism abroad, and resultant reporter tragedies.
Canadian official and non-government support for media development abroad, as a portion of foreign aid, is minuscule, compared to all other major Western democracies. (Ottawa has funded HornAfrik Radio.) The lack of interest by public and private funders is particularly embarrassing considering Canada's reputation for a financially healthy, legally sheltered, efficiently regulated and exceptionally skilled media industry, including journalism. Yet, we have almost nothing to offer the world's journalists.
And what surprises me is how modest is most of the debate among Canadian journalists, and journalism schools, and professional bodies (the Canadian Association of Journalists is a welcome exception) about threats to fundamental journalism in Canada from corporate concentration, deregulation and government secrecy. Perhaps it is because unlike Somalis, Canadians don't require courage to be journalists.
Here's a look at some of the fans attending the Wednesday night vigil:
The best that could be said about them is they're a fairly ordinary-looking bunch. But to Elvis, I don't think that would have mattered. If you were his fan, he loved you unconditionally.
The Forgotten Rebels are a punk band from Hamilton, Ont. who, strangely enough, apparently still exist. They formed in January 1977 (I saw them circa 1985-86 in the basement of the Ambassador hotel in Edmonton, home to many a great gig!). Lead singer Mickey DeSadist is the only original member -- I guess it beats driving cab.
Anyhoo, back in the day, they penned a little ditty called Elvis Is Dead. Here's the lyrics, to help us better commemorate this special day:
Elvis is dead Elvis is dead The big fat guy is dead, dead, dead Elvis is dead, Elvis is dead The big fat goof is dead, dead, dead
Millions of assholes mourned his death I'm gonna steal his body from its place of rest (x2)
Give him back in pieces when the ransom's paid Leave his hypodermics where the money's laid
Elvis is dead Elvis is dead The big fat goof Is dead, dead, dead Elvis is dead, Elvis is dead Spend your money on our records instead
Here's the song on YouTube:
I went to the band's MySpace page. The kickoff song was Surfin' On Heroin. You would have thought on this special day, they would have set it to youknowwhat, but the page hasn't been touched since May 19, 2006. I would have liked to seen some words from Mickey DeSadist* on whether his feelings about the big fat goof changed over the ensuing 30 years, but sadly, I saw nothing in public.
* I wonder if he ever considered going with Mickey DeMouse as his punk handle -- although I'm now thinking that line was probably funnier in February 1978, when it was likely first used.
Afterthought
Could it be that I'm one of the few people left alive that remembers this particular Forgotten Rebels tune? That not even Mickey himself remembers?
On The Road, a seminal American novel by Jack Kerouac (his parents were Quebecois who moved to New England) was written in 1951 and published on Sept. 5, 1957. This NYT story finds it still resonates through pop culture today:
Part of the reason for the novel’s staying power is that popular artists keep referencing it. (A new movie version, directed by Walter Salles, who made “The Motorcycle Diaries,” is scheduled to go into production early next year.) Everyone from Bob Dylan to the Beastie Boys has been inspired by Kerouac. More recently the Hold Steady, an indie rock group, quoted “On the Road” on its album “Boys and Girls in America.”
With his bad-boy image and untethered work ethic, Kerouac “is like the rock ’n’ roll version of a writer,” said Joe Landry, 31, the lead singer for the Antecedents, a Portland, Ore., band. Like many other groups, the Antecedents list him as an influence on their MySpace page.
Journalists say anonymous sources have helped expose major scandals
Kenyan journalists have staged a silent protest through the streets of the capital against a media law that would compel them to disclose their sources.
Hundreds of journalists taped their mouths and carried placards asking President Mwai Kibaki to reject it.
Kenya's attorney-general on Tuesday pledged to advise the president not to assent the proposed law passed by MPs. ...
"For years journalists in Kenya have been harassed by the government and today we're out to prove that those days are gone and the president has got the message," Frank Ojiambo, an editor with the Daily Nation newspaper told the BBC News website.
China’s government said Wednesday that it was cracking down on “false news reports, unauthorized publications and bogus journalists.”
Beijing officials periodically try to discourage the country’s news media from being too aggressive. The latest initiative comes two months before a politically delicate occasion: the Chinese Communist Party Congress, held every five years.
People’s Daily, the official voice of the Communist Party, said the party Central Committee’s propaganda department, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the State Press and Publication Administration jointly warned that “those who intentionally fabricated news that caused public anxiety and tarnished the nation’s image would be harshly dealt with or even prosecuted if they broke the law.”
“Their news organizations would also be penalized,” the newspaper added.
The government also urged news outlets to set up hot lines so that the public could report false news accounts.
This Aug. 14 BBC feature looks at China's effort to beef up its Pacific naval presence -- something that freaks out the U.S., which has enjoyed complete naval dominance of the Pacific since the end of the Second World War.
The delicate calculation: How far should China go in protecting it's legitimate interests, and can it go too far in terms of force projection and provoke a spiralling arms race with the U.S.?
The tool detected changes to a page about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
An online tool that claims to reveal the identity of organisations that edit Wikipedia pages has revealed that the CIA was involved in editing entries.
Wikipedia Scanner allegedly shows that workers on the agency's computers made edits to the page of Iran's president. ...
On the profile of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the tool indicates that a worker on the CIA network reportedly added the exclamation "Wahhhhhh!" before a section on the leader's plans for his presidency.
A warning on the profile of the anonymous editor reads: "You have recently vandalised a Wikipedia article, and you are now being asked to stop this type of behaviour." ...
When asked whether it could confirm whether the changes had been made by a person using a CIA computer, an agency spokesperson responded: "I cannot confirm that the traffic you cite came from agency computers.
"I'd like in any case to underscore a far larger and more significant point that no one should doubt or forget: The CIA has a vital mission in protecting the United States, and the focus of this agency is there, on that decisive work."
Now, to be fair, the CIA isn't the only one playing this game. The Vatican's computers have reportedly been used to alter Wikipedia entries about Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, and that a U.S. Democratic Party computer had been used to change a Rush Limbaugh entry to say that most members of his audience are "legally retarded."
In the case of the CIA, what would be worse: That some hacks there are being paid to tweak Wikipedia entries, or that an Iranian spy infiltrated the CIA and used one of its computers to vandalize the Wikipedia page on Ahmadinejad, thus framing the agency?
