Please, kill my colleagues (Journo's dixit)

OK, let’s face it. Some individuals are just idiots. Stupid people who can’t do anything to avoid it. They were born like that: idiots. Fanatism only emphasizes that quality, the stupidity. And if they have a pulpit to widespread their stupidity even more, they don’t hesitate using it, because they are stupids.

Last example of this is Ralph Peters. Neocon, ex-soldier and journalist for the New York Post and Fox News. In one of his latest works in The Journal of International Security Affairs, Peters suggests that the American Army should consider targeting the war correspondents if they don’t bend to the official guidelines. The emphasis is mine:

Although it seems unthinkable now, future wars may require censorship, news blackouts and, ultimately, military attacks on the partisan media. Perceiving themselves as superior beings, journalists have positioned themselves as protected-species combatants. But freedom of the press stops when its abuse kills our soldiers and strengthens our enemies.

It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last one right-wingers Americans ask for the elimination of those dangerous journos. They always have had violence up to hand, whatever it was to shot down photographers or unpleasant abortist doctors -although Tilles is not the only one. At the beginning of the year, Joe the Plumber, that guy who become famous by not being a plumber but campaigning for McCain-Palin, asked for a news blackout in Israel. But at least, he didn’t want to shot down his colleagues.

Anyway, it doesn’t seem to be necessary to shot down the journalists in war zones. David Axe, a war reporter on his own, back-arguments Peters smartly. But even without going so far, there is already something way more effective going on to censorship information and the journalists: make it impossible to them to live from journalism. If the media continues lowering reporters’ salaries, work conditions, safety and making them junk contracts, too few will follow the path. Too many tears, too few laughs.

If it wasn’t because journalism is a drug, many of us would have already given up. It’s much easier to live serving cocktails. The salary is crap, the hours kill you, you are most likely being exploited and you get to know a lot of drunken people and gorgeous women. Just like journalism, but at least behind a bar you don’t have to dodge bullets.



PS. Mr. Peters, there are better ways to climb up positions within your media company than killing your colleagues. In fact, I think right now many of your colleagues are (I’d say, all of us in journalism are) quite mad at you. But don’t worry; we are educated and civilized. We won’t suggest someone to send you to a war zone to be killed.