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There is now a new Rogovoy Report home
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[FILM REVIEW] Bill Cunningham New York
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[FILM REVIEW] Bill Cunningham New York
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EAGLE WATCH: France in flames, Berkshirites clueless
11.08.05
Today's (11/8/05) Berkshire Eagle doesn't contain a single mention of the fact that French cities are in flames, overrun by rioters, that businesses and synagogues are being damaged, property being destroyed, and people being killed -- or that the violence is spreading to other European locations, including Germany and Belgium. The New York Times judged this story the number 2 story of the day today (on the upper left of the front page) and number 1 yesterday.
In fact, the ONLY international news in today's Eagle is ....actually, there isn't any -- not a single story or brief filed from abroad!
Does this represent a new policy at 75 South Church Street -- that the Eagle's world view ends at the borders of the U.S.?
Actually, I would welcome such a change of policy. I'm in the minority of loyal Eagle readers who have never relied on the paper for international -- or even national -- reporting via wire stories. For that, we have the New York Times, which many of us can even get through home delivery in the Berkshires, if not on newsstands and the web.
If the Eagle is throwing its efforts and limited resources into becoming a truly local paper that would be a terrific move. It would be helpful if the paper would beef up its statewide coverage so we knew a little bit more about what's going on in Boston, but even that already seems to be in the works, what with nearly daily front-page stories being filed from the "Eagle Boston Bureau."
There are, however, many Eagle readers who cling to the notion that one should be able to pick up the paper every morning and get a picture of the whole world, from the capitals of the great nations to Washington to Boston to Pittsfield and the hilltowns. Alas, those days are long, long gone. And let them rest in peace.
Yes, the Eagle seems to be devoted to local news at the expense of important international news. I think the Eagle, particularly because it is a country paper, has a responsibility to inform readers about world news in a reasonably thorough manner (which they failed miserably to do in this case). However, I didn't see anything in today's paper about the meeting being held tonight in Great Barrington to decide what to do with the fire station. So much for local news.
11/8/2005
I agree that the Eagle does a poor job of covering foreign news. I'm not convinced it should give up trying to do so, however. But I do know that it is going way overboard to describe French cities as "overrun by rioters." In fact, in yesterday's Times there was a story about how calm and normal things are in central Paris.--Bill Vogt
11/9/2005
Seth Rogovoy Replies
I'm sorry, but this is just SO much wishful thinking and selective reading. To wit: In today's New York Times, the following:
" France began implementing emergency curfews in trouble spots across the country today and stepped up its crackdown on urban violence, announcing that all foreigners convicted in the rioting would be summarily deported."
"...the Interior Ministry spokesman, Franck Louvrier, said the ebbing of the disturbances had less to do with curfews than with tougher police action against rioters. 'It's because of the arrests," he said, adding that 1,830 people had been detained since the rioting started, 280 of them in the night of Tuesday to Wednesday...'"
"Although the expulsion measure is bound to provoke controversy at a time of national soul-searching over France's treatment of its ethnic minorities, the decision may nevertheless meet with the approval of many French people dismayed by the violence and television images of their cities in flames."
"Until now the unrest has most often been compared with the student protests of 1968. But critics say the introduction of curfews carries a more distant, and troubling, historical echo because the government is dusting off a law drafted to stamp out unrest during the war in Algeria."
I find it hard to believe that this is "calm and normal."
11/9/2005
11/8/2005
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