Re: UK: REPORTER REPRIMANDED FOR TELLING THE TRUTH RE: YUGO (fwd)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 14:30:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steve Martinot <marto@ocf.berkeley.edu>
To: jmusselm_rpa@indiana.edu
Subject: Re: UK: REPORTER REPRIMANDED FOR TELLING THE TRUTH RE: YUGO


THE VANCOUVER SUN				TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 1990

A Soldier's View:

REPORTER REPRIMANDED FOR TELLING THE TRUTH 

	By Lewis Mackenzie

BELGRADE — During the past few days, I have observed the 
contingent of foreign journalists here in Belgrade aghast at the 
controversy surrounding John Simpson, a well-known and 
respected BBC journalist.
	Earlier in the week, Simpson filed a piece that showed a 
small group of Belgrade residents gathered on a sidewalk in the 
downtown area berating Simpson and proclaiming that Serbia was 
united against NATO. I saw the news item and knew it accurately 
reflected the mood of the city. 
	Within 48 hours, the piece was condemned in the British 
House of Commons as pro-Serbian propaganda that did not 
accurately reflect the true picture in all of Yugoslavia and that 
somehow Simpson was aiding the enemy. 
	I think it is important to remember that we are not currently 
engaged in the Second World War, where our actual survival is at 
stake. In fact, none of the NATO countries conducting the war 
against Yugoslavia is under any measurable degree of threat. 
	During the Second World War, journalists were quite 
understandably part of the weaponry employed by the Allies. They 
were confined to one side in the conflict and their reports were 
designed to alleviate concern at home and embellish success at the 
front and mislead the enemy. All very understandable. 
	Starting with the Gulf War, the allies have had reporters on 
both sides, a bizarre but natural development, given that both sides 
felt they could exploit the media presence and 24-hour news 
coverage to their own good. 
	And so we come to this war with a large contingent of 
journalists in Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro reporting on the 
horrific plight of the refugees, and a relatively small number here in 
Belgrade reporting on what is going on in the capital of the country 
being attacked and seen as the cause of the conflict. 
	While our movements have to be cleared ahead of time, we 
have, in fact, travelled outside of Belgrade on numerous occasions. 
	Articles that are sent out of the country — including this 
one — are not censored; however, there is some evidence that if the 
rhetoric were considered "Serb-bashing," one's welcome here 
would soon disappear. 
	The important thing to remember in all this controversy 
about John Simpson and presumably, the rest of us, is that we are, 
in fact, in Belgrade and all we can report from firsthand knowledge 
is what is going on in Belgrade and the mood of the capital's 
citizens. To suggest that we should adjust our reporting of fact in 
order to assist NATO's objectives is somewhat distasteful, even to a 
retired general. 
	Surely, individual members of the public are wise enough to 
absorb the information flowing out of this region and draw their 
own conclusions. 
	Sunday, our CTV team visited a middle-class family in 
Belgrade to film their routine during an air raid warring.
	The father is out of work as a result of the war and receives 
no compensation. The three children (aged 14,12, and five) shared 
with us their feelings when they hear and frequently feel the bombs 
explode. They became emotional and started to cry while all the 
time supporting each other. It was a tough thing to film. 
	Undoubtedly, same viewers will immediately condemn the 
piece as Serbian propaganda and will miss the message that this is 
just another innocent family, like millions around the world 
experiencing the horrors of war and wanting nothing more than to 
have their children survive. 
	If we were in East Timor we could show a similar family 
there. We just happen to be in Belgrade. 

Maj-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, now retired, commanded UN troops 
during the siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian civil war of 1992.