Well the first course is over already. It went by in a flash. Today was a good day. It was still an uphill battle trying to persuade my trainees that it's worth being more balanced and professional in their coverage when it comes to stories involving Israeli or anything political. It was a really good discussion. They asked if Israel invaded Canada and built a wall would I still feel the same way. A fair question. I said I really didn't know, but I hoped I would still be able to do a professional job.
Then I tried to explain how unbalanced journalism doesn't win any respect from outside Palestine. If they want to be taken seriously and start to win the battle for sympathy, they have to at least appear reliable. Of course it's hard to separate your personal feelings from your professional responsibilities. And it's a valid debate to ask how far you should take that idea.
But I see it as a continuum. At one end is the perfect journalist who is always fair and balanced and dispassionate. At the other end is the writer who is nothing more that a public relations tool for political or nationalistic interests. Journalists have to try to move toward the good journalism end of the scale. The reality of their situation means they'll never get there and it might not even be a good idea to get there. But if they don't think about what they're doing and why, they'll find themselves at the other end, no longer journalists at all.
On a less serious note, I spent the evening just enjoying Ramallah. It's the first evening of a long weekend here, and families are out, just walking around, looking in shop windows and enjoying their time off. It's a family friendly place and the cobbled streets and ornate lamp posts give it an almost European feel.
There are a lot of toy stores here and they all seem to just love Spongebob Squarepants. Various incarnations of him are prominently displayed in shop windows and sidewalk displays.
I leave for Gaza at 8 tomorrow morning. Everyone here is keen to hear my impression of what it's like when I come back, because they can't get into Gaza. It should be an interesting experience.
John
PS: You can read more about the course on the Birzeit University blog at:
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