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 Tuesday September 28, 2004 16:37 by Michael Hennigan - Finfacts.com
 Robert Shortt currenty a business correspondent at RTE, is to succeed the current incumbent Carole Coleman as the station's Washington Correspondent. Is an expatriate posting justified when areas of the world such as Asia and Africa generally go unreported? Americans are well known to have a limited interest in foreign news unless there is an American angle to it. The following is from a satirical piece on a US survey on the annoying amount of international news on the web. "I can see where it's important if we're, like, beating some country in the Olympics or bombing them or, ideally, both," Grisham added. "But if some Colombian drug lord sinks a ferry full of Israeli soldiers in North Latvoania or Serbo-Malaysia, or wherever, and Americans aren't involved, what has that got to do with me?" |
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Comments (6 of 6)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6Could the departure of Carole Coleman have anything to do with her interview with George Bush during his visit here last June?
There was more than wailing and gnashing of teeth when Coleman asked the halfwit a few uncomfortable questions. The reach of Washington is long indeed, right into Montrose it seems.
I imagine she's persona non grata in the White House since that interview. As a result, she's a lame duck correspondant now, so they really have to replace her. She presumably knew this would happen before she did the interview. I'd say that doing a proper interview with chimpy, rather than a puff-piece was worth the resulting sacrifice.
I think it was the phoenix, or perhaps even her own colleagues in RTE who sniggered that her show during the Bush interview was a cynical ploy to move up the ranks in Irish journalism, becoming a "heavy hitter" or whatever. It was quite light and fluffy really. She asked him questions which he couldn't answer anyway (like is the world safer, or is God on his side). She was just trying to embarrass him, and it worked. Fine. But she didn't ask him any of the questions about Iraq, Halliburton, International Law or anything at all that would have really put him on the spot.
The amazing thing about all these Irish foreign correspondents, be they RTE, Irish Times, NewsTalk 106 or wherever, is that none of them speaks a foreign language.
How can they develop a multiplicity of sources and opinions if they're stuck in just one language ?
Its even worse than that. When does RTE interview an "expert" from outside Britain or the US on anything, from urban planning to the war on Iraq ? No wonder we have the Anglo-American view of the world ! Wouldn't it make sense to say that anyone aspiring to be a foreign correspondent must speak at least one language other than English ? And why does RTE take the sloppy and lazy road of always calling London or Washington when it needs an "expert" ?
First of all, that's BS. Irish Times correspondents in Moscow learnt Russian, Lala Marlowe speaks French, and Mark Little and Miriam O'Callaghan speak the language of every other VIP magazine reader.
But, do you need to speak a second language to report on stuff like this?
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004451271,00.html
"Police said the wording contained a “disturbing message”.
It is understood to have included the insulting words “Irish tw*t”."
Irish tw*t? Sounds like the work of one of the Beckhams (any one). But a race hate slogan? Bloody Cork pansy.
On following the link above, I noted there was a section where you could submit stories to the sun and earn money, so
MANDYS MUM IN ROMP WITH RANDY REG SAYS VICAR
Single Mum of four, Sandy Snotts, 43, has been spied romping with saucy eastenders love-rat "Randy" Reg Beckham, a brother in law of soccer ace, David, says local Fcukleminster vicar, Armitage Crocksworthy. "Phoarr, what a bit o' totty", said Reg, when our reporter Sue Cellulite caught up with him having been evicted from Slapper's nightclub (ooh!) after a boozy night out on the town. Busty page 3 stunner, Sandy's daughter, Mandy, was in floods of tears when she heard the news, in hospital, following her painful, heart rending breast augmenttion surgery. She labeled Reg a "sicko" and a "perv" and vowed revenge on the totty-mad thespian!