Jingoistic Journalism, or is NBC’s Martin
Fletcher Just Homesick

Longtime NBC correspondent Martin Fletcher checked in from Thailand yesterday with a rather weird blog post. He’s apparently been trying (without success) to gain entry into Tibet, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe to report on humanitarian issues.

I suppose that’s all well and good. According to Fletcher, he’s been working on it for three months, and is apparently feeling rather, eh, snubbed, because none of the governments are giving him an entry visa. His poetic waxing about the the U.S. of A., though, is almost laughable:

As a journalist who has tried to enter each of these places in the last three months and failed ? my heart goes out to the citizens under stress, whose stories I would dearly like to tell, in the hope some good would come of it.

But my predominant emotion is thanks to the world into which I was fortunate enough to be born. My world has enough food and my vote is a force that cannot be changed, unlike Zimbabwe; I can say what I like, unlike in Tibet; and I know I can count on my government in case of a natural disaster, unlike in Myanmar… [emphasis mine]

Oh, where to start.

“My world has enough food”

May 2, 2008 — America’s Second Harvest ? The Nation’s Food Bank Network reported the results of a new survey that found 100 percent of food bank respondents have seen an increase in the number of clients served within the past year. The increase is estimated at 15 - 20 percent.

Of those surveyed, 84 percent indicated they are currently unable to adequately meet the increased demand without having to reduce the amount of food they distribute or people they serve…

“The America’s Second Harvest Network and food service organizations nationwide have been ABSOLUTELY overwhelmed by demand,” said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of America’s Second Harvest. “Supply is not keeping up with demand and we must do something quickly to meet the needs of the more than 35 million struggling Americans trying to make ends meet and feed themselves and their families.” …

“My vote is a force that cannot be changed”

Compared to counties with paper ballots, counties with electronic voting machines were significantly more likely to show increases in support for President Bush between 2000 and 2004. This effect cannot be explained by differences between counties in income, number of voters, change in voter turnout, or size of Hispanic/Latino population. - In Broward County alone, President Bush appears to have received approximately 72,000 excess votes. - We can be 99.9% sure that these effects are not attributable to chance…

“I can say what I like, unlike in Tibet”

A free speech zone is an area set aside for protesters, within which law enforcement supposedly will not interfere with them if they stay inside it, but may arrest or assail them if they venture out of it. It is often at a remote location from which the protesters need not be seen or heard by those attending the event being protested.

Example: When President George W. Bush travels around the United States, the Secret Service visits the location ahead of time and orders local police to set up ‘free speech zones’ or ‘protest zones’ where people opposed to Bush policies (and sometimes sign-carrying supporters) are quarantined. These zones routinely succeed in keeping protesters out of presidential sight and outside the view of media covering the event…

“I know I can count on my government in case of a natural disaster”

Perhaps Martin Fletcher has just been away from the U.S. for too long, and is experiencing some homesickness. But the bottom line is that he doesn’t need to be traveling to the four corners of the Earth (or Myanmar or Tibet or Zimbabwe) to experience social injustice. He really needs to examine the myth of American exceptionalism, especially in the wake of 8 years of the most socially destructive administration in U.S. history.

When he returns to the U.S., perhaps he could apply his skills to working on some of the same issues he laments from his experiences in other countries.

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