About book Het Zijn Net Mensen - Beelden Uit Het Midden-Oosten (2006)
Having been In Istanbul during the Gezi Park protests, I saw for myself how far media misrepresentation can go. So I agreed with Mr. Luyendijk on all he wrote. Great easy read, fused with a good sense of humor that he managed to keep even in the most dire situations. I wish more people would read this book, although short it provides a great explanation of the political and social conditions of the middle east. Before sharing any opinions on the middle east, one should certainty read this book first if they haven't witnessed first hand what they are talking about. Drags towards the end, and occasionally repetitive. But the central thesis is hard to dispute: journalism, in it's current form, is part of the problem rather than part of the solution as far as the Middle East is concerned. It is fair to be a bit suspicious of a Middle East corraspondent's motives for writing this after he left the patch; bit actually, I'd think that this is rather reasonable, for the simple reason that it is pretty hard swimming against the tide whilst actively reporting for Cairo, Damascus, Tel Aviv etc. The book is somewhat dated now - inevitable with the turnover of news in these parts. But it would be fascinating to see how the author would compare publicity machines of the moment against a decade ago.. I would argue that, in the one country that I know well, they've become less sophisticated, filled with hubris that comes from a disconnection with reality - consequence of previous efforts working a bit too well, one may surmise.
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Over de eenzijdigheid van journalistiek; kritisch en scherp.
—aki
