18 February 2011

Whatever Happened to Balanced Reporting?

Heading up a veritable pot-pourri of gossip and comment in his Diary piece in the Mail yesterday was this by Ephraim Hardcastle : http://tinyurl.com/63ffyjt

Hardcastle is writing about the sexual assault and beating of CBS reporter, Lara Logan, in Cairo on Friday 11th February :


'Nothing excuses the Cairo sexual assault on CBS TV reporter Lara Logan, 39, the former swimwear model but she does have ‘form’ for dressing provocatively in inappropriate locations.'


Most people, reading a more factual and honest account of what happened to this woman, would have felt sympathy with her plight. Mr. Hardcastle, on the other hand, seeks merely to denigrate and blame the victim. 

Update, 6th March :

I have just come across this piece from the New York Times putting forward good reasons why we need the presence of women in war-zones. The article, by Kim Barker, mentions the treatment Lara Logan received at the hand of both her attackers in Egypt and the many hyper-critical journalists in the press and on TV. Article to be found: here.

Rosie Robertson