Before crossfire was one of the vilest words in our discourse, it was a political show in CNN. The format of the show was that there would usually be a liberal and a conservative host, and they would get a person from both ideological camps, and let the four of them has out the major issues of the day between them. The ideological divide provided interesting news fodder, and it was one of the most popular television shows of it time, until it ran into Jon Stewart.
The interview is one of the most viewed videos ever; it may be found here. Stewart makes the charge that CNN is not discharging their responsibilities to the nation in presenting the news correctly and impartially in the run up to the politically-supercharged 2004 election. As expected, the hosts of Crossfire do not react well to this, with one of them, Tucker Carlson, retorting that Jon Stewart is not doing so great himself. To this, Stewart had a great response (from the transcript):
You’re on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls.
The rest was a foregone conclusion. Within three months, the show was canceled, and Carlson was out of a job.
Earlier this week, I had my own Crossfire moment with Zafar Sobhan, Assistant Editor of Daily Star, while discussing a Drishtipat article. I noted if one goes to the Daily Star webpage and googles torture, the results, as least for the first three pages are almost all about 2004 and 2005. On the contrary, if one does the same thing at the New Age website, the very first item of the results is a strong denunciation of torture under the current government by Rahnuma Ahmed.
In response, Mr. Sobhan angrily retorted:
2. please feel free to switch to the new age if you find it a better paper. of course, neither new age nor you had much to say about torture under the last government. i guess it come down to who’s ox is being gored, eh?
3. http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/05/04/d70504020330.htm
perhaps not as tough as you would like, but, then again, neither have i ever read anything by you condemning torture under the last government.
So, here was the Assistant Editor of the most widely-read English newspaper in Bangladesh, accusing me of not doing my part in protesting torture, particularly under the last government. The irony here, of course, is too sad to really savor. One only hopes that Mr. Sobhan and others like him who continue to look the other way as this military government continues to torture with impunity find a sliver of conscience somewhere in themselves and speak up against all that is wrong in Bangladesh today.
March 29, 2008 at 10:19 pm
I remember watching the youtube video of jon stewart and laughing myself silly.
In the context of the pretentious bangladeshi crowd having their clothes ripped off by a wit more powerful than the slime they rub onto themselves….
I dont think too many people exist who have the motivation, the chops, the profile and are brave enough to decloak them. Its probably better to get on with something more wholesome. People like the sound of their own voices too much. Its the developmentwallah and bepshawalla caste that is involved in the mess. the best ideas still come from books.
Civilians should stay clear of the media, intoxicating, confusing and self worshipping beast that it is. The people know that journalism is the oldest profession in the world.
March 29, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Interesting discussion, both here and the original discussion that is referred to here.
It was very surprising to see that a leading editor of a top daily newspaper would deride his professional colleague and competitors in such a public manner.
March 30, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Yes, it is indeed. I attribute some of Mr. Sobhan’s angst as the fact that day-by-day, all the journalists like him and his boss who backed last year’s military coup are becoming just painfully aware of the mess they have gotten themselves in, and how difficult it will be them to really give an honest accounting of their actions.
Thus, the rudeness and the damn-care attitude. These people are like cornered beasts fighting for their lives, they don’t want to be forever tarred as the people who brought martial rule back to Bangladesh after sixteen years of democracy, but they aren’t seeing any other way out of their danger either.