Nelson Mandela's contested legacy - Opinion - Al Jazeera English: "At 94, Nelson Mandela is still kicking, inspiring an international day of community service on July 18 in his name. This seems to be an idea that Barack Obama borrowed for similar events in the US.
While activists, athletes and entertainers are honouring him by responding to his call for engagement, journalists in the obit departments of the world's news networks are quietly, even secretly, combing their archives for footage and tributes that will air when he moves on to the next world. They are getting ready and seem to think it will happen sooner rather than later.
I have already seen a programme length obituary that a major network has ready to go.
Barring some major disaster at the same time, Mandela's death may receive more visibility than the achievements of his long life.
The question is: which Mandela will be memorialised? Will it be he leader who built a movement and a military organization to fight injustice or a man of inspiration with a great smile who we admire because of the many years he suffered behind bars?
Having spent many years as a network producer, I know that the TV News industry’s instinct is to 'humanise' the fallen by focusing on their symbolic importance."
No comments:
Post a Comment