HELLO!! HELLO!! I RECOGNISE YOU......!!

"Our job as journalists is to speak truth to power, shine a light in the dark places, be a witness to history, and...stand up for those who have no voice" ~ Bill Neely

If you ask ten people who their favourite journalist of all time is, you can be sure of getting ten different answers. Some may say Kate Adie - no argument from me there - and someone else may say Marie Colvin. My husband liked Jill Dando. And my Twitter friends are fans of Ayman Mohyeldin and Richard Engel. We all have at least one journalist whom we admire and I am no exception.

I first heard Bill Neely presenting the ITV news one lunchtime in 1993. Yes, I heard him. And then I saw him. I can't remember the exact date I heard/saw him, but I do remember the half-hour that ensured my admiration for him stayed with me for the rest of my life. My Twitter name 'Neely Fan Forever' is not an exaggeration.

From being a presenter, and finally becoming the International Editor of ITV News to becoming the Chief Global Correspondent of NBC, Bill has been incredible. He has brought us news from all over the world. Some of it light-hearted: US Mega-millions and various sporting events. Some of it sad: the death of various politicians, world leaders etc. Some of it anger-inducing: Why did the security people refuse to let him in to the press conference in Sri Lanka? And some of it downright heartbreaking: his reports from war zones, earthquake zones, and other disasters. Yes, through his reports, Bill has made me laugh, cry and everything in between. And to me that is one of the talents of a great journalist.

He has won countless awards and justifiably so; too many to mention, but the fact that he helped ITV News win three (yes, you read that right. THREE!!) BAFTAs in a row is brilliant!

One thing that makes me admire him as a journalist is his compassion. Some people believe that journalism and compassion do not mix and that it can possibly be a hindrance (see my previous blog: "If You Have Tears...."). For Bill this doesn't seem to have been the case. He manages to encompass professionalism with compassion incredibly well.

Not only does he have empathy for the people in his stories, but he is conscientious about the safety of his crew too. Which is exactly the way it should be. He has said that he is driven, as are many journalists, and that he wants to beat the competition, but he will never endanger his crew to do it, which is to his absolute credit. If getting the story means putting the crew in danger then there will be no story on that day. As he says, "I am very, very careful about every yard. I will not send a cameraman where I will not go. What would I say to the widow of the cameraman to whom I'd said, 'Just take a peek around that corner'? I couldn't do it, I couldn't justify that to me or to her".

Bill also introduced me to the charity he is patron of: Cardiac Risk in the Young, affectionately known as CRY. I am very proud to support this charity and to help him support them too. Though I think running a marathon is a long way off for me yet.

On a personal note, I finally got to meet Bill and spend time with him. He is one of the kindness, most generous and humble people you could meet. He has inspired me in so many ways and I feel privileged and honoured to call him a friend. Hopefully we'll be friends for a long time to come; as I support him, he inspires me and we both support CRY.

Vin Ray once said, "He is - quite simply - one of the greatest storytellers of his generation".  He was right.

Here is Bill's interview from the day I first met him:

I will be a Neely Fan forever. however long that may be. I leave you with the proverb that Bill once quoted and that I have always remembered:

        

"IF YOU HAVE TEARS, PREPARE TO SHED THEM NOW" - UNLESS YOU'RE A JOURNALIST??

A recent debate erupted about the role of emotion in journalism after Channel 4's Jon Snow made an emotional plea on a news bulletin for the people of Gaza (I will talk about Gaza another time. That's a whole other blog) To me this was an incredibly brave thing to do, but others disagreed. They saw his emotional appeal as propaganda. and said it wasn't exactly helping the situation. 

This however is not my point. My question is: Can journalism and emotion live in tandem with each other?

Some would say no A journalist has to be unbiased and professional and keep his emotions in check. But they forget two things. Firstly: being unbiased doesn't make you unfeeling, and if you show your emotion and compassion it doesn't mean you are using it as propaganda for anyone in particular.

And secondly how dare these people criticise those out in the field while they are stuck in an office/studio etc with no clear idea of what is going on. Seeing a report is one thing. Being in the situation as the on-scene reporter is something else entirely. The reporters out there, especially in war torn places, like Gaza, Syria, Libya and Iraq and in places where there have being disasters, such as earthquake zones, see some tragic and appalling scenes and hear some heartbreaking stories from victims and people who are there to help. And the journalists are supposed to not care?

To think like that is just ridiculous. Journalists are people, not robots. They are human beings like everyone else with the same emotions. As long as they can keep their composure on camera - something Kate Adie was a master of - then that to me is enough. If, when they are actually in the field finding their story, they are moved by the situation around them then it shouldn't be a problem.

I would rather see an emotional report from someone who obviously cares and is speaking from their heart about things that are happening than a reporter who cares only about the story and not about the people involved.

Do I think what Jon Snow did was wrong? Absolutely not. He was just showing that journalists have compassion; something he should not be ashamed of. Reporters are compassionate, brave people. They risk their lives to bring us news. We would do well to remember that, and not to be so harsh in our judgement of an emotional journalist.

Compassion in journalism is not a crime.

Bill Neely showing that compassion and journalism do go together:

ONLY THE GERMANS SAW IT COMING

And to be honest I'm not even sure they did! Let me explain.

It was a Tuesday evening. Everyone was sat in front of the TV waiting for the football to begin. In Brazil, the stands of Belo Horizonte stadium were a sea of yellow jerseys as everyone came out to support their home nation in what they hoped would be a thrilling match against Germany. 

Except it wasn't. Well not in the way it was supposed to be anyway.

The German football team were literally on fire and the Brazilians never knew what the hell hit them.

Within twenty minutes, Thomas Muller, Miroslav Klose, Toni Kroos, and Sami Khedira had steamrollered over Brazil to the humiliating tune of 5-0.

It was very painful to watch. The team that have won 5 previous world cups and are, to some, the epitome of what football is all about, were being systematically slaughtered by a German team who refused to give an inch. It was absolutely horrible. 

And it only got worse. Could it get any worse? Oh, yes.....!  

In the second half, Andre Schurrle scored two more goals to complete Brazil's worst defeat in years! 

Brazil's Emboaba Oscar  did give us a quick "Hello! Hello!" moment, as I'm fond of calling it, by getting a consolation goal, so well done to him. 

But the damage had been done. Brazil had been booed off at half-time and a lot of fans didn't even stick around to watch the end of the game.

We were wondering whether any of the players would leave Belo Horizonte stadium alive. We can only wonder what Luiz Felipe Scolari was thinking as he watched his team completely fall to pieces.

Most of us could only stare at the TV and wonder what the hell had happened!

On Saturday they played in a 3rd place match against Holland and it did not feel too good. Fans hoped to see them do better, if only to regain some shard of dignity out of this embarrassing scenario. But it didn't happen. They lost that game 3-0

As for Germany, well they are heading for the final on Sunday, at the expense of Brazil's humiliation. Will they hand out the same to Argentina. We can only wait and see.

One thing we do know. These defeats hurt like hell and it will hurt for a long time to come.

JOURNALISM IS NOT A CRIME

On 23 June 2014 the world of Journalism was torn apart after three Al Jazeera English journalists were jailed in Egypt. Peter Greste and Mohamed Fahmy were given seven years each and Baher Mohamed was given ten years (well, seven with three extra for possessing a bullet).

Yes, this nonsense trial in a kangaroo court finally came to its conclusion - the wrong way!

There was no credible evidence; the evidence they had was either nonsense (a pop video? Gimme a break!) or not relevant to the case. 

There was absolutely no reason for these men to have been given their respective sentences. For a start the so-called "bullet" was actually only an empty casing that Baher had picked up during a protest. He wasn't the first journalist to take a souvenir and probably won't be the last. To prosecute him for this is just ludicrous.

Egypt has effectively and unjustifiably made journalists and journalism it's enemy. They have received condemnation from all over the world.

As a freelance journalist, I feel this verdict has not only shown contempt for journalism but will encourage other  countries to think they have carte blanche to treat journalists in any way they see fit whether it be legal or not; whether it be humane or not and whether it is justified or not.  This ruling has effectively put journalists in even greater danger than they were before.

The journalists' families and respective countries are using diplomatic means to get the three journalists released. Meanwhile, everyone else - journalists and non-journalists alike - are continuing to scream, shout and tweet #FREEAJSTAFF and #JournalismIsNotaCrime until their fingers bleed.

And it must keep going. We must let these three brave men see that they have not been forgotten. We also need to show Egypt that we will not tolerate them treating any journalists like this.

Hopefully, but unlikely, the Egyptian authorities will come to their senses and release the staff of Al Jazeera.

Until then; we shall still scream #FREEAJSTAFF.


If you wish to send a message to Peter Greste please visit:  freepetergreste@gmail.com

If you wish to send a donation, please visit: http://www.freepetergreste.org 

If you wish to send a message to Mohamed Fahmy please go here: http://repent11.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/words-of-support/comment-page-1/#comment-90 …

"KISS ME! I'M IRISH!"

I'm Irish. Well, partly anyway. My paternal great-grandfather was from Cork in the Republic of Ireland.  And my maternal step-grandad was from Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Now as soon as I tell non-Irish people I have an Irish background, they will react in one of three ways. They will ask why I have no accent (I do - it's called Yorkshire!). They will ask if I am a Catholic or a Protestant (neither. I was raised through the Salvation army, but no longer practise).Or they will ask you about the troubles. They assume (incorrectly) that you know everything about it (I don't, but I'm learning) or that you even want to discuss it (most Irish would rather draw a line under the whole thing). Even though the troubles are essentially over, people have asked about them, as if I can give them a detailed history of the troubles. I've learned to live with it. And the first thing I get asked when I mention my name is, "Oh, are you Catholic?". No. I can see why they would make this mistake, but it's not the case. That's why I prefer to be called Terry. It means I don't have to explain all the time. 

So how proud am I to be Irish? As proud as it is possible to be. Do I celebrate St Patrick's day? Of course I do! Being Irish is awesome and I wouldn't change it for the world. And I wish everyone on the island of Ireland could be as proud as I am to be just plain old 'Irish'. 

Sadly that hasn't happened. From 1969 for nearly thirty years, Northern Ireland was scarred by division and violent conflict. Everyone had to be one side or the other. They were either Loyalist (Unionist) or Republican, and they were either Catholic or protestant. To think of themselves as just one people who lived happily together, but just had a different point of view from one another seemed unthinkable. but then, no-one thought the Berlin Wall would fall down either. Yet in 1989, that's exactly, amazingly, what happened. And on 10 April 1998 the Good Friday agreement was signed.

And here - in 2014 - are the people of Northern Ireland. All one people - just Irish -  living happily together (for the most part) who just happen to have differences of opinion and different beliefs. Brilliant! Long may it remain that way. There is still a lot of distrust, of course. In fact there are more walls up in Northern Ireland now, than there ever were during the Troubles. But everything is peaceful. People are no longer trying to destroy each other and that's a great start. Trust, however, takes time, but it will happen. The trust will build up and the walls will fall down. We are all one people - Irish - who just happen to have different beliefs. Nothing more or less than that. We are just plain old Irish. And I for one am proud to be so!

I leave you with this message I wrote on the peace wall.

WHERE IS MH370?

There have been many mysteries in regard to missing planes. For instance The Bermuda Triangle is notorious for missing planes and ships and Glenn Miller was on a plane in the English Channel that went missing in 1944. 

My favourite story is of pilot Amelia Earhart and her co-pilot Fred Noonan who were attempting a circumnavigation of the globe. They disappeared on route to Howland Island in the Pacific. No trace of them was ever found. The question is: where did they go? As with all mysteries like this, conspiracy theories abound. Some people say they were shot down, some say they ran out of fuel and crashed, and some say they were captured by aliens. 

Sci-fi writers have used missing planes as a plot device for years. From Taylor and Braga writing about Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan being found on an alien planet in the Star Trek Voyager episode 'The 37's' to Peter Grimwade writing about a Concorde going missing in the Dr Who story 'Timeflight'. 

Which brings us to the mysterious case of MH370. This Malaysian Airlines plane left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. An hour into the flight, it vanished. There was an extensive search, but no trace of it has so far been found. So.....where is it? Where did it go? In this century of amazing technology, how can one plane just vanish into thin air?

The families of the passengers and crew want answers and have been given none. They have no idea where their loved ones are and no-one can tell them. 

Of course, there are the conspiracy theorists talking nonsense again, but the families don't need to hear that stuff, especially the rubbish about them being kidnapped by aliens. To me, all that does is dishonour the missing victims and it certainly doesn't help the heartbreak being suffered by those who love them. 

The question still remains: where is MH370 and where are the passengers and crew? We may never, ever know. But until this mystery is solved, that's all it will remain: A mystery.

I hope one day we do find out, if only to bring comfort to the relatives.

A CAPTAIN GOES DOWN WITH HIS SHIP
..........OR DOES HE?

There is a tradition in maritime history saying: "A Captain Goes Down With His Ship". I also found out in research that it's actually the law.

If things start to go wrong, a Captain is supposed to put the safety of everyone on board above his own. He should be the last person he is thinking about.

Or that's the way it's supposed to work. This is such a simple law and yet it seems that a lot of Captains in the last few years are either forgetting it exists or just not caring.

We start with the delightfully named Costa Concordia. This cruise liner capsized off the coast of Isola del Giglio in Italy. The Captain neglected his duties and 32 passengers were lost. 

Then we have the MV Sewol which sank off the Island of Jindo in South Korea. Again the Captain was negligent and there was a loss of nearly 300 lives. The most tragic thing was many of these were high school children who had their whole lives ahead of them.

The Captains of both these ships abandoned their passengers and crew, but why? Cowardice? Stupidity? Or callous disregard for anyone, but themselves? We may never know. Whatever happened, they broke the law and will possibly pay the price for it. 

The Captain of the Costa Concordia was charged with manslaughter and abandoning ship. The Captain of the Sewol was charged with homicide through gross negligence. And to add insult to injury, he tried to pass himself off as a passenger.

The sadness of all this is that the deaths didn't stop with the drowned passengers and crew. In the case of the Costa Concordia, one of the salvage crew also died. And in regard to the MV Sewol, there is the emotional and heartbreaking story of the teacher who believed he was at fault and committed suicide because he couldn't cope with his guilt. There is also the parent who threatened to do the same if her daughter was found, because she allegedly pushed her daughter into going on the trip in the first place. And one of the civilian divers also died.

These two Captains broke the law and let people die. They should never have been placed in charge of a ship - ANY SHIP - in the first place and they should not be allowed to serve on a ship EVER AGAIN. They are a disgrace to maritime tradition, maritime history and worst of all a disgrace to their respective countries. 

I must point out that there were other contributing factors to these tragedies. That is not in dispute, especially with the Sewol where the ship was overloaded and the ferry company were also believed to be at fault.

However, once on board a ship, the buck stops with the Captain. 

A CAPTAIN GOES DOWN WITH HIS SHIP. And that's the way it should be.

"There are three things to remember about being a Captain: Keep your shirt tucked in; go down with the ship; and NEVER abandon a member of your crew". ~ Kate Mulgrew   

Flowers for the Victims of the Sewol Disaster (with kind permission from NBC's Bill Neely)