Global: The world responds to Nick Kristof

In recent weeks, the New York Times reporter Nick Kristof [in] a little warmed waters of the blogosphere after the publication of his last two columns: the first, a piece entitled " In Iran, they want to have fun, want have fun "[en] (June 21, 2012) and the second," Africa on the rise "[en] (July 1, 2012). What these two texts have in common is the attempt to show that the Iranians and Africans are "like us". In the case of Iran, of representing the youth of this country as fun lovers who like - like most of the world - doing things like having sex and using drugs. In the case of Africa, the goal seems to be the show Kristof economic opportunities that await foreign companies.

The journalistic approach Kristof was a theme that emerged in various circles in the recent Global Voices Summit in Nairobi [in] and is also currently a hot topic in the blogosphere. Here are several examples that illustrate why the work of Kristof is debated hotly.

Iran

"Farrah Joon" is a popular Iranian-American blogger who writes the blog Sex and Fessenjoon, described as "shameless moving borders" to exchange experiences. After picking up some parts of Kristof's claims about the Iranians and their habits, both sexual and otherwise, she wrote [in]:

The Iranians should not be known because they like having fun and sex (ahem ... like the REST of the world) should be known for constantly trying to cross the limits of his government. Should be known by the beautiful culture that have remained alive in spite of the extremists who try to avoid that celebrate and enjoy their beauty.

Richard Jeffrey Newman in the U.S., see the value for U.S. audiences Kristof reports and writes [es]:

Glad to see articles coming out of Iran ... that are based on firsthand encounters a journalist with ordinary Iranians. It's not just that it is important to readers in the United States to discover that - gasp! - The Iranians are in fact ordinary people do not differ essentially from what we are, but it also this type of coverage seems a fundamental sign of respect.

The blogger KABOBfest, Sana Saeed, choose the path of parody (from the perspective of a Muslim visitor to the U.S.) and writes a text entitled " In the U.S., want to have fun, wanna have fun "[i]. A review:

My trip across the U.S. leaves me convinced that the change will come here too, if we had the patience not to interrupt the subterranean forces at work: decreasing education, a growing gap between rich and poor, increased economic frustration, government intrusion and the monopoly of information. I have a hunch that there is a war between the U.S. and the Muslim world - which is likely to strengthen our own struggle - the extremists will take the path of Clinton, and the U.S. will end up looking like something similar to Canada during the era Harper: the same dogma The broken tooth.

Kansastan! Took a similar path to publish " In America, they want value, values, values ​​"[i]. One sentence sums it up:

Never think that a native of the Middle East and I would blush in New York, but was surprised that many Americans were not constantly having sex with anyone anywhere.

Finally, Nima Shirazi (@ WideAsleepNima) criticizes the premise completely Kristof, tweeting [in]:

For @ NickKristof, the bad part of an illegal attack by Israel against Iran immoral is that "might help the ayatollahs", not that the Iranians were killed.

Africa

Kristof's writings on Africa have previously been criticized by several writers and journalists from Teju Cole [at]-who says that activism and "good heart" is not always Kristof allows you to "think constellationally" (think constelacionalmente) - up to Elliott Prasse-Freeman [in], who writes eloquently about the " anti-political "[in] Kristof. More recently, Hamid Dabashi wrote a scathing critique [in] on Kristof on Al Jazeera, saying Kristof relies too heavily on outdated clichés and Orientalist.

Now, in response to the recent article by Kristof, bloggers from Africa and around the world are weighing the issue.

First, the entrepreneur in Uganda, Teddy Ruge, tweeted in response to Kristof's column, causing the Atlantic reporter Max Fisher to ask, "How the media should cover Africa? "[i]. Ruge First tweeted [in]:

Those who have the microphone in the history of Africa, very invested in his narrative Quedada to adapt to a changing continent are at risk of becoming obsolete.

He said [in]:

What really is increasing in Africa is a large chorus voices set to obfuscate the need for a Western narrator singularly focused.

And concluded [in]:

Part of the reason why I am advocating a balanced narrative in Africa is because such messages are too dominant:

Image of Twitter user @ tmsruge

Sarah Leonard, editor of The New Inquiry, joked [in]:

"Africa is not only a place for safaris and humanitarian aid. It is also a place to make money. "Nick Kristof, a columnist truly present.

The academic Kathryn Mathers writes [es]:

Using [Kristof] of travel writing about Africa not only evokes the golden age of exploration of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, but similar patterns of ownership of the African landscape in which people are reduced to the backdrop of African the adventures and discoveries of Western travelers. The frontiers and new challenges in science and biology were often made possible mechanisms to depoliticize colonial explorers and secularize their encounters with people in Africa. Today, as so starkly illustrates Kristof and the writings of his colleagues, this process of depoliticization itself is effectively managed by a relentless focus on humanitarian interventions and the challenges facing Americans who want to do good in Africa. He, therefore, often found defending their stories about humanitarian interventions against criticism from readers about their costs and commitments ...

The graduate student @ ArriannaMarie feel that Kristof has some of the blame [on] the perception that Americans have about Africa:

"Generations of Americans have learned to be worth in Africa." Yes, Mr. Kristof, through representations disseminated by people like you

@ Abena_Serwaa, who tweets from Ghana and the Netherlands, seems to have some sympathy [in] by Kristof:

No matter what you say Nick Kristof on Africa / Africa grows / Africa falls .... I have a feeling it would have been whipped anyway.

Marc Bellemare, a blogger and assistant professor, Kristof thinks is the wrong target. He says "do not hate the player, hate the game" and writes [es]:

[I] that the attacks are unjustified Kristof. Instead of criticizing Kristof for his writings, he criticizes those who allow this to happen.

The New York Times is in business to sell newspapers. The space on the editorial pages of The New York Times has its price. Do not think for a second that the New York Times published a column on its editorial pages Kristof if applicable exactly what readers of The New York Times seeking a foreign correspondent.

These controversies surrounding Nick Kristof I remember when my people raved about the oil companies to increase fuel prices before the start of a long weekend. I never cease to remind you that if we are seeing such high prices is because other consumers are willing to pay.

After all this controversy, @ sassynct can sum it all up [in]:

So I'm not the only one who thinks that Nick Kristof is condescending.

Written by Jillian C. York · Translated by Soraya Sacaan · View original post [en] · Comments (0)
Share it: Meneame · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper