burnt orange
stains the small lake
summer’s end
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Recently, we read the following:
NPR: “Why 'GQ' Doesn't Want Russians To Read Its Story” by David Folkenflik
"For war journalist Scott Anderson, the most confounding part of his recent assignment for GQ magazine to explore the root of terrorist acts in Russia a decade ago wasn't the suggestion of treachery and subterfuge he found…
"It was the reception his story ultimately received in the United States.
" 'It was quite mysterious to me,' Anderson says. 'All of a sudden, it became clear that they were going to run the article but they were going to try to bury it under a rock as much as they possibly could…'
"His investigative piece, published in the September American edition of GQ, challenges the official line on a series of bombings that killed hundreds of people in 1999 in Russia. It profiles a former KGB agent who spoke in great detail and on the record, at no small risk to himself. But instead of trumpeting his reporting, GQ's corporate owners went to extraordinary lengths to try to ensure no Russians will ever see it…
" 'Conde Nast management has decided that the September issue of U.S. GQ magazine containing Scott Anderson's article 'Vladimir Putin's Dark Rise to Power' should not be distributed in Russia,' Birenz wrote.
"He ordered that the article could not be posted to the magazine's Web site. No copies of the American edition of the magazine could be sent to Russia or shown in any country to Russian government officials, journalists or advertisers. Additionally, the piece could not be published in other Conde Nast magazines abroad, nor publicized in any way… "
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And we thought:
…Conde Nast has decided to sequester significant information for what ends? It's a sad day when Big Business and Big Politics bare their stained teeth and decree that their ends take precedence over Journalism’s obligations...
NPR: “Why 'GQ' Doesn't Want Russians To Read Its Story” by David Folkenflik"For war journalist Scott Anderson, the most confounding part of his recent assignment for GQ magazine to explore the root of terrorist acts in Russia a decade ago wasn't the suggestion of treachery and subterfuge he found…
"It was the reception his story ultimately received in the United States.
" 'It was quite mysterious to me,' Anderson says. 'All of a sudden, it became clear that they were going to run the article but they were going to try to bury it under a rock as much as they possibly could…'
"His investigative piece, published in the September American edition of GQ, challenges the official line on a series of bombings that killed hundreds of people in 1999 in Russia. It profiles a former KGB agent who spoke in great detail and on the record, at no small risk to himself. But instead of trumpeting his reporting, GQ's corporate owners went to extraordinary lengths to try to ensure no Russians will ever see it…
" 'Conde Nast management has decided that the September issue of U.S. GQ magazine containing Scott Anderson's article 'Vladimir Putin's Dark Rise to Power' should not be distributed in Russia,' Birenz wrote.
"He ordered that the article could not be posted to the magazine's Web site. No copies of the American edition of the magazine could be sent to Russia or shown in any country to Russian government officials, journalists or advertisers. Additionally, the piece could not be published in other Conde Nast magazines abroad, nor publicized in any way… "
***************
And we thought:
…Conde Nast has decided to sequester significant information for what ends? It's a sad day when Big Business and Big Politics bare their stained teeth and decree that their ends take precedence over Journalism’s obligations...
