This might get interesting...

I received the following email, directed at the graduate department, from a fellow graduate student:

"This is what makes me afraid of being a photographer in the times we live in. I've been stopped and questioned in America for taking photographs, and have learned that it's illegal to take photographs of a federal building unless you have press credentials.

I'm not in the same position as Hussein--at least not for now."

And he linked to this article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060917/ap_on_re_mi_ea/photographer_detained

Here is what I sent out to the department:

I don’t know if this Bilal Hussein dude deserves to be held by U.S. forces or not, but here is what I do know: The article you linked to is an A.P. story about an A.P. reporter; the same A.P., mind you, whose Lebanese stringers scandalously and unethically staged numerous photos during the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah. Therefore, I have to take this story with a grain of sand.

Here is a link that highlights some salient issues that the A.P. story about the A.P. downplayed or ignored all together: http://powerlineblog.com/archives/015301.php

N: “This is what makes me afraid of being a photographer in the times we live in. I've been stopped and questioned in America for taking photographs, and have learned that it's illegal to take photographs of a federal building unless you have press credentials.”

Perhaps such a law is an overreaction? Then again, maybe it isn’t considering the very real terrorist threats we live under these days? It’s also against flight regulations now to carry-on toothpaste, or shampoo, etc. I don’t blame the TSA or whoever makes the rules—I blame the terrorists for forcing their hands. Some of us bemoan—perhaps rightly at times—the alleged erosion of some of our freedoms in this era of mass casualty terrorism. However, when the next deadly terrorist attack occurs (and it will), I am sure there will be finger pointing at our government for not having done enough to prevent the attack.

N: “I'm not in the same position as Hussein--at least not for now.”

I’m sure you’ll be fine as long as you don’t become too chummy with head-chopping terrorists who are dedicated to killing American soldiers, Iraqi election workers, bound hostages and the like.

We all have our political biases and so some of us will ignore certain things and focus in on others. But as journalists, journalists in-the-making and or scholars of the media, don’t we have an obligation to be a bit more circumspect here? I mean, let’s be clear: for every Bilal Hussein there have been many—far too many—western, Arab and Iraqi journalists who have been kidnapped, tortured and executed—just for doing their jobs. Here is a link to the Committee to Protect Journalists website with a rundown of journalists killed in Iraq since 2003: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/Iraq/Iraq_danger.html. We should be concerned about the safety of all journalists in Iraq, not just the ones whose plight makes America look bad.

I will update any replies.

My take on the Pope's Islam quote

So the Pope quoted a medieval text about the Muslim prophet Muhammad and at this count we have death threats against the pope, an elderly nun shot in the back and killed in Somalia, churches in the West Bank torched, and general whining and seething.

To their credit, some Muslim leaders have accepted the Pope's apology.

But for far too many Muslims, it seems that if somebody says, rightly or wrongly, fairly or unfairly, that Islam is violent, the response is... violence or threats of violence.

Sigh.