Fairness and Balance

November 19, 2024

Dear Editor,

I read the recent article by Andrew Podger, “Fairness and balance in P&I reporting on the Middle East” and John Menadue’s response with keen interest (see: https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/fairness-and-balance-in-pi-reporting-on-the-middle-east/) .

It provides a civil but acute exchange, which immediately made me recall Edgar Snow, the remarkable American author of the best-seller, “Red Star Over China”, first published in 1937.

Snow was regularly criticized for lack of balance in his reporting on the rise of fascism, which prompted this reported response:

“In this international cataclysm brought on by fascists it is no more possible for any people to remain neutral than it is for a man surrounded by bubonic plague to remain ’neutral’ toward the rat population. Whether you like it or not, your life as a force is bound either to help the rats or hinder them. Nobody can be immunized against the germs of history.”

Yours sincerely,

Richard Cullen