Fairness and Balance
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://johnmenadue.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
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