How will they know? The dilemma of foreign affairs journalism

By PNG Echo She had been hacked with a machete – opened up from her sternum to her pelvis. Her intestines were exposed and spilling out from her cut abdomen. She’d been disemboweled. The graphic pictures that appeared on Facebook came with the explanation that this was done to her, by her husband, in retaliation for adultery. Were it in the Middle East, we’d shake our heads and maybe say: “It’s typical of those radical Muslims with their Sharia Law and their lack of respect for women,” wouldn’t we?” Well it wasn’t. This occurred in a stridently Christian country from Continue reading How will they know? The dilemma of foreign affairs journalism

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The politics of fear: A vote winner

PNG Echo I can’t remember having any one particular conversation about it, but over time, I have come to know Manus Island vicariously, through the eyes of a local – as a lovely, lazy, tropical idyll populated by friendly, relaxed and gentle people. It was before the Australian Detention Centre opened there. Yet, ironically, in the latest reports coming out about the riots in Manus, it is the ‘locals’ who are being blamed for the breaching of the perimeter fences and for the vicious attack on the inmates How can this be reconciled? Let’s face it though, the reports have Continue reading The politics of fear: A vote winner

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