Comments on: I’m off to the Palais de Justice

By: ytba

ytba — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 10:08:59 +0000

have you got these links?

http://www.seconddraft.org/movies.php

http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/Film_Focus_HR_in_Hollywood_and_Pallywood.asp

http://www.israel-wat.com/kid_eng.htm

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=3&x_outlet=167&x_article=855

By: Ariel

Ariel — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 08:19:18 +0000

My spelling slowly fades away…privileged as it were.

By: Ariel

Ariel — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 21:54:35 +0000

“Freedom of the press” had to with the printing press and the publication of tracts, pamphlets, etc., and not with a priviliged class of journalists.

Shame it morphed into that through the courts and the public’s misunderstanding. In my own life, I no longer call newspapers or news gathering organizations “the press”.

Today’s computer users are the equivalent of the press users of that era. Bloggers should be allowed into “press” conferences. Their lack of “journalism training” can be a plus. How many journalists actually have a clue, let alone any knowledge, about the subjects they report on?

By: Baron Bodissey

Baron Bodissey — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 05:40:53 +0000

Plus é§a change, eh? And the truth that is on the march is the truth of les jeunesses, emerging from the banlieux for the rest of us to witness. Don’t linger there too long…

By: strcpy

strcpy — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:21:59 +0000

I would note that the press is very free in France. In fact, I would say this case shows that press freedom is enforced by the govt.

Remember press does not equal speech. A licensed press may be allowed to say anything they wish while everyone else can only talk about approved (by the press or by the govt) topics. That would technically be a very free press but horrid on freedom of speech.

And yes, many out there *do* make that distinction. Even many in the press in the US – it has been argued by quite a few in the press that the 1’st amendment only applies to them. Also see the outrage when bloggers were allowed into press conferences with Bush – that is reserved for recognised press agents *only*.

Thankfully, in the US, we try and have no real privledged classes (well, we fail at that, but that is another complaint). The 1’st amendment applies to someone who has never written anything nor ever given a public speech as much as it does a veteran CNN reporter. In other countries it isn’t exactly the same.

I can not see how one can be more free than the system we have in the US. It’s pretty easy to equal (and no doubt many other countries do so), but almost no restrictions whatsoever is really hard to get free-er. However places like France have a long list of ideas and things you are not allowed to discuss by law (say, go over to France and start talking much about Nazi’s or try and purchase old WWII Nazi medals if you think they have no topics illegal).

By: douglas

douglas — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 05:20:50 +0000

I’ll be very interested to hear your report from the Palais.

I keep wondering how long the French will tolerate the antics of the Muslim slums before they go Algeria on them…

It’s gonna happen sooner or later…

By: Webutante

Webutante — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 03:24:01 +0000

What a great idea, Neo, to be visiting and touring in France, as well as covering, or should I say uncovering the myths of its free press!

With all that is going on en France, I figure we have at the most 5-10 more years to visit this semi-Arab/Muslim country with impunity before it just becomes too dangerous for Americans and certainly Jews to go for pleasure.

Very sad. Please be careful and have a wonderful time too!

By: Instant Karma

Instant Karma — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 02:48:10 +0000

A previous commentor has noted that France ranked high on press freedom in a poll conducted on Press Freedom amongst journalists. Any wonder? So long as the self righteous members of the fourth estate don’t happen to “hurt the sentiments” of members of a particular monotheistic religion (thereby making themselves targets of fatwas and-if those fatwas happen to be carried out to their logical conclusions- a knife sticking out of their backs) everything and anything is ‘legitimately exercising freedom of expression’. I remember having seen a panel discussion with journalists from AFP, Reuters, Le Monde and the representative of the PLO in France, just after the Mohammed Cartoon riots last year, the overwhelming consensus seemed to be that while Freedom of Expression is essential, there was a need for the media to be ‘sensitive’ about hurting religious sensibilities.

The French have for a long time declared themselves to be the defendants of liberty – so long as they decide what constitutes liberty from time to time. The French over the course of history have mastered the art of self deception- so much so that they even consider their military debacles to be victories for the Republic. Thus we have the French wars in Indo-China,Algeria, the heroic defense of the Maginot……the list seems to be endless.

Anti-Semitism in France is almost an institution with everything from the government to the layman all indoctrinated into the ‘inhumanity of occupation’ and ‘daily humiliation’ school of thought. Challenge them, and they would go into fits trying to explain how being anti-Israel does not essentially mean anti-Semetic. As a friend of mine said a few years ago, ‘…atleast the Germans had the moral courage to own upto their crimes, which is more than we can say about France’.

By: strcpy

strcpy — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 02:07:02 +0000

Apparently my "year or two" was fairly accurate. Coincidentally on another blog I read they posted this years new annual poll I was talking about: link

By: strcpy

strcpy — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 01:57:07 +0000

I recall seeing a poll a year or two ago that interviewed Journalist about how free they felt with their speech. The US ranked fairly low and France fairly high. Suposedly journalist felt they may go prison or be censured in the US more often than some some countries that actually did such things.

It was argued fairly heavy on a few websites about bias. I always find stories like this as a much better indicator of freedom of speech. I’m sure that France2 feels MUCH freer than they would in the US to post anything they want – after all they have state backing to silence opposition. However, most of us do not really feel this is “free speech”.

I also find it amusing that these same journalist could not find a single incidence of what they were afraid was going to happen to them in the US but choose to bury stories like this in the lands they idolise.