Monday, September 05, 2011

Welcome to Texas, now gtfo

Gabriel Elizondo of Al Jazeera visits the small Texas city of Booker and runs into local haters. Elizondo’s blog post made my “Only in Texas” list. He ran into school system superintendent Michael Lee.
“No. You can’t film, you can’t take pictures, or interview people.”
“OK, can I ask why? And if you allow me can I explain…”
Cut off.
“No, I just expect that you will respect it.”
Clearly he didn’t want to hear anything from me.
Al Jazeera is not welcome here.
Read the rest of the story.
I find myself turning to Al Jazeera as a source for news more and more. I use their iPod app day. It’s a shame Texas cannot see them for what they are, A good source for news and a throwback to when journalism was a profession.

Send your thoughts to Michael LeeL michael.lee@region16.net or visit his website.

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Comments (4)

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Booker Texas is a perfect example of insular small minded bigotry, something which fits perfectly in Rick Perry's hate filled little world.
The biggest threat to bigots like Michael Lee is an educated informed public, for a country which values "freedom" so much this example should be an embarrassment , the dumbing down of Texas continues..
Reading and watching Al Jazeera is the best news out there. They have corespondents in so many places, when American media are closing their bureaus all over the world.

Kriss
Your friendly expectations for Texas seem high given this is the state that wants to give us Perry, following a painful Bush presidency and some disappointing school textbook choices that affected the country negatively.

At the same time--in some defense of Superintendent Michael Lee--we should acknowledge that Gabriel Elizondo freely interprets many said and unsaid statements and behaviors that probably should not have been used to color this story so strongly.

Overall, Al-Jazeera's positive contributions are undeniable. Everyone should include Al-Jazeera as a regular resource but it seems likely this story was a little short of their usual standard.

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