Pamela Wallin;the Role of Journalists in Troubled Times

[Said1]

The following is a snip from a speach given by Pamela Wallin, Canadian Consul General to New York City, journalist and broadcaster, at the Canadian Newspaper Association Conference. It's VERY long, so scan it if you will, she makes some excellent points.

-snip--

I'm one of those that believes that in the wake of 9/11 there was a huge opportunity to begin to try and define this relationship between Canada and the U.S. It's part of the reason I said yes to the Prime Minister [to the Consul role]. Because in any relationship when circumstances change, when politics or the players change, it's important that at that point we check our assumptions, because we all come to the table with different assumptions, to ensure that they are still accurate and current in the new circumstances.

Stereotypes, predictable behaviors, familiar attitudes, that was all fine in our pre-9/11 relatively stable world. But we don't have that luxury anymore.

With security and terrorism issues at the front, the downward spiral of the financial markets, scandals that continue to undermine trust, this has left all of us, but obviously Americans in particular, reeling.

In the 19 months since 9/11 it almost risks understatement to say that the change has been profound. Understanding how powerfully that event has shaped the American psyche, how it has created the lens through which they see the globe, see everything for that matter, and how they experience the fear, the anxiety and the anger has impacted them. This is now the context for this relationship.

The pollsters tell us that at no time since 9/11 has less than a clear majority of the American population expressed fears about future possible attacks. They live with that thought in their minds all the time.

Q Research did some research on this last year, which I found amazing. The figures are quite startling. Forty-six per cent of New Yorkers said they knew someone who was injured or killed in the attacks. Fifty-nine per cent of those living in Midtown or Lower Manhattan knew someone who was killed or injured. This is a very personal experience for them.

Sometimes explaining or trying to explain that current state of American thinking and the feelings of American political and business leaders provokes very odd responses in this country: denial; Sometimes there is anger and some have even suggested to me that it's time for the Americans to just get over it.

Well, I guess in the first place, don't shoot the messenger.

I'm here to tell you what I've discovered.

Continued

 

[Annie]

Said1, I'm getting through this, slowly but surely. Damn, you Canadian women are smart!