Jump to content

Media Must Educate and Inform on Things that Matter


Troy

Recommended Posts

This was in my inbox this morning. I agree with this message. I'm completely dissatisfied with modern journalism.  I know more about Kevin Hart's homophobic tweets than I know about anything of more substance.  Of coure, the nature of our capitalist system makes this necessary -- there is no viable business model to support it.

 

Pen America is soliciting donations, I don't know what they intend to do with the money.  I'm not contributing I'm too busy trying to keep my head above water, but I figured I'd share it here for any well heeled folks who can contribute.  But don't contribute to this cause before contributing to AALBC 🙂!

 


 

5c18caca-db90-4b73-bc70-bd7ff64b64a3.png

Dear Troy,

 

There is a Western idea that wickedness, when committed by a certain kind of person and in a certain kind of way, is worthy of being engaged with. And there are certain things that people said would never happen in this country. But they are in fact happening.

 

It is at times like these that we must counter lies with facts, repeatedly and unflaggingly. We must proclaim the greater truths of our equal humanity, of decency, of compassion. Every precious ideal must be reiterated, every obvious argument made, because an ugly idea left unchallenged begins to turn the color of normal. It does not have to be like this.

 

Now is the time for the media, on the left and the right, to educate and inform. To be nimble and alert, clear-eyed and skeptical, active rather than reactive. To make clear choices about what truly matters.

 

PEN America was founded in 1922 to stand at the intersection of literature and human rights—to protect free expression in the United States and around the world. To defend democracy and our free press in a country born from the idea of freedom.

 

Today, we need the media to elevate the art of questioning, to frame questions differently, and to be precise about the meanings of words.

 

Will you stand with me in supporting PEN America to defend our free press from repeated attacks and to protect our democracy and our right to information?

 

Things that were recently pushed to the corners of America's political space—overt racism, anti-Semitism, glaring misogyny, anti-intellectualism—are once again creeping to the center. We will not stand by and watch. Now is the time to talk about what we are actually talking about.

 

Thank you for standing with me and PEN America to tell our story.

 

1894b9ff-734f-4d05-a5bb-49bfd91df687.jpg
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Author and activist

2b232f05-6e39-40df-81e9-b88e831e77ff.jpg

Copyright © 2018 PEN America | 588 Broadway Suite 303, New York, NY 10012 USA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...