[aaus-list] Political paralasis and ethnicity

[Max Pyziur]

> If you think that the old meme that was popular within the U.S.
> intelligence community in the early 1990s (and among some Western experts
> on Ukraine)namely, that Ukraine would splinter along ethnic lines, is
> so over: think again.
> In today's New York Times, Steven Lee Myers, sharing the vast expanse of
> his imagination with readers, tells us that "Ukraine's Orange Revolution
> in 2005 has degenerated into an ethnically tinged political paralysis not
> unlike Iraq's."
> I somehow thought it was good old greed, incompetence, and the Soviet way
> of life that was responsible for Ukraine's bardak, not ethnic cleansing.
> Sarah is right.  The MSM and its filters needs to stop makin' stuff
> up.

Romane,

Unlike movie stars and major sports figures, journalists tend to be
approachable. I just looked through my past emails and saw that I had a
two-volley email exchange w/ Myers. The subject was his (lacking) coverage
of Anna Mazeppa-Politkovskaya's funeral in a Sunday NYTimes Magazine piece
(I read it on a Wednesday before the Sunday print version came out), and
that, ironically, I told him the Jamestown's EDM did a better job.

He acknowledged Jamestown's EDM but was concerned with its accuracy. I
reminded him that the NY Times has been host to the likes of Judith
Miller, Jason Blair, and Walter Duranty; however, I also flattered him, at
least The Times, by mentioning the excellence of the work of C.J. Chivers
and Michael Wines, among many others.

He thanked me for my follow-up and then asked how is it that I read his
piece on a Wednesday when it wasn't due for release until Sunday (at this
point the nytimes.com site had started offering previews of key pieces in
forthcoming Magazine issues). The exchange ended when I explained the
wonderful services nytimes.com provides to its web readers, including
email notifications of forthcoming articles in the NYT Magazine.

Myers email is myers at nytimes.com.

(Most online versions of newspapers often include an email address for
reporters; at one time there was a way of getting the whole directory of
NY Times emails by sending a message-less email to staff at nytimes.com; I
don't think that works these days).

Sending an email to aaus-list reminds me of a tired analogy (choir,
preaching, etc).

Btw, I think the Myers piece that got you juiced/blew your fuse can be
found at this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/weekinreview/29myers.html




fyi,

MP
pyz at brama.com