Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6)

At first we felt rather disappointed. Nobody had bothered to tell us Jon Lee Anderson was not coming to the talk. All of us had made a huge effort to attend the conference and there was only one interviewer - Gervasio Sánchez- who was a real dark horse. Never ever had I imagined the shocking pics and info he kept in his laptop: the proof of so much disgrace, pain an unjustice being suffered abroad. As his talk went on, I wondered why South America, why Iraq, why had he been working for so long in faraway places...? And eventually he told us about his recent decision to stay for the next 5 years in Spain, following the controversial issue of the Spanish Civil War exhumations.
I did not agree with his disbelief in New Technologies. It is precisely because of them that alternative ways of doing journalism can be spread all over the world. We left the place convinced of the discouraging context of corruption and cowardice around us, being the media controlled by economical interests and greedy politicians. I wasn't starving any more when I took the bus home. I even felt 20 years younger thinking that there was hope of some kind if people like Gervasio do exist in the world. Congratulations for such a worthy and extraordinary working life. His incredible laptop contained hundreds of stories of broken lives who deserve at least a moment of respect and consideration from us.

A talk with Jon Lee Anderson

Jon Lee Anderson (California, 1957) wil be visiting Alicante in one of the cultural events organized by the C.A.M. entitled "El Mercado de la Verdad". Two famous journalists: Gervasio Sánchez (Córdoba, 1959) and himself, will discuss about the implications of the media and the journalists in the telling of the real truth when dealing with armed conflicts or humanitarian actions which eventually become human catastrophes.

Here's a link to a talk with Jon Lee Anderson which was recorded as a podcast (30th June, 2008), you can read the transcript while listening to the mp3. I find it an interesting warm-up activity before next Tuesday's talk in the C.A.M. We can't miss it!

You may have probably heard of wikileaks, a controversial website launched in 2006, whose main interest is expossing oppressive regimes all over the world. Julian Assange - an Australian journalist- shows himself as one of the main representatives (=director?) of this international organization which publishes anonymous submissions (also called leaks= filtraciones) preserving the anonymity of sources.