When we Ethiopians treat adult journalists that act as toddlers in a dipper it isn’t their fault but, ours. The havoc they cause on society in the service of tyranny is because we treat them as an adult; it is inexcusable. Expecting toddlers with crayon to keep the house clean is like expecting tyranny not to lie; it is complete madness.
by Teshome Debalke
The conventional wisdom-Woyane dictatorship is the worst thing that happened to the people of Ethiopia isn’t true. It is
the bottom feeders; opportunists, double thinkers and the willing
ignorant that sustain Woyane that are worst. They are the natural
habitat of tyranny; obstructing the struggle to end brutal and corrupt
rule.
It is the norm in Africa where a military junta or insurgency group
of one kind or another like Woyane to take over governments and turns
into brutal and corrupt regimes.
Our Ethiopia under Woyane is not
different, in fact, looking at the magnitude of brutality and
corruption, the data shows Ethiopia is on the top of the worst and
bottom of the best index. We haven’t even seen a fraction of the whole
story yet.
Among natural habitat of Woyane dictatorship are those that claim to
be journalist and Media outlets. Some obviously are part of the official
propaganda outfits run by cadres carrying Citizenship of the free
world. Since enough is said about these bottom feeders no need to waste
more time. Like anything that comes and go with tyranny they will
disappear when Woyane is no more.
But, the opportunist, the double thinkers and the willing ignorant
journalists and Media outlets peddling for Woyane are an obstruction to
freedom and the struggle for democracy. Instead of seeking the truth to
help institute democratic rule once and for all; they always take the
low road to mislead, withhold or skirt the truth as their standard
operation. In the process, they prolong the life of tyranny thus, the
misery of the people.
Journalism and Media is a serious business. Just because one can
scrub or cut and paste something or put up a website to peddle their
interest or pushes propaganda dose not make them journalists or Media.
The task of journalist seeking the truth in the public interest calls
for integrity; to put the public interest above anything else, courage;
to confront tyrants and criminals to put them where they belong and
professionalism; to win public trust. The profession demands defending
the public interest at all cost.
The third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) said it best.
“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a
government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I
should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter.”
What he meant was a government, even an elected one as the US without
the free press is noting but tyranny in the making. Frankly, in
Ethiopian case, we don’t need a government, especially a government like
Woyane. Knowing Ethiopians, we can do fine with the free press alone.
In contrast, the best bottom feeder journalists can do is only
Woyane’s propaganda rubbish that serves them in is good enough for the
rest of the people. Talk about living on borrowed time.
The U.S. humorist, writer, and lecturer Mark Twain (1835-1910) wrote:
“There are only two forces that can carry light to all the
corners of the globe… the sun in the heavens and the Associated Press
down here”.
He was referring to the first American News Agency founded in May of 1846 organized as a New York not-for-profit corporation. Associated Press (AP) operates 243 news bureaus, and serves at least 120 countries, with an international staff located all over the world, according to Wikipedia.
What Twain meant was, without the free press we are all walking
zombies in the darkness under the mercy of tyranny; not knowing what is
happening to us and where we are going. Almost 150 years later since
these two Western icons made history Ethiopians are still in darkness,
thanks for the bottom feeder journalists pandering for Woyane tyranny;
that, unfortunately showed up in the era of the Information Revolution.
What do our contemporary bottom feeders that call themselves journalist
or Media outlets do; cheer on the worst tyranny that run the only Media
in the country in the 21st century. They show no integrity,
courage or professionalism peddling for small time tyrant. The saddest
thing of all is they enjoy the freedom afforded to them with 1000s of
Media choices in the free societies they live what they deny their
fellow compatriot at home. Talk about living in a bubble.
You see, when journalists and Media outlets in the free world strive
to seek the truth at all cost, our bottom feeder journalist celebrate
the rubbish coming for tyranny that pushes propaganda to make us believe
Woyane is an elected regime by 99.64 %. Talk about adults in a dipper.
At the mean time, those brave journalists that spoke out end up in
jail or exiled for telling the truth; Woyane is noting more than a
modern day ethnic terror network that is corrupt to its hilt. Talk about
al-Qaida in East Africa,
Our main problem is not Woyane but bottom feeders, the opportunist
and double thinkers that are in the business of skirting the truth on
behalf of tyranny. As an instrument of tyranny in the free world they
are letting the truth teller; like Eskinder Nega rote in the dungeon of Woyane while they are decomposing in a pile of rubbish coming out of the propaganda mills of Woyane.
To illustrate how bottom feeders and opportunist journalist behave,
the Diaspora clowns in the free world come in handy. With no restriction
to exercise their freedom of press to speak the truth they choose to
skirt it and ignored the important issue of democracy, freedom of
speech, corruption, and whole other issues of public interest.
Knowingly; out of self interest or fear and unknowingly out of ignorance
or laziness, they let the Woyane ethnic junta get away with murder;
failing to do the basics of journalism-searching for the truth. If they
aren’t the-living-dead of the lowest order by choice we don’t know what
they could be.
Some looks and sounds professional enough to confuse the
unsuspecting; putting out irrelevant issues to divert attention. Other
throws in few things here and there to claim they are real. Most cut and
paste Woyane propaganda straight from the sources. But, when it come to
freedom and democracy at home country and the cadres corruption and
intrusion in our community they are no where to be found. Even when it
comes to Media freedom that directly concerns them, they are mute. What
is more revolting is their occasional flirtation with Woyane’s
propaganda and stop short of going deeper to investigate on the burning
issue of the subject they raised. Whether their fear not to ‘rattle the
sneak’ out of its cage or compromised to skirt the truth for their own
benefit, they avoid talking about the Woyane’s intricate crimes against a
whole nation.
Medias operating in the Free World have no excuse not to tell the
truth but noting but the truth. The three things that interfere in
bottom feeders’ judgment from seeking the truth are Fear, Ignorance and
SELF interest.
Fear
Fear of tyranny or the power to be is one of the lam excuses not to
seek and telling the truth in public interest. Though, the tyranny is
known to retaliate, most fear come form not losing what is already
gained in the business of tyranny.
Despite retaliation from the goons of tyranny many brave journalist
and Media outlets expose the regime by telling the truth in the public
interest. Attempt to silence them with treats and character
assassination didn’t deter them from doing their professional duty.
When it comes to bottom feeders and opportunist journalist and their
Media outlets, the primary drive to ignore or skirt the truth is not the
public interest, but whatever they can gain with no risk to them. In
other words, fear of tyranny rendered them useless journalist or Media
outlets to the public but valuable tool to tyranny.
Ignorance
The ignorant are many cutting and pasting the propaganda of Woyane as
truth. Some go beyond and site the regime as resalable information.
Others are lazy to tell the difference one from another.
Ignorance of the reality on the ground or the role of journalism and
Media can’t be reasons not to speak out or seek the truth. Journalism
and the Media profession demands ignorance isn’t a defense for lazy
Journalist to enter the profession and do noting in the public interest.
If they couldn’t perform their professional duty they might as well
look for other line of work than being disgrace for the profession and
tool of tyranny.
Self interest
Self interest is where most of the bottom feeder and opportunist
journalist and Media outlets enter the profession. It could be
political, social or economic. Whatever the interest may be, it
automatically disqualifies them as untrustworthy journalist or Media
outlet. In short, they are simply tabloid or propaganda outlets.
Self interest disarms journalists into hired hands of tyranny or
whoever compensated them to peddle. Therefore, instead of seeking the
truth they become the enemy of the truth that doesn’t conform to their
interest or what they compensated for. Thus, they turn in to the
guardian of tyranny or and their interest. Since seeking the truth
requires confronting lawless political, social and business figures they
can’t serve two conflicting interest at the same time.
The famous lam line used by bottom feeders and opportunist journalist
and Media outlets lately is ‘balance reporting’; snatched out of the
free world’s journalistic ethics. The strategy is to counter real
journalists and Media outlets in pampering tyranny into legitimate
entity. The tragedy of cut-and-paste knowledge of our contemporary
bottom feeders posed as journalist and Media outlets is everything must
fit the desire end of tyranny and the interest of its surrogates against
the public interest.
These kinds of dangerous journalists are worst than tyranny itself;
influencing the mind and heart of the young to nowhere. After all,
tyranny should have no place in the mind and heart of anyone. Only
bottom feeders and opportunist journalist think so when they come to its
rescue.
Tyranny have no leg to stand on, only bottom feeders and opportunist
serve it as a crutch to make it look like it is standing on its own.
Take the crutch away; it is as dead as it always was.
Independent journalist and Media outlets must go after the bottom
feeding and opportunistic journalists and Media outlets with the same
zeal and tenacity as they do with the institution of tyranny. After
all, revolution must be uprooting everything tyranny from the bottom up
for healthy society to come.
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