Thursday, July 08, 2004
PR=Pissed Reporters or Public Relations?
One thing that drives me nuts about the current state of affairs, here in the U.S., is that of all things, we are losing the "PR war" with the terrorists and other bad guys. For a country who has done so much good for the World community, to not be able to get positive press is rediculous. Then we go and do this.
Andrew Sullivan tells what he's heard from reporter friends:
Is he talking about North Korea, or the "Leader of the Free World"?
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Just five months before American voters decide who will be appointed to the most powerful office in the world, the US state department said it would no longer allow overseas journalists to renew visas from within the country.
From next week the estimated 20,000 foreign journalists stationed in the US, who used to be able to renew their visas with ease in any major city, will be forced to leave the country to do so.
Rather than applying to renew their visas in Washington or New York, they will be forced to leave the country and re-apply at a US embassy or consulate abroad, delaying their application for between four weeks and six months
Andrew Sullivan tells what he's heard from reporter friends:
It's already a nightmare to enter this country, because of the new security regulations. British journalists have been jailed, humiliated and deported for the most minor of details, immigration officials at the borders now have powers that defy judicial review and act accordingly. Many of my European friends tell me that they simply won't visit the U.S. any more because of the experience of entering what appears to be a police state at the border - and the risk of summary arrest for no good reason. This is bad enough when it affects millions of ordinary people - tourists, business-people (I've noticed a big decline in European tourists on the Cape this summer). But when you target the group that is responsible for conveying what the United States is to the rest of the world, you are only hurting yourself.
Is he talking about North Korea, or the "Leader of the Free World"?
