Saturday, August 6, 2011

Did Brian Williams Really Say That?

From Brian Williams's Aug. 4 Daily Nightly blog: "And the relentless drumbeat of news continues from overseas -- very little of it good. So: please forgive me -- I've been reading all the comments and the emails, and we hope you can join us on the broadcast tonight."

Obviously, the horrible news Brian is referring to from overseas is the famine taking place in the Horn of Africa. Sadly, Brian's use of the word "drumbeat" to indicate the conveyance of news from Africa shows that his views of that continent and its methods of communication are woefully mired in the biased mindset of the 19th century. Is it really necessary for Brian to perpetuate the myth that drums are the preferred method of communication for the people of Africa? Brian might be surprised to learn that current and emerging technology in Africa includes cell phones, Wi-Fi, iPads and Twitter. The drumbeat of news from Africa, indeed. Maybe Brian also thinks they communicate with vuvuzelas.

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