On Fri, May 27, 2005 at 11:21:10PM +0100, Timwi wrote:
We have more than enough English-speaking contributors
already. I think
we - the interlingual community - have absolutely *every* right to voice
our resentment over English-language media being nauseatingly anglo-centric.
Of course you have a right. Having a right and being right are not the
same thing, however.
I, for one, will pay more attention to stuff in and about a language I
understand than in and about a language I don't. To expect otherwise of
me is unrealistic, sadistic, and absurd. Likewise, I don't expect
otherwise from others. I don't expect French news media, Arabic news
media, or Serbian news media to spend more than a cursory bit on
English, and I likewise don't expect English news media to spend more
than a cursory bit on French, Arabic, or Serbian.
Here's a hint: the exhortation to assume good faith is a good idea not
because it's "nice", but because every person is an individual, and
judging that person by the behavior of other people with the same
nationality, native language, or geographical location is the opposite
of an assumption of good faith.
If you have a problem with a given journalist, contact the journalist
and let him or her know. If you have a gripe with a particular
interview or story, get in touch with whoever conducted the exercise.
Don't generalize a few anecdotal examples as representative of the
entire language-sharing demographic.
By directing unjustified ire at an entire linguistic population is
counterproductive in the extreme.
--
Chad Perrin
[ CCD CopyWrite |
http://ccd.apotheon.org ]