If you read The Observer over the weekend you might have had the misfortune to come across this grubby tabloid-like excuse for journalism by Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor for the Observer.
Beaumont—clearly having a slow news day—focused his attention on the uncontacted tribe photos I commented on the other day, crudely attempting to drum up controversy where there is none.
Survival International has the skinny:
The British newspaper The Observer claimed on 22 June that it has now ‘emerged’ that the uncontacted tribe whose photos received worldwide publicity were neither ‘lost’, nor ‘undiscovered’ nor ‘unknown’.
Other newspapers that have picked up the article have gone further and said that the story was a ‘hoax’.
The story is not a hoax, and none of those involved in working to protect these Indians’ rights have ever claimed they were ‘undiscovered’.
He actually managed to misquote The Observer’s own sister paper, The Guardian. Follow the link in the first paragraph —’undiscovered tribe’—and you won’t find any mention of the word ‘undiscovered.’
Misquoting is bad enough, but misquoting your own colleagues? Sheesh. Another reason not to read The Observer.
Thank you for these statements. I was so interested in the story about the uncontacted tribes that I started writing letters as requested by the Survival International website. Imagine my horror “finding out” the story was a hoax. Considering the people I sent the story to, all the letters I’d written, my piqued interest in the existance of uncontacted people, was in question. Now I read that not only is it NOT A HOAX but that Peter Beaumont the party responsible for the start of this rumor refuses to apologize or acknowledge that he misunderstood or deliberatly misquoted Survivals statements about these peoples.
How like the British reporters to not take responsibility for the fall out of their careless and relentless reporting of “news.” I understand the British press has been hounding and persistantly trying to get a photo of the Fritzl family in Austria. So much so that the Austrian Government has appealed to the British government to restrain their media. To NO AVAIL. I believe in Freedom of the Press, but I also believe in responsible reporting, not carelessly creating a sensation with misquoted headlines, and then refusing to retract or admit fault. The fall out is the responsiblity of the reporter who made the headline.
SHAME ON THE BRITISH REPORTERS AND THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT FOR NOT REINING IN THEIR OUT OF CONTROL NEWS HOUNDS.
Thanks Karen, the guy’s obviously got his head stuck up his ass.