In yet another gesture of tyranny, the government of Malawi has vowed to ban NGOs that criticise its policies.
This has sent shivers down the spines of civil and human rights activists, with Human Rights Consultative Committee chairperson Undule Mwakasungula crying for an audience with President Bingu wa Mutharika.
Mwakasungula represents a consortium of over 80 NGOs.
However, Malawians hope that the courts will come to their rescue in face of this blatant gesture on tyranny and intolerance.
"This is absurd and dangerous," said Mwakasungula.
The ruling Democratic Orogressive Party is fast winning the accolade of 'most unddemocratic party' in Malawi though it wears the name 'Democratic' in its court of many colours.
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Monday, March 15, 2010
'Yaka Kangwazi!'
What is wrong wuith this word?
I mean, the word 'Yaka Kangwazi".
Answer: It attracts a prison sentence that gets quashed!
It's a good word for those who don't like prison, but merely want some two, three months stint.
I am practicing that word now.
Yaka Kangwazi!
I mean, the word 'Yaka Kangwazi".
Answer: It attracts a prison sentence that gets quashed!
It's a good word for those who don't like prison, but merely want some two, three months stint.
I am practicing that word now.
Yaka Kangwazi!
On World Day Against Cyber Censorship
The Internet is the tool most feared today by the elites, the media and by the power. It empowers those who otherwise would remain forgotten, oppressed. It is a weapon that gives ammo to those who are protesting for justice, equality and freedom and that shakes the structures of the state – and of companies – which sees no other choice but to censor.
– Brazilian blogger and Global Voices author Raphael Tsavkko Garcia
Today marks the World Day Against Cyber Censorship, an initiative promoted by global NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in support of a single Internet that is unrestricted and accessible to all. The day will hopefully inspire Internet users to increase their own awareness of online censorship, which is something that many Global Voices authors know all too well.
GV author Lina Ben Mhenni is one such blogger. She lives in Tunisia, which has been named by RSF as an “enemy of the Internet” several years in a row. In her own blog, she writes:
Do you know how does it feel to be censored?
Well, I do !
Indeed, I am experiencing this DISGUSTING feeling since February, 24th 2010. That day, back home from work, I was so disappointed when I discovered the horrible “Error 404″ message- a message that stands for a censored web page in my country- when I tried to log in my Facebook and my blog.
Diego Casaes, a Brazilian GV author who wrote this post on the subject linking to bloggers around the world and highlighting Global Voices’ many projects, wrote his own prescription for how governments should deal with the Internet on his blog:
I also think that governments should be encouraged not to regulate, but rather give the proper infra-structure and educate people on how to use the web. This way, citizens will trust the government and be able to freely express themselves on the web: this is of utmost importance! On this matter, I also think companies should become more aware of their influence in society. Google’s decision not to regulate search results in China after having some Human Rights activists’ accounts hacked (follow this link for more information) is a demonstration of how companies should position themselves.
Today is the World Day Against Cyber Censorship
On his blog, Moroccan GV author Hisham answers the question, “What does anti-censorship mean online?”:
In my humble opinion it means protecting what in some countries has become the last frontier of freedom of expression, which is at the core of all other freedoms; the last place where people can still escape restrictions of oppressive regimes. It means using blogs, videos, pictures, social networks, podcasts and the innumerable tools available online to mobilize people around a cause, expose rights abuses, communicate local struggles and causes to the rest of the world, give voices to the disenfranchised and the minority groups, hold governments accountable, investigate and reveal the truth.
Pakistan is not considered an “Internet enemy,” but its online censorship often affects bloggers heavily. Of his country, GV Advocacy author Awab Alvi writes:
It is my position that the internet should be free and open to the People of Pakistan allowing the people to harness this boundless platform for creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet should be considered as a force for freedom and looked upon as a tool for progressing the growth of a struggling nation.
Lebanon is not engaged in filtering the Internet, but that doesn’t stop Layal Al Khatib from speaking out about it on her blog. This is what being anti-censorship means to her:
Freedom! Our most basic right as human beings! We need to be free to express our feelings, thoughts and opinions with no fear of anyone! Censorship by other parties usually ends up with self-censorship, you’ll end up imprisoning yourself if they don’t do it themselves! Which is more dangerous to me..
Lingua Malagasy translator Tomavana notes that in Madagascar, the problem is not necessarily filtering, but access, reminding us [FR] that censorship is not the only barrier to free expression:
Quant à évoquer cette liberté d’expression à Madagascar, c’est invariablement buter à la réalité des manques de moyens communs aux pays en développement….De plus, avec un taux d’utilisation d’internet de moins de 5% de la population, il s’agit plus d’un avantage supplémentaire que monnaie une minorité de privilégié plutôt que de véritable droit. Je formule cependant le vœu que ces dérives ne puissent servir de prétexte à un musèlement ni une censure d’Internet à Madagascar mais qu’au contraire son accès soit facilité pour le plus grand nombre notamment par une amélioration de l’offre internet accompagnée à une baisse des coûts de connexions.
As for talk of freedom of expression in Madagascar, is invariably up against the reality of lack of resources common to developing countries….Moreover, with a rate of Internet penetration rate of less than 5% of the population, it is more of an advantage to a privileged, moneyed minority rather than an issue of actual law. But I hope that these deviations will not be used as a pretext for MUZZLING or censorship of the Internet in Madagascar but to provide easy access for many, as well as improvement of the Internet, accompanied by declining cost of connecting.
– Brazilian blogger and Global Voices author Raphael Tsavkko Garcia
Today marks the World Day Against Cyber Censorship, an initiative promoted by global NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in support of a single Internet that is unrestricted and accessible to all. The day will hopefully inspire Internet users to increase their own awareness of online censorship, which is something that many Global Voices authors know all too well.
GV author Lina Ben Mhenni is one such blogger. She lives in Tunisia, which has been named by RSF as an “enemy of the Internet” several years in a row. In her own blog, she writes:
Do you know how does it feel to be censored?
Well, I do !
Indeed, I am experiencing this DISGUSTING feeling since February, 24th 2010. That day, back home from work, I was so disappointed when I discovered the horrible “Error 404″ message- a message that stands for a censored web page in my country- when I tried to log in my Facebook and my blog.
Diego Casaes, a Brazilian GV author who wrote this post on the subject linking to bloggers around the world and highlighting Global Voices’ many projects, wrote his own prescription for how governments should deal with the Internet on his blog:
I also think that governments should be encouraged not to regulate, but rather give the proper infra-structure and educate people on how to use the web. This way, citizens will trust the government and be able to freely express themselves on the web: this is of utmost importance! On this matter, I also think companies should become more aware of their influence in society. Google’s decision not to regulate search results in China after having some Human Rights activists’ accounts hacked (follow this link for more information) is a demonstration of how companies should position themselves.
Today is the World Day Against Cyber Censorship
On his blog, Moroccan GV author Hisham answers the question, “What does anti-censorship mean online?”:
In my humble opinion it means protecting what in some countries has become the last frontier of freedom of expression, which is at the core of all other freedoms; the last place where people can still escape restrictions of oppressive regimes. It means using blogs, videos, pictures, social networks, podcasts and the innumerable tools available online to mobilize people around a cause, expose rights abuses, communicate local struggles and causes to the rest of the world, give voices to the disenfranchised and the minority groups, hold governments accountable, investigate and reveal the truth.
Pakistan is not considered an “Internet enemy,” but its online censorship often affects bloggers heavily. Of his country, GV Advocacy author Awab Alvi writes:
It is my position that the internet should be free and open to the People of Pakistan allowing the people to harness this boundless platform for creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet should be considered as a force for freedom and looked upon as a tool for progressing the growth of a struggling nation.
Lebanon is not engaged in filtering the Internet, but that doesn’t stop Layal Al Khatib from speaking out about it on her blog. This is what being anti-censorship means to her:
Freedom! Our most basic right as human beings! We need to be free to express our feelings, thoughts and opinions with no fear of anyone! Censorship by other parties usually ends up with self-censorship, you’ll end up imprisoning yourself if they don’t do it themselves! Which is more dangerous to me..
Lingua Malagasy translator Tomavana notes that in Madagascar, the problem is not necessarily filtering, but access, reminding us [FR] that censorship is not the only barrier to free expression:
Quant à évoquer cette liberté d’expression à Madagascar, c’est invariablement buter à la réalité des manques de moyens communs aux pays en développement….De plus, avec un taux d’utilisation d’internet de moins de 5% de la population, il s’agit plus d’un avantage supplémentaire que monnaie une minorité de privilégié plutôt que de véritable droit. Je formule cependant le vœu que ces dérives ne puissent servir de prétexte à un musèlement ni une censure d’Internet à Madagascar mais qu’au contraire son accès soit facilité pour le plus grand nombre notamment par une amélioration de l’offre internet accompagnée à une baisse des coûts de connexions.
As for talk of freedom of expression in Madagascar, is invariably up against the reality of lack of resources common to developing countries….Moreover, with a rate of Internet penetration rate of less than 5% of the population, it is more of an advantage to a privileged, moneyed minority rather than an issue of actual law. But I hope that these deviations will not be used as a pretext for MUZZLING or censorship of the Internet in Madagascar but to provide easy access for many, as well as improvement of the Internet, accompanied by declining cost of connecting.
Ruling on Malawian gays March 22, 2010
Two people, both of them male, have been living lives of prisoners in Malawi's commercial city Blantyre. Their place of solitary confinement has been Blantyre Police and Chichiri Maximum Prison.
Their 'sin': Organising Malawi's first ever public gay engagement.
Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were arrested on Dcember 28, 2009, two days after holding a public gay engegement in Blantyre.
They will live to remember that Saturday afternoon because they never knew their appeals for bail would fall on deaf ears, both at the Blantyre Magistrates Court and High Court.
Whenever they appeared at Blantyre Magistrates Court, women would be there, in handy, to mock them. They were called all sorts of names, defenseless Monjeza and Chimbalanga. Even the law could not save them.
Even the building, so called Blantyre Magistrates Court, where they would have found refuge in justice, could not protect them.
They live as judged men, before the real judgement.
On December 28, 2009, after their arrest, Monjeza and Chimbalanga were "beaten severely" by Police officers, according to Chimbalanga.
I have that recorded on my recorder; in fact, I captured that on my Flip Video.
And Chimbalanga was sad, just like Monjeza.
"Why beat us as if we are hardcore criminals?" queried Chimbalanga, a man in visible pain.
On March 22, 2010, the two do not expect much justice in a country hat has subjected them to so many injustices, said Chimbalanga.
At least, that is what they have told Zachimalawi.
Their 'sin': Organising Malawi's first ever public gay engagement.
Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were arrested on Dcember 28, 2009, two days after holding a public gay engegement in Blantyre.
They will live to remember that Saturday afternoon because they never knew their appeals for bail would fall on deaf ears, both at the Blantyre Magistrates Court and High Court.
Whenever they appeared at Blantyre Magistrates Court, women would be there, in handy, to mock them. They were called all sorts of names, defenseless Monjeza and Chimbalanga. Even the law could not save them.
Even the building, so called Blantyre Magistrates Court, where they would have found refuge in justice, could not protect them.
They live as judged men, before the real judgement.
On December 28, 2009, after their arrest, Monjeza and Chimbalanga were "beaten severely" by Police officers, according to Chimbalanga.
I have that recorded on my recorder; in fact, I captured that on my Flip Video.
And Chimbalanga was sad, just like Monjeza.
"Why beat us as if we are hardcore criminals?" queried Chimbalanga, a man in visible pain.
On March 22, 2010, the two do not expect much justice in a country hat has subjected them to so many injustices, said Chimbalanga.
At least, that is what they have told Zachimalawi.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469, in Florence, Italy. He eventually became a man who lived his life for politics and patriotism. Right now, however, he is associated with corrupt, totalitarian government. The reason for this is a small pamphlet he wrote called The Prince to gain influence with the ruling Medici family in Florence. The political genius of Niccolo Machiavelli was overshadowed by the reputation that was unfairly given to him because of a misunderstanding of his views on politics.
Machiavelli's life was very interesting. He lived a nondescript childhood in Florence, and his main political experience in his youth was watching Savanarola from afar. Soon after Savanarola was executed, Machiavelli entered the Florentine government as a secretary. His position quickly rose, however, and was soon engaging in diplomatic missions. He met many of the important politicians of the day, such as the Pope and the King of France, but none had more impact on him than a prince of the Papal States, Cesare Borgia. Borgia was a cunning, cruel man, very much like the one portrayed in The Prince. Machiavelli did not truly like Borgia's policies, but he thought that with a ruler like Borgia the Florentines could unite Italy, which was Machiavelli's goal throughout his life. Unfortunately for Machiavelli, he was dismissed from office when the Medici came to rule Florence and the Republic was overthrown. The lack of a job forced him to switch to writing about politics instead of being active. His diplomatic missions were his last official government positions.
When Machiavelli lost his office, he desperately wanted to return to politics. He tried to gain the favor of the Medici by writing a book of what he thought were the Medici's goals and dedicating it to them. And so The Prince was written for that purpose. Unfortunately, the Medici didn't agree with what the book said, so he was out of a job. But when the public saw the book, they were outraged. The people wondered how cruel a man could be to think evil thoughts like the ones in The Prince, and this would come back to haunt him when he was alive and dead. However, if the people wanted to know what Machiavelli really stood for, they should have read his "Discourses on Livy", which explain his full political philosophy. But not enough people had and have, and so the legacy of The Prince continues to define Machiavelli to the general public.
A few years later the Medici were kicked out of Florence. The republic was re-established, and Machiavelli ran to retake the office he had left so many years ago. But the reputation that The Prince had established made people think his philosophy was like the Medici, so he was not elected. And here the sharp downhill of his life began. His health began to fail him, and he died months later, in 1527.
Machiavelli had been unfairly attacked all of his life because of a bad reputation. But it only got worse after he died. He was continually blasted for his "support" of corrupt ruling. In fact, Machiavellian now means corrupt government. Only recently has his true personality come to light. The world must change it's vision of the cold, uncaring Machiavelli to the correct view of a patriot and a political genius.
Machiavelli's life was very interesting. He lived a nondescript childhood in Florence, and his main political experience in his youth was watching Savanarola from afar. Soon after Savanarola was executed, Machiavelli entered the Florentine government as a secretary. His position quickly rose, however, and was soon engaging in diplomatic missions. He met many of the important politicians of the day, such as the Pope and the King of France, but none had more impact on him than a prince of the Papal States, Cesare Borgia. Borgia was a cunning, cruel man, very much like the one portrayed in The Prince. Machiavelli did not truly like Borgia's policies, but he thought that with a ruler like Borgia the Florentines could unite Italy, which was Machiavelli's goal throughout his life. Unfortunately for Machiavelli, he was dismissed from office when the Medici came to rule Florence and the Republic was overthrown. The lack of a job forced him to switch to writing about politics instead of being active. His diplomatic missions were his last official government positions.
When Machiavelli lost his office, he desperately wanted to return to politics. He tried to gain the favor of the Medici by writing a book of what he thought were the Medici's goals and dedicating it to them. And so The Prince was written for that purpose. Unfortunately, the Medici didn't agree with what the book said, so he was out of a job. But when the public saw the book, they were outraged. The people wondered how cruel a man could be to think evil thoughts like the ones in The Prince, and this would come back to haunt him when he was alive and dead. However, if the people wanted to know what Machiavelli really stood for, they should have read his "Discourses on Livy", which explain his full political philosophy. But not enough people had and have, and so the legacy of The Prince continues to define Machiavelli to the general public.
A few years later the Medici were kicked out of Florence. The republic was re-established, and Machiavelli ran to retake the office he had left so many years ago. But the reputation that The Prince had established made people think his philosophy was like the Medici, so he was not elected. And here the sharp downhill of his life began. His health began to fail him, and he died months later, in 1527.
Machiavelli had been unfairly attacked all of his life because of a bad reputation. But it only got worse after he died. He was continually blasted for his "support" of corrupt ruling. In fact, Machiavellian now means corrupt government. Only recently has his true personality come to light. The world must change it's vision of the cold, uncaring Machiavelli to the correct view of a patriot and a political genius.
Niccolò Machiavelli
This is in response to requests from Malawian college and university students that www.zachimalawi.blogspot.com puts something up about Niccolò Machiavelli. We have tried to patch information up and...here we are. Welcome to the world of Niccolò Machiavelli!
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an Italian philosopher/writer, and is considered one of the main founders of modern political science.[1] He was a diplomat, political philosopher, musician, and a playwright, but foremost, he was a civil servant of the Florentine Republic. In June of 1498, after the ouster and execution of Girolamo Savonarola, the Great Council elected Machiavelli as Secretary to the second Chancery of the Republic of Florence.[2]
Like Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli is considered a good example of the Renaissance Man. He is most famous for a short political treatise, The Prince, written in 1513, but not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. Although he privately circulated The Prince among friends, the only work he published in his lifetime was The Art of War, about high-military science. Since the sixteenth century, generations of politicians remain attracted and repelled by the cynical approach to power posited in The Prince and his other works.[3] Whatever his personal intentions, which are still debated today, his surname yielded the modern political word Machiavellianism—the use of cunning and deceitful tactics in politics.
Contents [hide]
1 Life
2 Works
2.1 The Prince
2.1.1 Realism
2.1.2 Satire?
2.1.3 "Machiavellian"
2.2 Discorsi
2.3 Other works
3 Revival of interest in the 19th and 20th centuries
4 Contributions to Political Philosophy
4.1 Realist or evil?
4.2 Thoughts on the State
4.3 Impact on America
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 Further reading
8.1 Specialized studies
8.1.1 Biographies
8.1.2 Political thought
8.1.3 Editions
9 External links
[edit] Life
Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy, the third son of attorney Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli, and his wife, Bartolomea di Stefano Nelli. The Machiavelli family are believed descended from the old marquesses of Tuscany, and to have produced thirteen Florentine Gonfalonieres of Justice.[4], one of the offices of a group of nine citizens selected by drawing lots every two months, who formed the government, or Signoria.
Statue at the UffiziMachiavelli was born in a tumultuous era—Popes waged war, and the wealthy Italian city-states might anytime fall, piecemeal, to foreign powers—France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire—and political-military alliances continually changed, featuring condottieri who changed sides without warning, and weeks-long governments rising and falling.[citation needed]
Rigorously trained to manhood by his father, Machiavelli was taught grammar, rhetoric and Latin. He did not learn Greek, even though Florence was at the time one of the centers of Greek scholarship in Europe. In 1494, he entered Florentine government service as a clerk and as an ambassador; later that year, Florence restored the republic—expelling the Medici family, who had ruled Florence for some sixty years. He was in a diplomatic council responsible for negotiation and military affairs, undertaking, between 1499 and 1512, diplomatic missions to the courts of Louis XII in France, Ferdinand II of Aragón, in Spain, and the Papacy in Rome, in Italy proper. Moreover, from 1502 to 1503, he witnessed the effective state-building methods of soldier-churchman Cesare Borgia (1475 – 1507), who was then enlarging his central Italian territories.
Between 1503 and 1506, Machiavelli was responsible for the Florentine militia, including the City’s defense. He distrusted mercenaries (cf. Discourses, The Prince), preferring a politically-invested citizen-militia, a philosophy that bore fruit—his command of Florentine citizen-soldiers defeated Pisa in 1509; yet, in August of 1512, the Medici, helped by Pope Julius II, used Spanish troops to defeat the Florentines at Prato; Piero Soderini resigned as Florentine head of state, and left in exile; then, the Florentine city-state and the Republic were dissolved. For his significant role in the republic's anti-Medici government, Niccolò Machiavelli was deposed from office, and, in 1513, was accused of conspiracy, and arrested. Despite torture "with the rope" (the prisoner is hanged from his bound wrists, from the back, forcing the arms to bear the body's weight, thus dislocating the shoulders), he denied involvement and was released; then, retiring to his estate, at Sant'Andrea in Percussina, near Florence, he wrote the political treatises that earned his intellectual place in the development of political philosophy and political conduct. [5]
Machiavelli's cenotaph in the Santa Croce Church in FlorenceIn a letter to Francesco Vettori, he described his exile:
When evening comes, I return home [from work and from the local tavern] and go to my study. On the threshold, I strip naked, taking off my muddy, sweaty work day clothes, and put on the robes of court and palace, and, in this graver dress, I enter the courts of the ancients, and am welcomed by them, and there I taste the food that alone is mine, and for which I was born. And there I make bold to speak to them and ask the motives of their actions, and they, in their humanity, reply to me. And for the space of four hours I forget the world, remember no vexation, fear poverty no more, tremble no more at death; I pass indeed into their world. [6]
As a writer, Machiavelli identified the unifying theme in The Prince and the Discorsi:
All cities that ever, at any time, have been ruled by an absolute prince, by aristocrats, or by the people, have had for their protection force combined with prudence, because the latter is not enough alone, and the first either does not produce things, or when they are produced, does not maintain them. Force and prudence, then, are the might of all the governments that ever have been or will be in the world. [7]
Machiavelli died in 1527. He was buried at the Church of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. An epitaph honouring him is inscribed in a small monument. The Latin legend reads: TANTO NOMINI NULLUM PAR ELOGIUM (No eulogy would be adequate to praise so great a name).
[edit] Works
See also: Category:Works by Niccolò Machiavelli
[edit] The Prince
Main article: The Prince
Bust of Machiavelli in the Palazzo Vecchio[edit] Realism
The Prince's contribution to the history of political thought is the fundamental break between political Realism and political Idealism. Niccolò Machiavelli’s best-known book exposits and describes the arts with which a ruling prince can maintain control of his realm. It concentrates on the "new prince", under the presumption that a hereditary prince has an easier task in ruling, since the people are accustomed to him. To retain power, the hereditary prince must carefully maintain the socio-political institutions to which the people are accustomed; whereas a new prince has the more difficult task in ruling, since he must first stabilize his new-found power in order to build an enduring political structure. That requires the prince being a public figure above reproach, whilst privately acting amorally to achieve State goals. The examples are those princes who most successfully obtain and maintain power, drawn from his observations as a Florentine diplomat, and his ancient history readings; thus, the Latin phrases and Classic examples.
The Prince does not dismiss morality, instead, it politically defines “Morality”—as in the criteria for acceptable cruel action—it must be decisive: swift, effective, and short-lived. Machiavelli is aware of the irony of good results coming from evil actions; notwithstanding some mitigating themes, the Catholic Church proscribed The Prince, registering it to the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, moreover, the Humanists also viewed the book negatively, among them, Erasmus of Rotterdam. As a treatise, its primary intellectual contribution to the history of political thought is the fundamental break between political Realism and political Idealism—thus, The Prince is a manual to acquiring and keeping political power. In contrast with Plato and Aristotle, a Classical ideal society is not the aim of the prince’s will to power. As a political scientist, Machiavelli emphasises necessary, methodical exercise of brute force punishment-and-reward (patronage, clientelism, et cetera) to preserve the status quo.
[edit] Satire?
As there seems to be a very large difference between Machiavelli's advice to ruthless and tyrannical princes in The Prince and his more republican exhortations in Discorsi, many have concluded that The Prince is actually only a satire. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, for instance, admired Machiavelli the republican and consequently argued that The Prince is a book for the republicans as it exposes the methods used by princes. If the book was only intended as a manual for tyrannical rulers, it contains a paradox: it would apparently be more effective if the secrets it contains would not be made publicly available. Also Antonio Gramsci argued that Machiavelli's audience was the common people because the rulers already knew these methods through their education. This interpretation is supported by the fact that Machiavelli wrote in Italian, not in Latin (which would have been the language of the ruling elite). Although Machiavelli is supposed to be a realist, many of his heroes in The Prince are in fact mythical or semi-mythical, and his goal (i.e. the unification of Italy) essentially utopian at the time of writing.
[edit] "Machiavellian"
Sixteenth-century contemporaries adopted and used the adjective Machiavellian (in the sense of devious cunning), often in the introductions of political tracts offering more than government by “Reasons of State”, most notably those of Jean Bodin and Giovanni Botero. Contemporary, pejorative usage of Machiavellian (or anti-Machiavellism in the 16th C.) is a misnomer describing someone who deceives and manipulates others for gain; (personal or not, the gain is immaterial, only action matters, insofar as it affects results). The Prince hasn’t the moderating themes of his other works; politically, “Machiavelli” denotes someone of politically-extreme perspective;[8] however Machiavellianism remains a popular speech and journalism usage; while in psychology, it denotes a personality type.
[edit] Discorsi
Main article: Discourses on Livy
Sebastiano del Piombo,1516,"Cardinal Bandinello Sauli, His Secretary, and Two Geographers." Which is often mistaken for Machiavelli (center right) depicted: (left-right) Cesare Borgia, Pedro Luis de Borja Lanzol de Romaní, and Don Micheletto CorellaThe Discourse on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy comprises the early history of Rome. It is a series of lessons on how a republic should be started and structured, including the concept of checks and balances, the strength of a tri-partite political structure, and the superiority of a republic over a principality.
From The Discourses:
“In fact, when there is combined under the same constitution a prince, a nobility, and the power of the people, then these three powers will watch and keep each other reciprocally in check”. Book I, Chapter II
“Doubtless these means [of attaining power] are cruel and destructive of all civilized life, and neither Christian, nor even human, and should be avoided by every one. In fact, the life of a private citizen would be preferable to that of a king at the expense of the ruin of so many human beings”. Book I, Chapter XXVI
“Now, in a well-ordered republic, it should never be necessary to resort to extra-constitutional measures. . . . ” Book I, Chapter XXXIV
“. . . the governments of the people are better than those of princes”. Book I, Chapter LVIII
“. . . if we compare the faults of a people with those of princes, as well as their respective good qualities, we shall find the people vastly superior in all that is good and glorious”. Book I, Chapter LVIII
“For government consists mainly in so keeping your subjects that they shall be neither able, nor disposed to injure you. . . . ” Book II, Chapter XXIII
“. . . no prince is ever benefited by making himself hated”. Book III, Chapter XIX
“Let not princes complain of the faults committed by the people subjected to their authority, for they result entirely from their own negligence or bad example”. Book III, Chapter XXIX [9]
[edit] Other works
Peter Withorne’s 1573 translation of the Art of WarBesides being a statesman and political scientist, Machiavelli also translated classical works, and was a dramaturge (Clizia, Mandragola), a poet (Sonetti, Canzoni, Ottave, Canti carnascialeschi), and a novelist (Belfagor arcidiavolo).
Some of his other works:
Discorso sopra le cose di Pisa (1499)
Del modo di trattare i popoli della Valdichiana ribellati (1502)
Del modo tenuto dal duca Valentino nell’ ammazzare Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, etc. (1502) — A Description of the Methods Adopted by the Duke Valentino when Murdering Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, the Signor Pagolo, and the Duke di Gravina Orsini
Discorso sopra la provisione del danaro (1502) — A discourse about the provision of money.
Decennale primo (1506), a poem in terza rima.
Ritratti delle cose dell’ Alemagna (1508–1512) - Portrait of the affairs of Germany.
Decennale secondo (1509), a poem.
Ritratti delle cose di Francia (1510) — Portrait of the affairs of France.
Andria (1517), a Classical comedy, translated from Terence.
Mandragola (1518) — The Mandrake, a five-act prose comedy, with a verse prologue.
Della lingua (1514), a dialogue about the language.
Clizia (1525), a prose comedy.
Belfagor arcidiavolo (1515), a novel.
Asino d’oro (1517) — The Golden Ass is a terza rima poem, a new version of the Classic work by Apuleius.
Dell’arte della guerra (1519–1520) — The Art of War, high military science.
Discorso sopra il riformare lo stato di Firenze (1520) — A discourse about the reforming of Florence.
Sommario delle cose della citta di Lucca (1520) — A summary of the affairs of the city of Lucca.
Vita di Castruccio Castracani da Lucca (1520) — The Life of Castruccio Castracani of Lucca, a biography.
Istorie fiorentine (1520–1525) — Florentine Histories, an eight-volume history book of the city-state, Florence, commissioned by Giulio di Giuliano de’ Medici, later Pope Clement VII.
Frammenti storici (1525) — Fragments of stories.
[edit] Revival of interest in the 19th and 20th centuries
Despite remaining a politically-influential writer in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was the 19th and 20th centuries that rediscovered his political science for its intellectual and practical applications. The most reliable guide to this renewed interest is the Introduction to the 1953 (Mentor Books) edition of Il Principe, wherein Christian Gauss, the Dean of Princeton University, discusses, with pertinent historical context, the commentaries on The Prince made by the German historians Ranke (19th c.) and Meineke (20th c.), the Briton Lord Acton, and others. Citing the consensus that Machiavelli was the first political theorist with a practical, scientific approach to statecraft, considering him “the first Modern Man”. The commentators view the political scientist Machiavelli positively—because he viewed the world realistically, thus, such statecraft leads to (generally) constructive results.
In the 20th century there was also renewed interest in Machiavelli's La Mandragola (1518), which received numerous stagings, including several in New York, at the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1976 and the Riverside Shakespeare Company in 1979, and at London's National Theatre in 1984.[10]
[edit] Contributions to Political Philosophy
Machiavelli was in many respects not an innovator. His largest political work seeks to bring back a rebirth of the Ancient Roman Republic; its values, virtues and principles the ultimate guiding authority of his political vision. Machiavelli is essentially a restorer of something old and forgotten. The republicanism he focused on, especially the theme of civic virtue, became one of the dominant political themes of the modern world, and was a central part of the foundation of American political values.
Machiavelli studied the way people lived and aimed to inform leaders how they should rule and even how they themselves should live. To an extent he admits that the old tradition was true - men are obliged to live virtuously as according to Aristotles Virtue Ethics principle. However, he denies that living virtuously necessarily leads to happiness. Machiavelli viewed misery as one of the vices that enables a prince to rule [11] Machiavelli states boldly in The Prince, The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved. [12] In much of Machiavelli's work, it seems that the ruler must adopt unsavory policies for the sake of the continuance of his regime.
Hans Baron was the most influential scholar to study Machiavelli. Najemy (1996) examines Baron's ambivalent portrayal, arguing that Baron tended to see Machiavelli simultaneously as the cynical debunker and the faithful heir of civic humanism. By the mid-1950s, Baron had come to consider civic humanism and Florentine republicanism as early chapters of a much longer history of European political liberty, a story in which Machiavelli and his generation played a crucial role. This conclusion led Baron to modify his earlier negative view of Machiavelli. He tried to bring the Florentine theorist under the umbrella of civic humanism by underscoring the radical differences between The Prince and the Discourses and thus revealing the fundamentally republican character of the Discourses. However, Baron's inability to come to terms with Machiavelli's harsh criticism of early 15th-century commentators such as Leonardo Bruni ultimately prevented him from fully reconciling Machiavelli with civic humanism.
Pocock (1981) traces the Machiavellian belief in and emphasis upon Greco-Roman ideals of unspecialized civic virtue and liberty from 15th-century Florence through 17th-century England and Scotland to 18th-century America. Thinkers who shared these ideals tended to believe that the function of property was to maintain an individual's independence as a precondition of his virtue. Consequently, in the last two times and places mentioned above, they were disposed to attack the new commercial and financial regime that was beginning to develop. However, Paul Rahe (1992) takes issue with Pocock on the origins and argues Machiavelli's republicanism was not rooted in antiquity but was is entirely novel and modern. Scholars have argued that James Madison followed Machiavelli's republicanism when he (and Jefferson) set up the Democratic-Republican Party in the 1790s to oppose what they saw as the emerging aristocracy that they feared Alexander Hamilton was creating with the Federalist Party.[13] Conservative historians likewise conclude that Thomas Jefferson's republicanism was "deeply in debt" to Machiavelli, whom he praised.[14]
[edit] Realist or evil?
For four centuries scholars have debated whether Machiavelli was the theorist of evil or just being realistic. The Prince made the word "Machiavellian" a byword for deceit, despotism, and political manipulation. Some historians argue Machiavelli had a secret (or very subtle) message that explains away the ugly implications of the plain text, saying that Machiavelli really favored virtue after all and was just trying to trick princes into policies that would lead to their overthrow, not their triumph.[15]
Leo Strauss, the American political philosopher, declared himself more inclined toward the traditional view that Machiavelli was a "teacher of evil," since he counsels the princes to avoid the values of justice, mercy, temperance, wisdom, and love of their people in preference to the use of cruelty, violence, fear, and deception.[16] Italian anti-fascist philosopher Benedetto Croce (1925) concludes Machiavelli is simply a "realist" or "pragmatist" who accurately states that moral values in reality do not greatly affect the decisions that political leaders make.[17] German philosopher Ernst Cassirer (1946) held that Machiavelli simply adopts the stance of a political scientist—a Galileo of politics—in distinguishing between the "facts" of political life and the "values" of moral judgment.[18]
[edit] Thoughts on the State
Machiavelli was not a political philosopher in the ordinary sense. He did not try either to define the State or to justify its existence. His views about the State are implied as matter of course when he describes how a ruler may retain or acquire control, how he is liable to lose it, which qualities are necessary for a republic to remain strong, or how precarious a Republic’s liberty can be at times. Medieval thinkers had taken the political authority of any prince or king in the community of Christendom to be necessarily limited – by the Emperor (In the case of the Holy Roman Empire), by the power of the Roman Catholic Church in spiritual matters and by the power of natural law (Universal moral principles) that determine the boundaries of justice. Machiavelli did not challenge this long held traditional position. He ignored it, writing as a matter of fact that the state had absolute authority. He thought that the value of religion lies in its contribution to social order and the rules of morality must be dispensed with if security required it.
Machiavelli further differed from medieval thinkers in taking for granted that the power of the state is a single whole and can be centrally controlled, irrespective of whether the state is a monarchy or a republic. He preferred a republic because he preferred liberty. However, he believed that in order for the liberty of republicanism to function, it needed a citizenry who were independent and courageous (Virtuous). Machiavelli believed these qualities were rare and existed hardly anywhere in the Europe of his day since the Romans.
[edit] Impact on America
The Founding Fathers read Machiavelli closely. In his Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States, Adams praised Machiavelli, with Algernon Sidney and Montesquieu, as a philosophic defender of mixed government. For Adams, Machiavelli restored empirical reason to politics, while his analysis of factions was commendable. Adams likewise agreed with the Florentine that human nature was immutable and driven by passions. He also accepted Machiavelli's belief that all societies were subject to cyclical periods of growth and decay. For Adams, Machiavelli lacked only a clear understanding of the institutions necessary for good government.[19]
[edit] See also
Timeline of Niccolò Machiavelli
[edit] Notes
^ Moschovitis Group Inc, Christian D. Von Dehsen and Scott L. Harris, Philosophers and religious leaders, (The Oryx Press, 1999), 117.
^ White, Michael (2007). Machiavelli, A Man Misunderstood. Abacus.. ISBN 978-0-349-11599-3.
^ S. Anglo, Machiavelli: the first century (Oxford, 2005)
^ "Niccolò Machiavelli". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli.
^ Donna, Daniel, in the introduction to the Bantam Classic edition of The Prince, Bantam, 1966
^ The Literary Works of Machiavelli, trans. J.R. Hale. (Oxford: 1961), p. 139 D.
^ "Words to be Spoken on the Law for Appropriating Money", in Chief Works and Others [of Machiavelli], trans. Allan H. Gilbert, 3 vols. (Durham, NC: Duke Univ. Press, 1965), v. III, 1439.
^ In one scholar's assessment, mistakenly so. Writes Anthony Parel: "The authentic Machiavelli is one who subordinates personal interests for the common good . . . If one is to speak of a Machiavellian personality one should mention Moses and Romulus (to use [M's] own examples)." For more on the three sources of historical anti-Machiavellism, see Further Reading, Parel, pp. 14-24, and (in far greater detail): Sydney Anglo, Machiavelli - the First Century: Studies in Enthusiasm, Hostility, and Irrelevance, Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0199267766, 9780199267767.
^ The Modern Library, New York, 1950, translated by Christian E. Detmold.
^ Review by Jann Racquoi, Heights/Inwood Press of North Manhattan, March 14, 1979.
^ Leo Strauss, Joseph Cropsey, History of Political Philosophy (1987) p. 300
^ Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, p. 60
^ Gary Rosen in Rahe, ed. Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy (2005) p. 231 online
^ Rahe, Jefferson's Machiavellian Political Science in Rahe, ed. Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy (2005) p. 209 online
^ John Langton and Mary G. Deitz, "Machiavelli's Paradox: Trapping or Teaching the Prince" The American Political Science Review, Vol. 81, No. 4 (Dec., 1987), pp. 1277-1288 at JSTOR
^ Leo Strauss, Thoughts on Machiavelli (1957), p 9 online
^ Benedetto Croce, My Philosophy (1949), p. 142 online
^ Ernst Cassirer, The Myth of the State, (1946) p.136, online
^ C. Bradley Thompson, "John Adams's Machiavellian Moment," Review of Politics 1995 57(3): 389-417, in EBSCO
[edit] References
Machiavelli, Niccolò (1531). The Discourses. Translated by Leslie J. Walker, S.J, revisions by Brian Richardson (2003). London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-140-44428-9
[edit] Further reading
Anglo, Sydney, Machiavelli - the First Century: Studies in Enthusiasm, Hostility, and Irrelevance, Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0199267766, 9780199267767
Baron, Hans (1961). "Machiavelli: the Republican Citizen and Author of The Prince". English Historical Review lxxvi (76): 217–253. doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXVI.CCXCIX.217.
Bock, Gisela; Quentin Skinner and Maurizio Viroli, ed. (1990). Machiavelli and Republicanism. Cambridge University Press.
Constantine, Peter (2007). The Essential Writings of Machiavelli. New York: Random House Modern Library.
Donaldson, Peter S. (1989). Machiavelli and Mystery of State. Cambridge University Press.
Everdell, William R. (1983, 2000). The End of Kings: A History of Republics and Republicans. University of Chicago Press.
Hoeges, Dirk. Niccolò Machiavelli. Dichter-Poeta. Mit sämtlichen Gedichten, deutsch/italienisch. Con tutte le poesie, tedesco/italiano, Reihe: Dialoghi/Dialogues: Literatur und Kultur Italiens und Frankreichs, Band 10, Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt/M. u.a. 2006, ISBN 3-631-54669-6.
Ingersoll, David E. (December 1968). "The Constant Prince: Private Interests and Public Goals in Machiavelli". Western Political Quarterly (21): 588–596.
Magee, Brian (2001). The Story of Philosophy. New York: DK Publishing. pp. 72–73.
Marriott, W. K. (2008). The Prince. Red and Black Publishers. ISBN 978-0-934941-003
Roger Masters (1996). Machiavelli, Leonardo and the Science of Power. University of Notre Dame Press. ISBN 0-268-01433-7. See also NYT book review.
Roger Masters (1998). Fortune is a River: Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli's Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of Florentine History. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-452-28090-7. Also available in Chinese (ISBN 9789572026113), Japanese (ISBN 9784022597588), German (ISBN 9783471794029), Portuguese (ISBN 9788571104969), and Korean (ISBN 9788984070059). See also NYT book review.
Mattingly, Garrett (Autumn 1958). "Machiavelli's Prince: Political Science or Political Satire?". The American Scholar (27): 482–491.
Najemy, John M. (1996). "Baron's Machiavelli and Renaissance Republicanism". American Historical Review 101 (101,1): 119–129. doi:10.2307/2169227.
Parel, Anthony (1972). "Introduction: Machiavelli's Method and His Interpreters". The Political Calculus: Essays on Machiavelli's Philosophy. Toronto. pp. 3–28.
Pocock, J.G. A.. The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition. Princeton.
Soll, Jacob (2005). Publishing The Prince: History, Reading and the Birth of Political Criticism. University of Michigan Press.
Strauss, Leo (1978). Thoughts on Machiavelli. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226777022.
Sullivan, Vickie B., ed. (2000). The Comedy and Tragedy of Machiavelli: Essays on the Literary Works. Yale U. Press.
Sullivan, Vickie B. (1996). Machiavelli's Three Romes: Religion, Human Liberty, and Politics Reformed. Northern Illinois University Press.
Seung, T. K. (1993). Intuition and Construction: The Foundation of Normative Theory, New Haven: Yale University Press. See pp. 133–43.
Stefano Zen, Veritas ecclesiastica e Machiavelli, in Monarchia della verità. Modelli culturali e pedagogia della Controriforma, Napoli, Vivarium, 2002 (La Ricerca Umanistica, 4), pp. 73–111.
von Vacano, Diego, "The Art of Power: Machiavelli, Nietzsche and the Making of Aesthetic Political Theory," Lanham MD: Lexington: 2007.
Viroli, Maurizio (2000). Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli. Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Whelan, Frederick G. (2004). Hume and Machiavelli: Political Realism and Liberal Thought. Lexington.
Wootton, David, ed. (1994). Selected political writings of Niccolò Machiavelli. Indianapolis: Hackett Pubs..
Mascia Ferri, L'opinione pubblica e il sovrano in Machiavelli, in «The Lab's Quarterly»,n.2 aprile-giugno,Università di Pisa,2008, pp. 420–433.
Giuseppe Leone,"Silone e Machiavelli: una scuola... che non crea prìncipi", Prefazione di Vittoriano Esposito, Centro Studi Ignazio Silone, Pescina, 2003.
[edit] Specialized studies
[edit] Biographies
Burd, L. A., "Florence (II): Machiavelli" in Cambridge Modern History (1902), vol. I, ch. vi. pp 190-218 online Google edition
de Grazia, Sebastian. Machiavelli in Hell (1989), highly favorable intellectual biography; won the Pulitzer Prize; excerpt and text search
Hale, J. R. Machiavelli and Renaissance Italy (1961) online edition
Hulliung, Mark. Citizen Machiavelli (1983)
Ridolfi, Roberto. The Life of Niccolò Machiavelli (1963), a standard scholarly biography
Schevill, Ferdinand. Six Historians (1956), pp. 61-91
Skinner, Quentin. Machiavelli: A Very Short Introduction (2000) online edition
Villari, Pasquale. The Life and Times of Niccolò Machiavelli (2 vol 1892), good older biography; online Google edition vol 1; online Google edition vol 2
Viroli, Maurizio. Niccolo's Smile : A Biography of Machiavelli (2000) excerpt and text search
Viroli, Maurizio. Machiavelli (1998) online edition, good place to start
[edit] Political thought
Arciniegas, Germán. "Savonarola, Machiavelli, and Guido Antonio Vespucci: Totalitarian and Democrat 500 Years Ago," Political Science Quarterly, (1954) 69:184-201, argues that modern totalitarianism is a blending of Machiavelli's theories and Savonarola's techniques of rabble rousing. in JSTOR
Ball, Terence. "The Picaresque Prince: Reflections on Machiavelli and Moral Change," Political Theory, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Nov., 1984), pp. 521-536 in jstor
Baron, Hans. The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance: Civic Humanism and Republican Liberty in an Age of Classicism and Tyranny (2 vol 1955), highly influential, deep study of civic humanism (republicanism); 700 pp. excerpts and text search; ACLS E-books; also vol 2 in ACLS E-books
Baron, Hans. In Search of Florentine Civic Humanism (2 vols. 1988).
Baron Hans, "Machiavelli: The Republican Citizen and the Author of The Prince" in The English Historical Review 76 (1961), pp. 217-53. in JSTOR
Bock, Gisela; Skinner, Quentin; and Viroli, Maurizio, ed. Machiavelli and Republicanism. (1990). 316 pp. excerpt and text search
Butterfield, Herbert. The Statecraft of Machiavelli (1940).
Chabod, FedericoMachiavelli & the Renaissance (1958) online edition; online from ACLS E-Books
Colish, Marcia L. "Republicanism, Religion, and Machiavelli's Savonarolan Moment," Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 60, No. 4 (Oct., 1999), pp. 597-616 in JSTOR
Colish, Marcia L. "Machiavelli's Art of War: A Reconsideration," Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 4 (Winter, 1998), pp. 1151-1168 in JSTOR
Fischer, Markus. "Machiavelli's Political Psychology," The Review of Politics, Vol. 59, No. 4 (Autumn, 1997), pp. 789-829 in JSTOR
Gilbert, Felix. Machiavelli and Guicciardini: Politics and History in Sixteenth-Century Italy (2nd ed. 1984) online from ACLS-E-books
Gilbert, Felix. "Machiavelli: The Renaissance of the Art of War," in Edward Mead Earle, ed. The Makers of Modern Strategy (1944)
Jensen, De Lamar, ed. Machiavelli: Cynic, Patriot, or Political Scientist? (1960) essays by scholars online edition
Lukes, Timothy J. "Lionizing Machiavelli," The American Political Science Review, Vol. 95, No. 3 (Sep., 2001), pp. 561-575 in JSTOR
Lukes, Timothy J. "Martialing Machiavelli: Reassessing the Military Reflections," The Journal of Politics, Vol. 66, No. 4 (Nov., 2004), pp. 1089-1108 in JSTOR
Femia, Joseph V. Machiavelli Revisited (2004) online edition, 140pp, good place to start
McCormick, John P. "Machiavelli against Republicanism: On the Cambridge School's 'Guicciardinian Moments,'" Political Theory, Vol. 31, No. 5 (Oct., 2003), pp. 615-643 in JSTOR
Mansfield, Harvey C. Machiavelli's New Modes and Orders: A Study of the Discourses on Livy (2001) excerpt and text search
Mansfield, Harvey C. Machiavelli's Virtue (1996), 371pp
Mansfield, Harvey C. "Machiavelli's Political Science," The American Political Science Review, Vol. 75, No. 2 (Jun., 1981), pp. 293-305 in JSTOR
Mindle, Grant B. "Machiavelli's Realism," The Review of Politics, Vol. 47, No. 2 (Apr., 1985), pp. 212-230 in JSTOR
Najemy, John M. "Baron's Machiavelli and Renaissance Republicanism." American Historical Review 1996 101(1): 119-129. ISSN 0002-8762 Fulltext in Jstor.
Nederman, Cary J. "Amazing Grace: Fortune, God, and Free Will in Machiavelli's Thought," Journal of the History of Ideas 60: 617-638. in JSTOR
Parel, A. J. "The Question of Machiavelli's Modernity," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Spring, 1991), pp. 320-339 in JSTOR
Pellerin, Daniel. "Machiavelli's Best Fiend." History of Political Thought 2006 27(3): 423-453. Issn: 0143-781x on Pope Alexander VI
Pocock, J.G.A. The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition (1975; new ed. 2003), a highly influential study of Discourses and its vast influence; excerpt and text search; also online 1975 edition
Pocock, J. G. A. "The Machiavellian Moment Revisited: a Study in History and Ideology.: Journal of Modern History 1981 53(1): 49-72. Fulltext: in Jstor.
Rahe, Paul A. Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy (2005) excerpt, reviews and text search, shows Machiavelli's Discourses had a major impact on shaping conservative thought.
Rahe, Paul. Republics Ancient and Modern: Classical Republicanism and the American Revolution, (1992) online edition
Scott, John T. and Vickie B. Sullivan, "Patricide and the Plot of the Prince: Cesare Borgia and Machiavelli's Italy." American Political Science Review 1994 88(4): 887-900. Issn: 0003-0554 in Jstor
Skinner, Quentin. The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, v. I, The Renaissance, (1978)
Strauss, Leo. On Machivelli (1957)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Niccolò Machiavelli (2005) online edition
Struever, Nancy S. The Language of History in the Renaissance: Rhetoric and Historical Consciousness in Florentine Humanism (1970)
Wight, Martin. Four Seminal Thinkers in International Theory: Machiavelli, Grotius, Kant, and Mazzini (2005), ch. 1 online edition
[edit] Editions
Bondanella, Peter, and Mark Musa, eds. The Portable Machiavelli (1979)
Penman, Bruce. The Prince and Other Political Writings, (1981)
Selected Political Writings edited by David Wootton (1994) excerpt and text search
The Prince ed. by Peter Bondanella (1998) 101pp online edition
The Prince ed. by Rufus Goodwin and Benjamin Martinez (2003) excerpt and text search
The Prince (2007) excerpt and text search
Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince, (1908 edition tr by W. K. Marriott) Gutenberg edition
The Discourses, online 1772 edition
The Discourses, tr. with introduction and notes by L. J. Walker (2 vol 1950).
The Discourses, edited with an introduction by Bernard Crick (1970).
The Seven Books on the Art of War online 1772 edition
The Art of War ed. by Christopher Lynch (2003)
The Art of War online 1775 edition
History of Florence online 1901 edition
Reform of Florence online 1772 edition
Gilbert, Allan H. ed. Machiavelli: The Chief Works and Others, (3 vol. 1965), the standard scholarly edition
The Private Correspondence of Nicolo Machiavelli, ed. by Orestes Ferrara; (1929) online edition
full text books from the Liberty Fund, a conservative think tank
[edit] External links
Find more about Niccolò Machiavelli on Wikipedia's sister projects:
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Machiavelli: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Works by Machiavelli at Project Gutenberg
Machiavelli at the Marxists Internet Archive, including some of his works
Works by Niccolò Machiavelli: text, concordances and frequency list
Machiavelli on the Net, a Machiavelli webliography with a short introduction.
Works of Machiavelli: Italian and English text
Machiavelli and Power Politics
Machiavelli on the Online Library Of Liberty
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an Italian philosopher/writer, and is considered one of the main founders of modern political science.[1] He was a diplomat, political philosopher, musician, and a playwright, but foremost, he was a civil servant of the Florentine Republic. In June of 1498, after the ouster and execution of Girolamo Savonarola, the Great Council elected Machiavelli as Secretary to the second Chancery of the Republic of Florence.[2]
Like Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli is considered a good example of the Renaissance Man. He is most famous for a short political treatise, The Prince, written in 1513, but not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. Although he privately circulated The Prince among friends, the only work he published in his lifetime was The Art of War, about high-military science. Since the sixteenth century, generations of politicians remain attracted and repelled by the cynical approach to power posited in The Prince and his other works.[3] Whatever his personal intentions, which are still debated today, his surname yielded the modern political word Machiavellianism—the use of cunning and deceitful tactics in politics.
Contents [hide]
1 Life
2 Works
2.1 The Prince
2.1.1 Realism
2.1.2 Satire?
2.1.3 "Machiavellian"
2.2 Discorsi
2.3 Other works
3 Revival of interest in the 19th and 20th centuries
4 Contributions to Political Philosophy
4.1 Realist or evil?
4.2 Thoughts on the State
4.3 Impact on America
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 Further reading
8.1 Specialized studies
8.1.1 Biographies
8.1.2 Political thought
8.1.3 Editions
9 External links
[edit] Life
Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy, the third son of attorney Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli, and his wife, Bartolomea di Stefano Nelli. The Machiavelli family are believed descended from the old marquesses of Tuscany, and to have produced thirteen Florentine Gonfalonieres of Justice.[4], one of the offices of a group of nine citizens selected by drawing lots every two months, who formed the government, or Signoria.
Statue at the UffiziMachiavelli was born in a tumultuous era—Popes waged war, and the wealthy Italian city-states might anytime fall, piecemeal, to foreign powers—France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire—and political-military alliances continually changed, featuring condottieri who changed sides without warning, and weeks-long governments rising and falling.[citation needed]
Rigorously trained to manhood by his father, Machiavelli was taught grammar, rhetoric and Latin. He did not learn Greek, even though Florence was at the time one of the centers of Greek scholarship in Europe. In 1494, he entered Florentine government service as a clerk and as an ambassador; later that year, Florence restored the republic—expelling the Medici family, who had ruled Florence for some sixty years. He was in a diplomatic council responsible for negotiation and military affairs, undertaking, between 1499 and 1512, diplomatic missions to the courts of Louis XII in France, Ferdinand II of Aragón, in Spain, and the Papacy in Rome, in Italy proper. Moreover, from 1502 to 1503, he witnessed the effective state-building methods of soldier-churchman Cesare Borgia (1475 – 1507), who was then enlarging his central Italian territories.
Between 1503 and 1506, Machiavelli was responsible for the Florentine militia, including the City’s defense. He distrusted mercenaries (cf. Discourses, The Prince), preferring a politically-invested citizen-militia, a philosophy that bore fruit—his command of Florentine citizen-soldiers defeated Pisa in 1509; yet, in August of 1512, the Medici, helped by Pope Julius II, used Spanish troops to defeat the Florentines at Prato; Piero Soderini resigned as Florentine head of state, and left in exile; then, the Florentine city-state and the Republic were dissolved. For his significant role in the republic's anti-Medici government, Niccolò Machiavelli was deposed from office, and, in 1513, was accused of conspiracy, and arrested. Despite torture "with the rope" (the prisoner is hanged from his bound wrists, from the back, forcing the arms to bear the body's weight, thus dislocating the shoulders), he denied involvement and was released; then, retiring to his estate, at Sant'Andrea in Percussina, near Florence, he wrote the political treatises that earned his intellectual place in the development of political philosophy and political conduct. [5]
Machiavelli's cenotaph in the Santa Croce Church in FlorenceIn a letter to Francesco Vettori, he described his exile:
When evening comes, I return home [from work and from the local tavern] and go to my study. On the threshold, I strip naked, taking off my muddy, sweaty work day clothes, and put on the robes of court and palace, and, in this graver dress, I enter the courts of the ancients, and am welcomed by them, and there I taste the food that alone is mine, and for which I was born. And there I make bold to speak to them and ask the motives of their actions, and they, in their humanity, reply to me. And for the space of four hours I forget the world, remember no vexation, fear poverty no more, tremble no more at death; I pass indeed into their world. [6]
As a writer, Machiavelli identified the unifying theme in The Prince and the Discorsi:
All cities that ever, at any time, have been ruled by an absolute prince, by aristocrats, or by the people, have had for their protection force combined with prudence, because the latter is not enough alone, and the first either does not produce things, or when they are produced, does not maintain them. Force and prudence, then, are the might of all the governments that ever have been or will be in the world. [7]
Machiavelli died in 1527. He was buried at the Church of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. An epitaph honouring him is inscribed in a small monument. The Latin legend reads: TANTO NOMINI NULLUM PAR ELOGIUM (No eulogy would be adequate to praise so great a name).
[edit] Works
See also: Category:Works by Niccolò Machiavelli
[edit] The Prince
Main article: The Prince
Bust of Machiavelli in the Palazzo Vecchio[edit] Realism
The Prince's contribution to the history of political thought is the fundamental break between political Realism and political Idealism. Niccolò Machiavelli’s best-known book exposits and describes the arts with which a ruling prince can maintain control of his realm. It concentrates on the "new prince", under the presumption that a hereditary prince has an easier task in ruling, since the people are accustomed to him. To retain power, the hereditary prince must carefully maintain the socio-political institutions to which the people are accustomed; whereas a new prince has the more difficult task in ruling, since he must first stabilize his new-found power in order to build an enduring political structure. That requires the prince being a public figure above reproach, whilst privately acting amorally to achieve State goals. The examples are those princes who most successfully obtain and maintain power, drawn from his observations as a Florentine diplomat, and his ancient history readings; thus, the Latin phrases and Classic examples.
The Prince does not dismiss morality, instead, it politically defines “Morality”—as in the criteria for acceptable cruel action—it must be decisive: swift, effective, and short-lived. Machiavelli is aware of the irony of good results coming from evil actions; notwithstanding some mitigating themes, the Catholic Church proscribed The Prince, registering it to the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, moreover, the Humanists also viewed the book negatively, among them, Erasmus of Rotterdam. As a treatise, its primary intellectual contribution to the history of political thought is the fundamental break between political Realism and political Idealism—thus, The Prince is a manual to acquiring and keeping political power. In contrast with Plato and Aristotle, a Classical ideal society is not the aim of the prince’s will to power. As a political scientist, Machiavelli emphasises necessary, methodical exercise of brute force punishment-and-reward (patronage, clientelism, et cetera) to preserve the status quo.
[edit] Satire?
As there seems to be a very large difference between Machiavelli's advice to ruthless and tyrannical princes in The Prince and his more republican exhortations in Discorsi, many have concluded that The Prince is actually only a satire. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, for instance, admired Machiavelli the republican and consequently argued that The Prince is a book for the republicans as it exposes the methods used by princes. If the book was only intended as a manual for tyrannical rulers, it contains a paradox: it would apparently be more effective if the secrets it contains would not be made publicly available. Also Antonio Gramsci argued that Machiavelli's audience was the common people because the rulers already knew these methods through their education. This interpretation is supported by the fact that Machiavelli wrote in Italian, not in Latin (which would have been the language of the ruling elite). Although Machiavelli is supposed to be a realist, many of his heroes in The Prince are in fact mythical or semi-mythical, and his goal (i.e. the unification of Italy) essentially utopian at the time of writing.
[edit] "Machiavellian"
Sixteenth-century contemporaries adopted and used the adjective Machiavellian (in the sense of devious cunning), often in the introductions of political tracts offering more than government by “Reasons of State”, most notably those of Jean Bodin and Giovanni Botero. Contemporary, pejorative usage of Machiavellian (or anti-Machiavellism in the 16th C.) is a misnomer describing someone who deceives and manipulates others for gain; (personal or not, the gain is immaterial, only action matters, insofar as it affects results). The Prince hasn’t the moderating themes of his other works; politically, “Machiavelli” denotes someone of politically-extreme perspective;[8] however Machiavellianism remains a popular speech and journalism usage; while in psychology, it denotes a personality type.
[edit] Discorsi
Main article: Discourses on Livy
Sebastiano del Piombo,1516,"Cardinal Bandinello Sauli, His Secretary, and Two Geographers." Which is often mistaken for Machiavelli (center right) depicted: (left-right) Cesare Borgia, Pedro Luis de Borja Lanzol de Romaní, and Don Micheletto CorellaThe Discourse on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy comprises the early history of Rome. It is a series of lessons on how a republic should be started and structured, including the concept of checks and balances, the strength of a tri-partite political structure, and the superiority of a republic over a principality.
From The Discourses:
“In fact, when there is combined under the same constitution a prince, a nobility, and the power of the people, then these three powers will watch and keep each other reciprocally in check”. Book I, Chapter II
“Doubtless these means [of attaining power] are cruel and destructive of all civilized life, and neither Christian, nor even human, and should be avoided by every one. In fact, the life of a private citizen would be preferable to that of a king at the expense of the ruin of so many human beings”. Book I, Chapter XXVI
“Now, in a well-ordered republic, it should never be necessary to resort to extra-constitutional measures. . . . ” Book I, Chapter XXXIV
“. . . the governments of the people are better than those of princes”. Book I, Chapter LVIII
“. . . if we compare the faults of a people with those of princes, as well as their respective good qualities, we shall find the people vastly superior in all that is good and glorious”. Book I, Chapter LVIII
“For government consists mainly in so keeping your subjects that they shall be neither able, nor disposed to injure you. . . . ” Book II, Chapter XXIII
“. . . no prince is ever benefited by making himself hated”. Book III, Chapter XIX
“Let not princes complain of the faults committed by the people subjected to their authority, for they result entirely from their own negligence or bad example”. Book III, Chapter XXIX [9]
[edit] Other works
Peter Withorne’s 1573 translation of the Art of WarBesides being a statesman and political scientist, Machiavelli also translated classical works, and was a dramaturge (Clizia, Mandragola), a poet (Sonetti, Canzoni, Ottave, Canti carnascialeschi), and a novelist (Belfagor arcidiavolo).
Some of his other works:
Discorso sopra le cose di Pisa (1499)
Del modo di trattare i popoli della Valdichiana ribellati (1502)
Del modo tenuto dal duca Valentino nell’ ammazzare Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, etc. (1502) — A Description of the Methods Adopted by the Duke Valentino when Murdering Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, the Signor Pagolo, and the Duke di Gravina Orsini
Discorso sopra la provisione del danaro (1502) — A discourse about the provision of money.
Decennale primo (1506), a poem in terza rima.
Ritratti delle cose dell’ Alemagna (1508–1512) - Portrait of the affairs of Germany.
Decennale secondo (1509), a poem.
Ritratti delle cose di Francia (1510) — Portrait of the affairs of France.
Andria (1517), a Classical comedy, translated from Terence.
Mandragola (1518) — The Mandrake, a five-act prose comedy, with a verse prologue.
Della lingua (1514), a dialogue about the language.
Clizia (1525), a prose comedy.
Belfagor arcidiavolo (1515), a novel.
Asino d’oro (1517) — The Golden Ass is a terza rima poem, a new version of the Classic work by Apuleius.
Dell’arte della guerra (1519–1520) — The Art of War, high military science.
Discorso sopra il riformare lo stato di Firenze (1520) — A discourse about the reforming of Florence.
Sommario delle cose della citta di Lucca (1520) — A summary of the affairs of the city of Lucca.
Vita di Castruccio Castracani da Lucca (1520) — The Life of Castruccio Castracani of Lucca, a biography.
Istorie fiorentine (1520–1525) — Florentine Histories, an eight-volume history book of the city-state, Florence, commissioned by Giulio di Giuliano de’ Medici, later Pope Clement VII.
Frammenti storici (1525) — Fragments of stories.
[edit] Revival of interest in the 19th and 20th centuries
Despite remaining a politically-influential writer in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was the 19th and 20th centuries that rediscovered his political science for its intellectual and practical applications. The most reliable guide to this renewed interest is the Introduction to the 1953 (Mentor Books) edition of Il Principe, wherein Christian Gauss, the Dean of Princeton University, discusses, with pertinent historical context, the commentaries on The Prince made by the German historians Ranke (19th c.) and Meineke (20th c.), the Briton Lord Acton, and others. Citing the consensus that Machiavelli was the first political theorist with a practical, scientific approach to statecraft, considering him “the first Modern Man”. The commentators view the political scientist Machiavelli positively—because he viewed the world realistically, thus, such statecraft leads to (generally) constructive results.
In the 20th century there was also renewed interest in Machiavelli's La Mandragola (1518), which received numerous stagings, including several in New York, at the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1976 and the Riverside Shakespeare Company in 1979, and at London's National Theatre in 1984.[10]
[edit] Contributions to Political Philosophy
Machiavelli was in many respects not an innovator. His largest political work seeks to bring back a rebirth of the Ancient Roman Republic; its values, virtues and principles the ultimate guiding authority of his political vision. Machiavelli is essentially a restorer of something old and forgotten. The republicanism he focused on, especially the theme of civic virtue, became one of the dominant political themes of the modern world, and was a central part of the foundation of American political values.
Machiavelli studied the way people lived and aimed to inform leaders how they should rule and even how they themselves should live. To an extent he admits that the old tradition was true - men are obliged to live virtuously as according to Aristotles Virtue Ethics principle. However, he denies that living virtuously necessarily leads to happiness. Machiavelli viewed misery as one of the vices that enables a prince to rule [11] Machiavelli states boldly in The Prince, The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved. [12] In much of Machiavelli's work, it seems that the ruler must adopt unsavory policies for the sake of the continuance of his regime.
Hans Baron was the most influential scholar to study Machiavelli. Najemy (1996) examines Baron's ambivalent portrayal, arguing that Baron tended to see Machiavelli simultaneously as the cynical debunker and the faithful heir of civic humanism. By the mid-1950s, Baron had come to consider civic humanism and Florentine republicanism as early chapters of a much longer history of European political liberty, a story in which Machiavelli and his generation played a crucial role. This conclusion led Baron to modify his earlier negative view of Machiavelli. He tried to bring the Florentine theorist under the umbrella of civic humanism by underscoring the radical differences between The Prince and the Discourses and thus revealing the fundamentally republican character of the Discourses. However, Baron's inability to come to terms with Machiavelli's harsh criticism of early 15th-century commentators such as Leonardo Bruni ultimately prevented him from fully reconciling Machiavelli with civic humanism.
Pocock (1981) traces the Machiavellian belief in and emphasis upon Greco-Roman ideals of unspecialized civic virtue and liberty from 15th-century Florence through 17th-century England and Scotland to 18th-century America. Thinkers who shared these ideals tended to believe that the function of property was to maintain an individual's independence as a precondition of his virtue. Consequently, in the last two times and places mentioned above, they were disposed to attack the new commercial and financial regime that was beginning to develop. However, Paul Rahe (1992) takes issue with Pocock on the origins and argues Machiavelli's republicanism was not rooted in antiquity but was is entirely novel and modern. Scholars have argued that James Madison followed Machiavelli's republicanism when he (and Jefferson) set up the Democratic-Republican Party in the 1790s to oppose what they saw as the emerging aristocracy that they feared Alexander Hamilton was creating with the Federalist Party.[13] Conservative historians likewise conclude that Thomas Jefferson's republicanism was "deeply in debt" to Machiavelli, whom he praised.[14]
[edit] Realist or evil?
For four centuries scholars have debated whether Machiavelli was the theorist of evil or just being realistic. The Prince made the word "Machiavellian" a byword for deceit, despotism, and political manipulation. Some historians argue Machiavelli had a secret (or very subtle) message that explains away the ugly implications of the plain text, saying that Machiavelli really favored virtue after all and was just trying to trick princes into policies that would lead to their overthrow, not their triumph.[15]
Leo Strauss, the American political philosopher, declared himself more inclined toward the traditional view that Machiavelli was a "teacher of evil," since he counsels the princes to avoid the values of justice, mercy, temperance, wisdom, and love of their people in preference to the use of cruelty, violence, fear, and deception.[16] Italian anti-fascist philosopher Benedetto Croce (1925) concludes Machiavelli is simply a "realist" or "pragmatist" who accurately states that moral values in reality do not greatly affect the decisions that political leaders make.[17] German philosopher Ernst Cassirer (1946) held that Machiavelli simply adopts the stance of a political scientist—a Galileo of politics—in distinguishing between the "facts" of political life and the "values" of moral judgment.[18]
[edit] Thoughts on the State
Machiavelli was not a political philosopher in the ordinary sense. He did not try either to define the State or to justify its existence. His views about the State are implied as matter of course when he describes how a ruler may retain or acquire control, how he is liable to lose it, which qualities are necessary for a republic to remain strong, or how precarious a Republic’s liberty can be at times. Medieval thinkers had taken the political authority of any prince or king in the community of Christendom to be necessarily limited – by the Emperor (In the case of the Holy Roman Empire), by the power of the Roman Catholic Church in spiritual matters and by the power of natural law (Universal moral principles) that determine the boundaries of justice. Machiavelli did not challenge this long held traditional position. He ignored it, writing as a matter of fact that the state had absolute authority. He thought that the value of religion lies in its contribution to social order and the rules of morality must be dispensed with if security required it.
Machiavelli further differed from medieval thinkers in taking for granted that the power of the state is a single whole and can be centrally controlled, irrespective of whether the state is a monarchy or a republic. He preferred a republic because he preferred liberty. However, he believed that in order for the liberty of republicanism to function, it needed a citizenry who were independent and courageous (Virtuous). Machiavelli believed these qualities were rare and existed hardly anywhere in the Europe of his day since the Romans.
[edit] Impact on America
The Founding Fathers read Machiavelli closely. In his Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States, Adams praised Machiavelli, with Algernon Sidney and Montesquieu, as a philosophic defender of mixed government. For Adams, Machiavelli restored empirical reason to politics, while his analysis of factions was commendable. Adams likewise agreed with the Florentine that human nature was immutable and driven by passions. He also accepted Machiavelli's belief that all societies were subject to cyclical periods of growth and decay. For Adams, Machiavelli lacked only a clear understanding of the institutions necessary for good government.[19]
[edit] See also
Timeline of Niccolò Machiavelli
[edit] Notes
^ Moschovitis Group Inc, Christian D. Von Dehsen and Scott L. Harris, Philosophers and religious leaders, (The Oryx Press, 1999), 117.
^ White, Michael (2007). Machiavelli, A Man Misunderstood. Abacus.. ISBN 978-0-349-11599-3.
^ S. Anglo, Machiavelli: the first century (Oxford, 2005)
^ "Niccolò Machiavelli". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli.
^ Donna, Daniel, in the introduction to the Bantam Classic edition of The Prince, Bantam, 1966
^ The Literary Works of Machiavelli, trans. J.R. Hale. (Oxford: 1961), p. 139 D.
^ "Words to be Spoken on the Law for Appropriating Money", in Chief Works and Others [of Machiavelli], trans. Allan H. Gilbert, 3 vols. (Durham, NC: Duke Univ. Press, 1965), v. III, 1439.
^ In one scholar's assessment, mistakenly so. Writes Anthony Parel: "The authentic Machiavelli is one who subordinates personal interests for the common good . . . If one is to speak of a Machiavellian personality one should mention Moses and Romulus (to use [M's] own examples)." For more on the three sources of historical anti-Machiavellism, see Further Reading, Parel, pp. 14-24, and (in far greater detail): Sydney Anglo, Machiavelli - the First Century: Studies in Enthusiasm, Hostility, and Irrelevance, Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0199267766, 9780199267767.
^ The Modern Library, New York, 1950, translated by Christian E. Detmold.
^ Review by Jann Racquoi, Heights/Inwood Press of North Manhattan, March 14, 1979.
^ Leo Strauss, Joseph Cropsey, History of Political Philosophy (1987) p. 300
^ Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, p. 60
^ Gary Rosen in Rahe, ed. Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy (2005) p. 231 online
^ Rahe, Jefferson's Machiavellian Political Science in Rahe, ed. Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy (2005) p. 209 online
^ John Langton and Mary G. Deitz, "Machiavelli's Paradox: Trapping or Teaching the Prince" The American Political Science Review, Vol. 81, No. 4 (Dec., 1987), pp. 1277-1288 at JSTOR
^ Leo Strauss, Thoughts on Machiavelli (1957), p 9 online
^ Benedetto Croce, My Philosophy (1949), p. 142 online
^ Ernst Cassirer, The Myth of the State, (1946) p.136, online
^ C. Bradley Thompson, "John Adams's Machiavellian Moment," Review of Politics 1995 57(3): 389-417, in EBSCO
[edit] References
Machiavelli, Niccolò (1531). The Discourses. Translated by Leslie J. Walker, S.J, revisions by Brian Richardson (2003). London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-140-44428-9
[edit] Further reading
Anglo, Sydney, Machiavelli - the First Century: Studies in Enthusiasm, Hostility, and Irrelevance, Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0199267766, 9780199267767
Baron, Hans (1961). "Machiavelli: the Republican Citizen and Author of The Prince". English Historical Review lxxvi (76): 217–253. doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXVI.CCXCIX.217.
Bock, Gisela; Quentin Skinner and Maurizio Viroli, ed. (1990). Machiavelli and Republicanism. Cambridge University Press.
Constantine, Peter (2007). The Essential Writings of Machiavelli. New York: Random House Modern Library.
Donaldson, Peter S. (1989). Machiavelli and Mystery of State. Cambridge University Press.
Everdell, William R. (1983, 2000). The End of Kings: A History of Republics and Republicans. University of Chicago Press.
Hoeges, Dirk. Niccolò Machiavelli. Dichter-Poeta. Mit sämtlichen Gedichten, deutsch/italienisch. Con tutte le poesie, tedesco/italiano, Reihe: Dialoghi/Dialogues: Literatur und Kultur Italiens und Frankreichs, Band 10, Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt/M. u.a. 2006, ISBN 3-631-54669-6.
Ingersoll, David E. (December 1968). "The Constant Prince: Private Interests and Public Goals in Machiavelli". Western Political Quarterly (21): 588–596.
Magee, Brian (2001). The Story of Philosophy. New York: DK Publishing. pp. 72–73.
Marriott, W. K. (2008). The Prince. Red and Black Publishers. ISBN 978-0-934941-003
Roger Masters (1996). Machiavelli, Leonardo and the Science of Power. University of Notre Dame Press. ISBN 0-268-01433-7. See also NYT book review.
Roger Masters (1998). Fortune is a River: Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli's Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of Florentine History. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-452-28090-7. Also available in Chinese (ISBN 9789572026113), Japanese (ISBN 9784022597588), German (ISBN 9783471794029), Portuguese (ISBN 9788571104969), and Korean (ISBN 9788984070059). See also NYT book review.
Mattingly, Garrett (Autumn 1958). "Machiavelli's Prince: Political Science or Political Satire?". The American Scholar (27): 482–491.
Najemy, John M. (1996). "Baron's Machiavelli and Renaissance Republicanism". American Historical Review 101 (101,1): 119–129. doi:10.2307/2169227.
Parel, Anthony (1972). "Introduction: Machiavelli's Method and His Interpreters". The Political Calculus: Essays on Machiavelli's Philosophy. Toronto. pp. 3–28.
Pocock, J.G. A.. The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition. Princeton.
Soll, Jacob (2005). Publishing The Prince: History, Reading and the Birth of Political Criticism. University of Michigan Press.
Strauss, Leo (1978). Thoughts on Machiavelli. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226777022.
Sullivan, Vickie B., ed. (2000). The Comedy and Tragedy of Machiavelli: Essays on the Literary Works. Yale U. Press.
Sullivan, Vickie B. (1996). Machiavelli's Three Romes: Religion, Human Liberty, and Politics Reformed. Northern Illinois University Press.
Seung, T. K. (1993). Intuition and Construction: The Foundation of Normative Theory, New Haven: Yale University Press. See pp. 133–43.
Stefano Zen, Veritas ecclesiastica e Machiavelli, in Monarchia della verità. Modelli culturali e pedagogia della Controriforma, Napoli, Vivarium, 2002 (La Ricerca Umanistica, 4), pp. 73–111.
von Vacano, Diego, "The Art of Power: Machiavelli, Nietzsche and the Making of Aesthetic Political Theory," Lanham MD: Lexington: 2007.
Viroli, Maurizio (2000). Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli. Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Whelan, Frederick G. (2004). Hume and Machiavelli: Political Realism and Liberal Thought. Lexington.
Wootton, David, ed. (1994). Selected political writings of Niccolò Machiavelli. Indianapolis: Hackett Pubs..
Mascia Ferri, L'opinione pubblica e il sovrano in Machiavelli, in «The Lab's Quarterly»,n.2 aprile-giugno,Università di Pisa,2008, pp. 420–433.
Giuseppe Leone,"Silone e Machiavelli: una scuola... che non crea prìncipi", Prefazione di Vittoriano Esposito, Centro Studi Ignazio Silone, Pescina, 2003.
[edit] Specialized studies
[edit] Biographies
Burd, L. A., "Florence (II): Machiavelli" in Cambridge Modern History (1902), vol. I, ch. vi. pp 190-218 online Google edition
de Grazia, Sebastian. Machiavelli in Hell (1989), highly favorable intellectual biography; won the Pulitzer Prize; excerpt and text search
Hale, J. R. Machiavelli and Renaissance Italy (1961) online edition
Hulliung, Mark. Citizen Machiavelli (1983)
Ridolfi, Roberto. The Life of Niccolò Machiavelli (1963), a standard scholarly biography
Schevill, Ferdinand. Six Historians (1956), pp. 61-91
Skinner, Quentin. Machiavelli: A Very Short Introduction (2000) online edition
Villari, Pasquale. The Life and Times of Niccolò Machiavelli (2 vol 1892), good older biography; online Google edition vol 1; online Google edition vol 2
Viroli, Maurizio. Niccolo's Smile : A Biography of Machiavelli (2000) excerpt and text search
Viroli, Maurizio. Machiavelli (1998) online edition, good place to start
[edit] Political thought
Arciniegas, Germán. "Savonarola, Machiavelli, and Guido Antonio Vespucci: Totalitarian and Democrat 500 Years Ago," Political Science Quarterly, (1954) 69:184-201, argues that modern totalitarianism is a blending of Machiavelli's theories and Savonarola's techniques of rabble rousing. in JSTOR
Ball, Terence. "The Picaresque Prince: Reflections on Machiavelli and Moral Change," Political Theory, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Nov., 1984), pp. 521-536 in jstor
Baron, Hans. The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance: Civic Humanism and Republican Liberty in an Age of Classicism and Tyranny (2 vol 1955), highly influential, deep study of civic humanism (republicanism); 700 pp. excerpts and text search; ACLS E-books; also vol 2 in ACLS E-books
Baron, Hans. In Search of Florentine Civic Humanism (2 vols. 1988).
Baron Hans, "Machiavelli: The Republican Citizen and the Author of The Prince" in The English Historical Review 76 (1961), pp. 217-53. in JSTOR
Bock, Gisela; Skinner, Quentin; and Viroli, Maurizio, ed. Machiavelli and Republicanism. (1990). 316 pp. excerpt and text search
Butterfield, Herbert. The Statecraft of Machiavelli (1940).
Chabod, FedericoMachiavelli & the Renaissance (1958) online edition; online from ACLS E-Books
Colish, Marcia L. "Republicanism, Religion, and Machiavelli's Savonarolan Moment," Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 60, No. 4 (Oct., 1999), pp. 597-616 in JSTOR
Colish, Marcia L. "Machiavelli's Art of War: A Reconsideration," Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 4 (Winter, 1998), pp. 1151-1168 in JSTOR
Fischer, Markus. "Machiavelli's Political Psychology," The Review of Politics, Vol. 59, No. 4 (Autumn, 1997), pp. 789-829 in JSTOR
Gilbert, Felix. Machiavelli and Guicciardini: Politics and History in Sixteenth-Century Italy (2nd ed. 1984) online from ACLS-E-books
Gilbert, Felix. "Machiavelli: The Renaissance of the Art of War," in Edward Mead Earle, ed. The Makers of Modern Strategy (1944)
Jensen, De Lamar, ed. Machiavelli: Cynic, Patriot, or Political Scientist? (1960) essays by scholars online edition
Lukes, Timothy J. "Lionizing Machiavelli," The American Political Science Review, Vol. 95, No. 3 (Sep., 2001), pp. 561-575 in JSTOR
Lukes, Timothy J. "Martialing Machiavelli: Reassessing the Military Reflections," The Journal of Politics, Vol. 66, No. 4 (Nov., 2004), pp. 1089-1108 in JSTOR
Femia, Joseph V. Machiavelli Revisited (2004) online edition, 140pp, good place to start
McCormick, John P. "Machiavelli against Republicanism: On the Cambridge School's 'Guicciardinian Moments,'" Political Theory, Vol. 31, No. 5 (Oct., 2003), pp. 615-643 in JSTOR
Mansfield, Harvey C. Machiavelli's New Modes and Orders: A Study of the Discourses on Livy (2001) excerpt and text search
Mansfield, Harvey C. Machiavelli's Virtue (1996), 371pp
Mansfield, Harvey C. "Machiavelli's Political Science," The American Political Science Review, Vol. 75, No. 2 (Jun., 1981), pp. 293-305 in JSTOR
Mindle, Grant B. "Machiavelli's Realism," The Review of Politics, Vol. 47, No. 2 (Apr., 1985), pp. 212-230 in JSTOR
Najemy, John M. "Baron's Machiavelli and Renaissance Republicanism." American Historical Review 1996 101(1): 119-129. ISSN 0002-8762 Fulltext in Jstor.
Nederman, Cary J. "Amazing Grace: Fortune, God, and Free Will in Machiavelli's Thought," Journal of the History of Ideas 60: 617-638. in JSTOR
Parel, A. J. "The Question of Machiavelli's Modernity," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Spring, 1991), pp. 320-339 in JSTOR
Pellerin, Daniel. "Machiavelli's Best Fiend." History of Political Thought 2006 27(3): 423-453. Issn: 0143-781x on Pope Alexander VI
Pocock, J.G.A. The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition (1975; new ed. 2003), a highly influential study of Discourses and its vast influence; excerpt and text search; also online 1975 edition
Pocock, J. G. A. "The Machiavellian Moment Revisited: a Study in History and Ideology.: Journal of Modern History 1981 53(1): 49-72. Fulltext: in Jstor.
Rahe, Paul A. Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy (2005) excerpt, reviews and text search, shows Machiavelli's Discourses had a major impact on shaping conservative thought.
Rahe, Paul. Republics Ancient and Modern: Classical Republicanism and the American Revolution, (1992) online edition
Scott, John T. and Vickie B. Sullivan, "Patricide and the Plot of the Prince: Cesare Borgia and Machiavelli's Italy." American Political Science Review 1994 88(4): 887-900. Issn: 0003-0554 in Jstor
Skinner, Quentin. The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, v. I, The Renaissance, (1978)
Strauss, Leo. On Machivelli (1957)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Niccolò Machiavelli (2005) online edition
Struever, Nancy S. The Language of History in the Renaissance: Rhetoric and Historical Consciousness in Florentine Humanism (1970)
Wight, Martin. Four Seminal Thinkers in International Theory: Machiavelli, Grotius, Kant, and Mazzini (2005), ch. 1 online edition
[edit] Editions
Bondanella, Peter, and Mark Musa, eds. The Portable Machiavelli (1979)
Penman, Bruce. The Prince and Other Political Writings, (1981)
Selected Political Writings edited by David Wootton (1994) excerpt and text search
The Prince ed. by Peter Bondanella (1998) 101pp online edition
The Prince ed. by Rufus Goodwin and Benjamin Martinez (2003) excerpt and text search
The Prince (2007) excerpt and text search
Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince, (1908 edition tr by W. K. Marriott) Gutenberg edition
The Discourses, online 1772 edition
The Discourses, tr. with introduction and notes by L. J. Walker (2 vol 1950).
The Discourses, edited with an introduction by Bernard Crick (1970).
The Seven Books on the Art of War online 1772 edition
The Art of War ed. by Christopher Lynch (2003)
The Art of War online 1775 edition
History of Florence online 1901 edition
Reform of Florence online 1772 edition
Gilbert, Allan H. ed. Machiavelli: The Chief Works and Others, (3 vol. 1965), the standard scholarly edition
The Private Correspondence of Nicolo Machiavelli, ed. by Orestes Ferrara; (1929) online edition
full text books from the Liberty Fund, a conservative think tank
[edit] External links
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Learning resources from Wikiversity
Machiavelli: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Works by Machiavelli at Project Gutenberg
Machiavelli at the Marxists Internet Archive, including some of his works
Works by Niccolò Machiavelli: text, concordances and frequency list
Machiavelli on the Net, a Machiavelli webliography with a short introduction.
Works of Machiavelli: Italian and English text
Machiavelli and Power Politics
Machiavelli on the Online Library Of Liberty
Thursday, March 11, 2010
In Haiti, Signal FM staff keeps station running
By Jean Roland Chery/CPJ Haiti consultant
In the studios of Signal FM this week. (AP/Ariana Cubillos) Signal FM is the only Haitian radio station to continuously broadcast during and after the powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake that ravaged the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas on January 12. Signal’s online news service kept operating as well. The station’s equipment, located in Petionville (east of Port-au-Prince) remained in service, withstanding, remarkably, tremors to the building and broadcasting aerials. But the true credit goes to the station’s staff members, who made extraordinary efforts and great sacrifices to inform the public during a period of chaos, the station’s managing director, Mario Viau, told CPJ.
• Français
• How to help
In an interview with us on Wednesday, Viau recounted the professionalism of his staffers and their commitment to fulfilling their duties. The station’s 12 staff journalists are working extended shifts, he said, to ensure continuous operations at 90.5 FM. Although his team suffered no direct casualties, he noted that Signal FM staffers and their families suffered greatly, as did most of the Haitian population. He cited the case of reporter Makenzie Simon, whose daughter was killed and wife seriously injured following the collapse of their home. Veteran reporter Jean Luckenson also lost close family members.
Viau reported a number of significant challenges in operating the station: a shortage of gasoline for the movement of vehicles taking reporters across affected areas, poor phone lines hindering telephone interviews from the station’s studios, the lack of electric power or a fuel supply for generators, and difficult access to bank accounts to pay journalists. In addition, the daily search for food and drinking water for the staff has been a struggle to manage because supermarkets and restaurants were destroyed. Viau stressed that people of goodwill on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince showed great generosity to the station by supplying gasoline for news broadcasting.
In addition, contact with correspondents in provincial cities most affected by the earthquake, such as Leogane, Petit-Goave, Grand Goave ou Jacmel, remains difficult. It is easier to communicate with the outside world from an international line placed directly in the newsroom, Viau noted. Phone contact between journalists in the metropolitan area is still poor.
Signal FM played a considerable role during and after the January earthquake, serving as a primary conduit between victims and relief services and between victims themselves, the station’s director said. In the midst of personal loss and faced with the demands of rebuilding their own lives, Viau said, his staff members have met a great professional challenge.
Jean Roland Chery is a former Haitian journalist now living in the United States. He is working with CPJ as a consultant for our relief efforts in response to the Haitian earthquake.
Editor’s Note: If you have any information on journalists and media outlets in Haiti please post a comment below or notify us via e-mail msalazar@cpj.org, or Twitter: @HelpJournalists. We are collecting funds that will go directly to Haitian journalists. If you’d like to make a contribution, please click this link and enter “Haiti” in the “Notes” section on the second page.
Signal FM : exemple de Solidarité dans la détresse
Radio Signal FM (90.5 FM), a été la seule station de radio émettant en Haïti durant le puissant séisme de magnitude 7.0 qui a complètement ravagé la capitale haïtienne le mardi 12 janvier 2010. Les équipements de cette radio, située à Pétionville (à l’Est de Port-au-Prince), sont restés intacts en dépit des différentes secousses subies par le bâtiment et les antennes de retransmission. Son service d’information sur internet et sa programmation quotidienne ont fonctionné sans interruption.
Mario Viau, le directeur générale de la radio explique au CPJ combien extraordinaires sont les efforts et les sacrifices déployés par les journalistes en cette période de chaos pour arriver à informer la population. Une forme de solidarité dans la détresse s’est constituée, précise-t-il, dans de le souci du devoir d’informer. Le volontariat de ces journalistes dépasse largement toute autre préoccupation personnelle.
Mario Viau indique qu’aucune perte en vie humaine n’a été enregistrée dans son équipe. Cependant, souligne-t-il, la majorité des journalistes de Signal FM ont été victimes, comme d’ailleurs le reste de la population, des effets monstrueux du tremblement de terre. Il cite en exemple le cas du reporter Makenzie Simon dont la fille a été tuée et la femme gravement blessée suite à l’effondrement de leur maison. Il mentionne également les cas de certains journalistes qui ont perdu des membres important dans leur famille comme c’est le cas du reporter de longue date Jean Luckenson.
Le PDG ( président directeur général) de Signal FM fait état aujourd’hui de nombreuses difficultés rencontrées pour faire fonctionner la station: pénurie de gasoline pour la circulation des véhicules des reporters à travers les zones sinistrées, lignes téléphoniques défectueuses, l’utilisation de mobiles pour les entretiens téléphoniques directs en studio, la carence totale d’énergie électrique, l’alimentation en fuel pour les groupes électrogènes alternatifs, et l’inaccessibilité aux comptes bancaires pour le paiement des journalistes pour ne citer que cela. En outre, La quête quotidienne de nourriture et l’accès à l’eau potable pour les journalistes en plein travail, constituent de véritables casse-tête à gérer du fait que les supermarchés et les restaurants ont été complètement détruits. Mario Viau poursuit que des gens de bonne volonté dans les environs de Port-au-Prince, ont manifesté des gestes de générosité envers la radio en fournissant du gasoline pour la retransmission des nouvelles.
Depuis le désastre du 12 janvier, Signal FM travaille avec une équipe réduite, dit-il. Les journalistes font la ronde dans le cadre d’un nouvel horaire de travail. Leur staff d’une dizaine de journalistes à Port-au-Prince passe aujourd’hui entre trois et cinq pour un maintien minimum de la salle de rédaction. Le contact avec les correspondants des villes de provinces les plus touchées par le séisme, comme Leogane, Petit-Goave, Grand Goave ou Jacmel demeure toujours difficile. Il est plus facile de communiquer avec l’extérieur à partir d’une ligne internationale directe disposée dans la sale des nouvelles. Les contacts téléphoniques entre journalistes à l’intérieur de la zone métropolitaine sont encore en mauvais état, rapporte Mario Viau au CPJ.
Signal FM a joué un rôle important durant le séisme du 12 janvier pour avoir été le point de jonction entre victimes et secours, entre victimes et victimes, soutient le directeur de la radio. Des appels provenaient surtout de l’extérieur pour s’enquérir du cas de personnes disparues. Le directeur de Signal FM déclaré qu’aujourd’hui, les journalistes des zones touchées par le séisme ont un grand défi devant eux, celui de refaire leur vie après avoir tout perdu.
Note du rédacteur: Si vous avez de l’information sur des journalistes ou des médias haïtiens, nous vous prions de poster un commentaire ci-dessous, ou de nous contacter directement à travers msalazar@cpj.org ou sur Twitter à @HelpJournalists. Nous sommes en train de rassembler des fonds de secours qui iront directement aux journalistes haïtiens. Si vous voudriez faire un don, faites clic ici et inscrivez “Haiti” dans la case “Notes” qui se trouve sur la deuxième page (veuillez noter que le document est en anglais).
Categories:Americas,
Haiti
Tags:Haitian earthquake, Journalist Assistance, Mario Viau, Signal FM
January 21, 2010 11:33 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Comments
By petunia on January 21, 2010 2:10 PM ET
Au Staff the Signal FM et au Proprietaire de la Station,
Milles merci pour le devouement deployer pour nous, les Haitians qui sont a l'exterieur, afin de nous parvenir les nouvelles D'Haiti apres le tremblement de terre du 12 Janvier 2010 malgre les deboires de certain membres du staff. Le pays entier est en deuil car la peine d'une personne nous affecte tous.
Encore milles merci et mes felicitations pour un travail bien fait.
Je profite de l'occasion pour demander votre concourt pour les haitians qui sont a Carrefour Feuille, Nerrette, Lamentin, Fontamarra et bien d'autres dans le meme voisinage qui se plaint n'avoir pas d'eau, ni nourriture, ni argent. J'ai un ami qui est a Nerrette qui m'a envoye un e-mail pour me dire que le jour qu'il a plue il etait dans la rue avec son fils, sans abri et sans eau. S'Il vout plait envoye un S.O.S a la radio pour ses quartiers.
Que Dieu vous garde tous ainsi que votre famille. J'espere que la prochaine fois que je vous enverre un message, Haiti et tous les Haitiens qui sont dans le besoin aurant recu au moins le neccessaire.
Mon message vient de Manhattan New York.
Merci
Petunia
By Geneviève on January 22, 2010 2:56 PM ET
Étant moi-même présente la-bas lors du séisme, j'ai eu la chance d'être rapatrié car je suis canadienne de souche. Les villes tel que Grand Goâve non plus ne reçoivent pas d'aide. Je sais qu'il est difficile en ces circonstances d'aider tout le monde mais nous devons penser à ceux qui sont plus difficilement atteignable. Ils commencent à mourir de faim et de désydratation là-bas.
Nous avons une personne ressource qui nous renseigne. Ils ne peuvnt plus tenir longtemps sans coup de main.
Merci
Genevièe
By Mehu Changeux on January 24, 2010 9:07 PM ET
mwen te tande komante nou yo, mwen te renmen yo, men gen yon bagay map konseye gouvernement an, eske yo pa te ka voye ed yo pa depatmant, d'une fason depatment an a genyen poul distribue bay ville yo e ville yo bay komin yo, avek yon sipevision societe civil la. mwen se Changeux Mehu responsable A.P.C.H kap koute nou Saint Domingue, genbe la se yon bel travay nap fe la.
By B Manning on January 31, 2010 5:41 PM ET
I commend all of you for your courage and dedication in the midst of so much danger as well as chaos. Thank you for being the journalists that you are, but most of all, thank God for the outstanding human beings that you all are.
In the studios of Signal FM this week. (AP/Ariana Cubillos) Signal FM is the only Haitian radio station to continuously broadcast during and after the powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake that ravaged the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas on January 12. Signal’s online news service kept operating as well. The station’s equipment, located in Petionville (east of Port-au-Prince) remained in service, withstanding, remarkably, tremors to the building and broadcasting aerials. But the true credit goes to the station’s staff members, who made extraordinary efforts and great sacrifices to inform the public during a period of chaos, the station’s managing director, Mario Viau, told CPJ.
• Français
• How to help
In an interview with us on Wednesday, Viau recounted the professionalism of his staffers and their commitment to fulfilling their duties. The station’s 12 staff journalists are working extended shifts, he said, to ensure continuous operations at 90.5 FM. Although his team suffered no direct casualties, he noted that Signal FM staffers and their families suffered greatly, as did most of the Haitian population. He cited the case of reporter Makenzie Simon, whose daughter was killed and wife seriously injured following the collapse of their home. Veteran reporter Jean Luckenson also lost close family members.
Viau reported a number of significant challenges in operating the station: a shortage of gasoline for the movement of vehicles taking reporters across affected areas, poor phone lines hindering telephone interviews from the station’s studios, the lack of electric power or a fuel supply for generators, and difficult access to bank accounts to pay journalists. In addition, the daily search for food and drinking water for the staff has been a struggle to manage because supermarkets and restaurants were destroyed. Viau stressed that people of goodwill on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince showed great generosity to the station by supplying gasoline for news broadcasting.
In addition, contact with correspondents in provincial cities most affected by the earthquake, such as Leogane, Petit-Goave, Grand Goave ou Jacmel, remains difficult. It is easier to communicate with the outside world from an international line placed directly in the newsroom, Viau noted. Phone contact between journalists in the metropolitan area is still poor.
Signal FM played a considerable role during and after the January earthquake, serving as a primary conduit between victims and relief services and between victims themselves, the station’s director said. In the midst of personal loss and faced with the demands of rebuilding their own lives, Viau said, his staff members have met a great professional challenge.
Jean Roland Chery is a former Haitian journalist now living in the United States. He is working with CPJ as a consultant for our relief efforts in response to the Haitian earthquake.
Editor’s Note: If you have any information on journalists and media outlets in Haiti please post a comment below or notify us via e-mail msalazar@cpj.org, or Twitter: @HelpJournalists. We are collecting funds that will go directly to Haitian journalists. If you’d like to make a contribution, please click this link and enter “Haiti” in the “Notes” section on the second page.
Signal FM : exemple de Solidarité dans la détresse
Radio Signal FM (90.5 FM), a été la seule station de radio émettant en Haïti durant le puissant séisme de magnitude 7.0 qui a complètement ravagé la capitale haïtienne le mardi 12 janvier 2010. Les équipements de cette radio, située à Pétionville (à l’Est de Port-au-Prince), sont restés intacts en dépit des différentes secousses subies par le bâtiment et les antennes de retransmission. Son service d’information sur internet et sa programmation quotidienne ont fonctionné sans interruption.
Mario Viau, le directeur générale de la radio explique au CPJ combien extraordinaires sont les efforts et les sacrifices déployés par les journalistes en cette période de chaos pour arriver à informer la population. Une forme de solidarité dans la détresse s’est constituée, précise-t-il, dans de le souci du devoir d’informer. Le volontariat de ces journalistes dépasse largement toute autre préoccupation personnelle.
Mario Viau indique qu’aucune perte en vie humaine n’a été enregistrée dans son équipe. Cependant, souligne-t-il, la majorité des journalistes de Signal FM ont été victimes, comme d’ailleurs le reste de la population, des effets monstrueux du tremblement de terre. Il cite en exemple le cas du reporter Makenzie Simon dont la fille a été tuée et la femme gravement blessée suite à l’effondrement de leur maison. Il mentionne également les cas de certains journalistes qui ont perdu des membres important dans leur famille comme c’est le cas du reporter de longue date Jean Luckenson.
Le PDG ( président directeur général) de Signal FM fait état aujourd’hui de nombreuses difficultés rencontrées pour faire fonctionner la station: pénurie de gasoline pour la circulation des véhicules des reporters à travers les zones sinistrées, lignes téléphoniques défectueuses, l’utilisation de mobiles pour les entretiens téléphoniques directs en studio, la carence totale d’énergie électrique, l’alimentation en fuel pour les groupes électrogènes alternatifs, et l’inaccessibilité aux comptes bancaires pour le paiement des journalistes pour ne citer que cela. En outre, La quête quotidienne de nourriture et l’accès à l’eau potable pour les journalistes en plein travail, constituent de véritables casse-tête à gérer du fait que les supermarchés et les restaurants ont été complètement détruits. Mario Viau poursuit que des gens de bonne volonté dans les environs de Port-au-Prince, ont manifesté des gestes de générosité envers la radio en fournissant du gasoline pour la retransmission des nouvelles.
Depuis le désastre du 12 janvier, Signal FM travaille avec une équipe réduite, dit-il. Les journalistes font la ronde dans le cadre d’un nouvel horaire de travail. Leur staff d’une dizaine de journalistes à Port-au-Prince passe aujourd’hui entre trois et cinq pour un maintien minimum de la salle de rédaction. Le contact avec les correspondants des villes de provinces les plus touchées par le séisme, comme Leogane, Petit-Goave, Grand Goave ou Jacmel demeure toujours difficile. Il est plus facile de communiquer avec l’extérieur à partir d’une ligne internationale directe disposée dans la sale des nouvelles. Les contacts téléphoniques entre journalistes à l’intérieur de la zone métropolitaine sont encore en mauvais état, rapporte Mario Viau au CPJ.
Signal FM a joué un rôle important durant le séisme du 12 janvier pour avoir été le point de jonction entre victimes et secours, entre victimes et victimes, soutient le directeur de la radio. Des appels provenaient surtout de l’extérieur pour s’enquérir du cas de personnes disparues. Le directeur de Signal FM déclaré qu’aujourd’hui, les journalistes des zones touchées par le séisme ont un grand défi devant eux, celui de refaire leur vie après avoir tout perdu.
Note du rédacteur: Si vous avez de l’information sur des journalistes ou des médias haïtiens, nous vous prions de poster un commentaire ci-dessous, ou de nous contacter directement à travers msalazar@cpj.org ou sur Twitter à @HelpJournalists. Nous sommes en train de rassembler des fonds de secours qui iront directement aux journalistes haïtiens. Si vous voudriez faire un don, faites clic ici et inscrivez “Haiti” dans la case “Notes” qui se trouve sur la deuxième page (veuillez noter que le document est en anglais).
Categories:Americas,
Haiti
Tags:Haitian earthquake, Journalist Assistance, Mario Viau, Signal FM
January 21, 2010 11:33 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Comments
By petunia on January 21, 2010 2:10 PM ET
Au Staff the Signal FM et au Proprietaire de la Station,
Milles merci pour le devouement deployer pour nous, les Haitians qui sont a l'exterieur, afin de nous parvenir les nouvelles D'Haiti apres le tremblement de terre du 12 Janvier 2010 malgre les deboires de certain membres du staff. Le pays entier est en deuil car la peine d'une personne nous affecte tous.
Encore milles merci et mes felicitations pour un travail bien fait.
Je profite de l'occasion pour demander votre concourt pour les haitians qui sont a Carrefour Feuille, Nerrette, Lamentin, Fontamarra et bien d'autres dans le meme voisinage qui se plaint n'avoir pas d'eau, ni nourriture, ni argent. J'ai un ami qui est a Nerrette qui m'a envoye un e-mail pour me dire que le jour qu'il a plue il etait dans la rue avec son fils, sans abri et sans eau. S'Il vout plait envoye un S.O.S a la radio pour ses quartiers.
Que Dieu vous garde tous ainsi que votre famille. J'espere que la prochaine fois que je vous enverre un message, Haiti et tous les Haitiens qui sont dans le besoin aurant recu au moins le neccessaire.
Mon message vient de Manhattan New York.
Merci
Petunia
By Geneviève on January 22, 2010 2:56 PM ET
Étant moi-même présente la-bas lors du séisme, j'ai eu la chance d'être rapatrié car je suis canadienne de souche. Les villes tel que Grand Goâve non plus ne reçoivent pas d'aide. Je sais qu'il est difficile en ces circonstances d'aider tout le monde mais nous devons penser à ceux qui sont plus difficilement atteignable. Ils commencent à mourir de faim et de désydratation là-bas.
Nous avons une personne ressource qui nous renseigne. Ils ne peuvnt plus tenir longtemps sans coup de main.
Merci
Genevièe
By Mehu Changeux on January 24, 2010 9:07 PM ET
mwen te tande komante nou yo, mwen te renmen yo, men gen yon bagay map konseye gouvernement an, eske yo pa te ka voye ed yo pa depatmant, d'une fason depatment an a genyen poul distribue bay ville yo e ville yo bay komin yo, avek yon sipevision societe civil la. mwen se Changeux Mehu responsable A.P.C.H kap koute nou Saint Domingue, genbe la se yon bel travay nap fe la.
By B Manning on January 31, 2010 5:41 PM ET
I commend all of you for your courage and dedication in the midst of so much danger as well as chaos. Thank you for being the journalists that you are, but most of all, thank God for the outstanding human beings that you all are.
Rwandan minister: ‘It’s OK to be anti-government’
By Tom Rhodes/Africa Program Coordinator
CPJ sat down recently with the Rwandan minister of information, Louise Mushikiwabo, who spoke of several media developments, including a new press law. “I am convinced the new legislation will help professionalize our media—there were many holes in the former law,” she told CPJ. Some, however, do not share her enthusiasm.
As former Rwanda University Lecturer Charles Kambanda points out, the law requires journalists to reveal their sources in court for any criminal investigation. “The principle of nondisclosure of sources in this field is a core ‘professional ethic.’ If we oblige this profession to disclose the sources, then we are actually closing the profession,” he said in a BBC interview.
(Radio Okapi)Mushikiwabo, at left, also supports the inclusion of criminal defamation in the law—this includes such arbitrary clauses that punish journalists for “publications which endanger public decency.” But the minister told CPJ that any article that proves problematic can be amended in the future. President Paul Kagame had sent the bill back to parliament in May after listening to some concerns given by local media groups.
One way the minister sees the law improving the profession is through its education requirements for journalists. Rwanda has two institutions for journalism, including the two-year-old Great Lakes Media Center in Kigali, which offers certificates in journalism. “I visited the center and some of the students told me they now have the skills to tackle us,” she says, “That’s fine by me. It’s OK to be anti-government, but be professional.”
Although the minister said she is pleased with the local radio stations in her country, she said Rwanda still has “excessive” and unprofessional local newspapers. A leading private paper, Umuseso, currently faces a potential three-month suspension ordered by the country’s Media High Council. The suspension order comes from a July opinion article in Umuseso that compared Kagame with former President Juvenaal Habyarimana, whose 1994 assassination helped trigger the genocide. Mushikiwabo said she cannot fathom the comparison: “One man started the genocide, while the other ended it.”
Umuseso Managing Director Didas Gasana, however, defends the article as an opinion piece that compared two governance systems, not personalities. Gasana said he thinks the suspension was the result of a June 27 press conference in which Mushikiwabo announced that “the days of Umuseso are numbered.” Prior to the new law, however, the minister would have made the final decision whether to suspend a publication—the media law now places such power in the hands of the Media High Council.
This doesn’t ease the mind of the director of Umuseso, Charles Kabonero, who says the Media High Council is controlled by the government and will help the government allay future blame for press censorship. According to a 2007 survey by the nonprofit International Research and Exchanges Board in Washington, most local journalists also viewed the council as partisan to the government.
Kabonero told CPJ that the minister has blocked Umuseso’s access to government press conferences and state advertizing revenue. “They always put forward the idea of a lack of professionalism in Rwanda’s media but they make it impossible to become professional,” he told CPJ.
Categories:Africa,
Rwanda
September 10, 2009 12:41 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Comments
By Mbonigaba Denis on September 11, 2009 12:00 PM ET
The Minister is not honest in the statement highlited above. The statement is far from what the government she represents, does on the ground.
It is a totalitarian government that believes in controlling the media. Press freedom in Rwanda has been deteriorating even more under her regime as minister.
Those are just words-the Kagame regime is out and out to silence the media as they did to politicians and civil society.
By shaming comments on September 15, 2009 7:18 AM ET
Ministers words are very shaming,
Some one may ask his or her self, how many tongues does minister mushikiwabo has, on 27/07/2009 she clearly mentioned that days of umuseso and umuvugizi newspaper are numbered in front of president kagame praising the new media law which gives power high press concil to shut down the papers and praised rushyashya newspaper bacause of changing its editorial line and start praising the Government,and at the same time you start saying that its ok to be anti government in Rwanda
when will they stop deceiving the world and intimidate media ?
By mdaruwala on September 18, 2009 1:54 AM ET
Pl see our report on Rwanda recently released. The context is that Rwanda has applied for membership of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, an independent non partisan NGO is of the view that it is not compliant with the democracy and human rights criteria that are set as bench marks for its entry and for it to be brought in without significant improvements in its human rights record would send a wrong signal about the values that the association espouses and would encourage other authoritarian regimes to apply for 'respectability'. The report echoes much of what has been said by the UN human rights committee in its concluding remarks. Our report is available at www.humanrightsinitiative.org
we are available at director@humanrightsinitiative.org
By Scipio on November 2, 2009 8:27 AM ET
Considering the recent arrest of Innocent Irankunda, it is impossible to believe that the government of Rwanda, including the judiciary, has any respect for human rights. It is imperative that people from outside Rwanda put pressure on the judiciary through their own embassies and/or NGOs to make certain that Mr. Irankunda does not spend another day in prison for imaginary crimes. The media reports coming from Rwanda about this case are, to be blunt, complete nonsense where facts as simple as his father's death are wrong. In a desperate attempt to make itself look "good" it seems as though the government in Rwanda is willing to move its country back to 1910 instead of looking forward to 2010 by allowing the press to dissent from the insane decisions of "courts."
By Alison Orr on November 3, 2009 10:52 AM ET
It is okay to be anti-government so long as one does not reside in Rwanda seems to be the actual message of the minister. This is an unfortunate development not only for Mr. Irankunda but also for all those living inside the borders of Rwanda or in the vincinity of those who support the government, be they in other African countries or overseas. When will this madness in Rwanda end? Journalists must be free to do their jobs or else governments become too powerful. There are too many unsolved murders in Rwanda already. It is my hope that Mr. Irankunda is freed immediately so that there is a ray of hope for all dissenting voices in Rwanda.
CPJ sat down recently with the Rwandan minister of information, Louise Mushikiwabo, who spoke of several media developments, including a new press law. “I am convinced the new legislation will help professionalize our media—there were many holes in the former law,” she told CPJ. Some, however, do not share her enthusiasm.
As former Rwanda University Lecturer Charles Kambanda points out, the law requires journalists to reveal their sources in court for any criminal investigation. “The principle of nondisclosure of sources in this field is a core ‘professional ethic.’ If we oblige this profession to disclose the sources, then we are actually closing the profession,” he said in a BBC interview.
(Radio Okapi)Mushikiwabo, at left, also supports the inclusion of criminal defamation in the law—this includes such arbitrary clauses that punish journalists for “publications which endanger public decency.” But the minister told CPJ that any article that proves problematic can be amended in the future. President Paul Kagame had sent the bill back to parliament in May after listening to some concerns given by local media groups.
One way the minister sees the law improving the profession is through its education requirements for journalists. Rwanda has two institutions for journalism, including the two-year-old Great Lakes Media Center in Kigali, which offers certificates in journalism. “I visited the center and some of the students told me they now have the skills to tackle us,” she says, “That’s fine by me. It’s OK to be anti-government, but be professional.”
Although the minister said she is pleased with the local radio stations in her country, she said Rwanda still has “excessive” and unprofessional local newspapers. A leading private paper, Umuseso, currently faces a potential three-month suspension ordered by the country’s Media High Council. The suspension order comes from a July opinion article in Umuseso that compared Kagame with former President Juvenaal Habyarimana, whose 1994 assassination helped trigger the genocide. Mushikiwabo said she cannot fathom the comparison: “One man started the genocide, while the other ended it.”
Umuseso Managing Director Didas Gasana, however, defends the article as an opinion piece that compared two governance systems, not personalities. Gasana said he thinks the suspension was the result of a June 27 press conference in which Mushikiwabo announced that “the days of Umuseso are numbered.” Prior to the new law, however, the minister would have made the final decision whether to suspend a publication—the media law now places such power in the hands of the Media High Council.
This doesn’t ease the mind of the director of Umuseso, Charles Kabonero, who says the Media High Council is controlled by the government and will help the government allay future blame for press censorship. According to a 2007 survey by the nonprofit International Research and Exchanges Board in Washington, most local journalists also viewed the council as partisan to the government.
Kabonero told CPJ that the minister has blocked Umuseso’s access to government press conferences and state advertizing revenue. “They always put forward the idea of a lack of professionalism in Rwanda’s media but they make it impossible to become professional,” he told CPJ.
Categories:Africa,
Rwanda
September 10, 2009 12:41 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Comments
By Mbonigaba Denis on September 11, 2009 12:00 PM ET
The Minister is not honest in the statement highlited above. The statement is far from what the government she represents, does on the ground.
It is a totalitarian government that believes in controlling the media. Press freedom in Rwanda has been deteriorating even more under her regime as minister.
Those are just words-the Kagame regime is out and out to silence the media as they did to politicians and civil society.
By shaming comments on September 15, 2009 7:18 AM ET
Ministers words are very shaming,
Some one may ask his or her self, how many tongues does minister mushikiwabo has, on 27/07/2009 she clearly mentioned that days of umuseso and umuvugizi newspaper are numbered in front of president kagame praising the new media law which gives power high press concil to shut down the papers and praised rushyashya newspaper bacause of changing its editorial line and start praising the Government,and at the same time you start saying that its ok to be anti government in Rwanda
when will they stop deceiving the world and intimidate media ?
By mdaruwala on September 18, 2009 1:54 AM ET
Pl see our report on Rwanda recently released. The context is that Rwanda has applied for membership of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, an independent non partisan NGO is of the view that it is not compliant with the democracy and human rights criteria that are set as bench marks for its entry and for it to be brought in without significant improvements in its human rights record would send a wrong signal about the values that the association espouses and would encourage other authoritarian regimes to apply for 'respectability'. The report echoes much of what has been said by the UN human rights committee in its concluding remarks. Our report is available at www.humanrightsinitiative.org
we are available at director@humanrightsinitiative.org
By Scipio on November 2, 2009 8:27 AM ET
Considering the recent arrest of Innocent Irankunda, it is impossible to believe that the government of Rwanda, including the judiciary, has any respect for human rights. It is imperative that people from outside Rwanda put pressure on the judiciary through their own embassies and/or NGOs to make certain that Mr. Irankunda does not spend another day in prison for imaginary crimes. The media reports coming from Rwanda about this case are, to be blunt, complete nonsense where facts as simple as his father's death are wrong. In a desperate attempt to make itself look "good" it seems as though the government in Rwanda is willing to move its country back to 1910 instead of looking forward to 2010 by allowing the press to dissent from the insane decisions of "courts."
By Alison Orr on November 3, 2009 10:52 AM ET
It is okay to be anti-government so long as one does not reside in Rwanda seems to be the actual message of the minister. This is an unfortunate development not only for Mr. Irankunda but also for all those living inside the borders of Rwanda or in the vincinity of those who support the government, be they in other African countries or overseas. When will this madness in Rwanda end? Journalists must be free to do their jobs or else governments become too powerful. There are too many unsolved murders in Rwanda already. It is my hope that Mr. Irankunda is freed immediately so that there is a ray of hope for all dissenting voices in Rwanda.
Free Speech Protection Act could slow 'libel tourism'
By Robert Mahoney/Deputy Director
Free press advocates in Britain are looking to a bill stuck in the U.S. Congress for moral support in the fight to reform England’s draconian defamation laws. The U.S. bill, the Free Speech Protection Act 2009, is itself the product of those laws, which have made London the capital of “libel tourism.”
A prime backer of the legislation now before the Senate Judiciary Committee is U.S. investigative author Rachel Ehrenfeld. In her 2003 book “Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It,” Ehrenfeld accused billionaire Saudi businessman Khalid bin Mahfouz of channeling funds to terrorist groups. The book was published in the United States and Ehrenfeld assumed she would be shielded by the First Amendment. Bin Mahfouz, who has denied financing terrorism, decided to sue. Not in Riyadh or New York, but in London.
“Only 23 copies were sold in the UK on Amazon,” Ehrenfeld told CPJ. “The book has nothing to do with England, I have nothing to do with England,” said Ehrenfeld who refused to contest the suit in an English court.
In 2005, a court in London entered a default judgment against her, ordering the payment of damages of little more than $250,000. It also ruled she should apologize to Bin Mahfouz, who died in August this year, and destroy copies of her book.
Ehrenfeld had become another victim of libel tourism, a growing practice among wealthy non-British business tycoons and Hollywood stars who file defamation suits in London, usually against U.S.-based publishers, that would be thrown out by a U.S. court. English libel law is notoriously plaintiff-friendly. It puts the burden of proof on the defendant, who has to show that what is written is true. In the United States, the plaintiff has to prove that material in a book or article is false.
So anyone with deep pockets can claim he has a reputation to defend in England and bring a libel action. Courts have allowed suits where a ludicrously low number of copies have circulated in Britain, as in Ehrenfeld’s case. The English definition of what constitutes “publication” is also arcane, and again, favors the plaintiff. Any issuing of the offending statement or piece, no matter how long after it first appeared in print, is deemed a publication based on an anachronistic 19th century precedent (Duke of Brunswick v Harmer [1849] 14 Q.B. 185). With the archiving of information in the digital age, huge amounts of material are susceptible to a suit.
“In the UK they should be embarrassed and should change the law,” says Ehrenfeld. U.S. media outlets and publishers share this view, fearing the chilling effect of an English system that forces defendants to settle rather than face some of the highest legal costs in the world and the prospect of crippling damages.
They laid out their concerns in March in a submission to a British parliamentary committee that is looking into libel law reform. The House of Commons’ Culture, Media and Sports Committee is expected to make its recommendations to the government before the end of the year, although free speech advocates doubt there will be a fundamental overhaul of defamation law any time soon. London’s Sunday Times went so far in an article this month as to suggest American news outlets might block access to their Web sites and stop selling newspapers and magazines in Britain to avoid litigation.
Nobody knows how many U.S. publishers may already have pulled publications from the international market because of English libel laws, which are the basis for defamation legislation in much of the Commonwealth as well, according to New York-based First Amendment lawyer Daniel Kornstein.
Kornstein, who represented Ehrenfeld, is pushing for Congress to pass the free speech bill because U.S. journalists now enjoy only patchwork protection. In May of last year, New York became the first state to pass an anti-libel tourism statute. Illinois, Florida, and California have followed suit, offering writers there some protection from enforcement of a foreign court order.
“This bill should be passed,” Kornstein told CPJ. “One, it requires no funding. Two, it makes a public statement about freedom of expression, holding the banner aloft for everybody. [And] it should remove the chill that could surround the publication of certain controversial books.”
Mark Stephens, an English libel lawyer who drafted the U.S news organizations’ submission to the British parliamentary committee, agrees federal legislation would help. “I think it would be hugely beneficial,” he told CPJ from London. The only serious opposition to English libel reform comes from a small number of law firms in the UK that have grown rich on libel cases.
Some, according to Stephens, employ overseas agents to encourage litigants to come to London. “Lawyers have been … ambulance chasing around California with agents in Beverly Hills, lawyers who act for celebrities in Beverly Hills saying, ‘Look, you can’t do anything in America because of the First Amendment, but come to London. You can do it there, and then we can affect what coverage your client gets by getting a judgment in England, which is effective in America.’ It’s crazy,” he said.
Stephens says even at the state level, U.S. legislation has helped him. “I am using the American defenses probably three or four times a month … the majority in relation to books and bloggers. But I am also using it probably once a month in relation to large media organizations.” The Free Speech Protection Act, which is sitting on the desk of Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, would also offer U.S. journalists and authors protection from malicious or frivolous lawsuits brought overseas, according to Ehrenfeld.
She cites the case of U.S. freelance Joe Sharkey who faces a $280,000 civil defamation suit in Brazil over comments about a plane crash he says were wrongly attributed to him. Sharkey, who writes for the New York Times, was aboard a U.S. business jet that collided with a Brazilian commercial aircraft over the Amazon in 2006.
“If he lived in New York he’d be protected,” said Ehrenfeld, referring to the Libel Terrorism Protection Act passed by the state legislature last year. “But he lives in New Jersey and Arizona, states that do not have such a law. That’s why it is important Congress passes this bill.”
Categories:Americas,
Europe & Central Asia,
Saudi Arabia,
UK,
USA
Tags:Defamation, Freelancer, US Congress
November 16, 2009 10:57 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Comments
By Ross on November 17, 2009 3:41 PM ET
It's silly that we have laws like this, that need to cover the whole country, but are enacted on a state by state basis. What's the law in New Jersey needs to be the same as what's in New York.
By Rexxfield on December 25, 2009 1:24 PM ET
In many cases horrible problems have been avoided for the community as a result of anonymous blogging. This includes whistle blowing for white-collar criminals, community awareness when sexual predators move into the neighborhood, and many other alerts that are of great community benefit.
Benefits notwithstanding, you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs and anonymous free speech on the Internet is one such omelette. There is no such thing as free speech; there is always a cost. Sometimes that cost is acceptable, moreover desirable, particularly in the case of positive community awareness. However, often their many false and deceptive rumors, and libelous attacks are motivated only by hatred and vindictive antisocial promptings. More often than not, these serial cyber defamers have some type of antisocial personality disorder. They have nothing better to do than hurt other people; in fact they are actually fueled by other people's pain. Normal people like 97% of the readers of my comment cannot begin to relate to how these people think. Stop for a moment and imagine not having a conscience..... it is simply impossible.
A concerted, focused and malicious Internet smear campaign can be as devastating for a person that relies on his or her reputation for employment as a fire can be for a farmer who loses his fields, barns, and livestock.
Respectfully submitted by Michael Roberts. Internet Libel Victim's Advocate.
www.Rexxfield.com
By Joe Sharkey on February 24, 2010 8:34 PM ET
Just FYI, the lawsuit against me in Brazil rests on the bizarre assertion that in reporting and commentary after the 2006 mid-air Amazon collision that I was one of 7 survivors of, I defamed and caused dishonor to the entire nation of Brazil and every single citizen in it. The complaint cites absurd and false charges -- for example, that I wrote that Brazil was "idiots of all idiots." Even if I had written a barely-English phrase like that, it would not have been actionable in any U.S. court. Also, the Brazilian authorities have said, according to Brazilian media, that they plan to file a criminal charge against me, of causing dishonor to Brazil, once the civil judgment is rendered.
Free press advocates in Britain are looking to a bill stuck in the U.S. Congress for moral support in the fight to reform England’s draconian defamation laws. The U.S. bill, the Free Speech Protection Act 2009, is itself the product of those laws, which have made London the capital of “libel tourism.”
A prime backer of the legislation now before the Senate Judiciary Committee is U.S. investigative author Rachel Ehrenfeld. In her 2003 book “Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It,” Ehrenfeld accused billionaire Saudi businessman Khalid bin Mahfouz of channeling funds to terrorist groups. The book was published in the United States and Ehrenfeld assumed she would be shielded by the First Amendment. Bin Mahfouz, who has denied financing terrorism, decided to sue. Not in Riyadh or New York, but in London.
“Only 23 copies were sold in the UK on Amazon,” Ehrenfeld told CPJ. “The book has nothing to do with England, I have nothing to do with England,” said Ehrenfeld who refused to contest the suit in an English court.
In 2005, a court in London entered a default judgment against her, ordering the payment of damages of little more than $250,000. It also ruled she should apologize to Bin Mahfouz, who died in August this year, and destroy copies of her book.
Ehrenfeld had become another victim of libel tourism, a growing practice among wealthy non-British business tycoons and Hollywood stars who file defamation suits in London, usually against U.S.-based publishers, that would be thrown out by a U.S. court. English libel law is notoriously plaintiff-friendly. It puts the burden of proof on the defendant, who has to show that what is written is true. In the United States, the plaintiff has to prove that material in a book or article is false.
So anyone with deep pockets can claim he has a reputation to defend in England and bring a libel action. Courts have allowed suits where a ludicrously low number of copies have circulated in Britain, as in Ehrenfeld’s case. The English definition of what constitutes “publication” is also arcane, and again, favors the plaintiff. Any issuing of the offending statement or piece, no matter how long after it first appeared in print, is deemed a publication based on an anachronistic 19th century precedent (Duke of Brunswick v Harmer [1849] 14 Q.B. 185). With the archiving of information in the digital age, huge amounts of material are susceptible to a suit.
“In the UK they should be embarrassed and should change the law,” says Ehrenfeld. U.S. media outlets and publishers share this view, fearing the chilling effect of an English system that forces defendants to settle rather than face some of the highest legal costs in the world and the prospect of crippling damages.
They laid out their concerns in March in a submission to a British parliamentary committee that is looking into libel law reform. The House of Commons’ Culture, Media and Sports Committee is expected to make its recommendations to the government before the end of the year, although free speech advocates doubt there will be a fundamental overhaul of defamation law any time soon. London’s Sunday Times went so far in an article this month as to suggest American news outlets might block access to their Web sites and stop selling newspapers and magazines in Britain to avoid litigation.
Nobody knows how many U.S. publishers may already have pulled publications from the international market because of English libel laws, which are the basis for defamation legislation in much of the Commonwealth as well, according to New York-based First Amendment lawyer Daniel Kornstein.
Kornstein, who represented Ehrenfeld, is pushing for Congress to pass the free speech bill because U.S. journalists now enjoy only patchwork protection. In May of last year, New York became the first state to pass an anti-libel tourism statute. Illinois, Florida, and California have followed suit, offering writers there some protection from enforcement of a foreign court order.
“This bill should be passed,” Kornstein told CPJ. “One, it requires no funding. Two, it makes a public statement about freedom of expression, holding the banner aloft for everybody. [And] it should remove the chill that could surround the publication of certain controversial books.”
Mark Stephens, an English libel lawyer who drafted the U.S news organizations’ submission to the British parliamentary committee, agrees federal legislation would help. “I think it would be hugely beneficial,” he told CPJ from London. The only serious opposition to English libel reform comes from a small number of law firms in the UK that have grown rich on libel cases.
Some, according to Stephens, employ overseas agents to encourage litigants to come to London. “Lawyers have been … ambulance chasing around California with agents in Beverly Hills, lawyers who act for celebrities in Beverly Hills saying, ‘Look, you can’t do anything in America because of the First Amendment, but come to London. You can do it there, and then we can affect what coverage your client gets by getting a judgment in England, which is effective in America.’ It’s crazy,” he said.
Stephens says even at the state level, U.S. legislation has helped him. “I am using the American defenses probably three or four times a month … the majority in relation to books and bloggers. But I am also using it probably once a month in relation to large media organizations.” The Free Speech Protection Act, which is sitting on the desk of Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, would also offer U.S. journalists and authors protection from malicious or frivolous lawsuits brought overseas, according to Ehrenfeld.
She cites the case of U.S. freelance Joe Sharkey who faces a $280,000 civil defamation suit in Brazil over comments about a plane crash he says were wrongly attributed to him. Sharkey, who writes for the New York Times, was aboard a U.S. business jet that collided with a Brazilian commercial aircraft over the Amazon in 2006.
“If he lived in New York he’d be protected,” said Ehrenfeld, referring to the Libel Terrorism Protection Act passed by the state legislature last year. “But he lives in New Jersey and Arizona, states that do not have such a law. That’s why it is important Congress passes this bill.”
Categories:Americas,
Europe & Central Asia,
Saudi Arabia,
UK,
USA
Tags:Defamation, Freelancer, US Congress
November 16, 2009 10:57 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Comments
By Ross on November 17, 2009 3:41 PM ET
It's silly that we have laws like this, that need to cover the whole country, but are enacted on a state by state basis. What's the law in New Jersey needs to be the same as what's in New York.
By Rexxfield on December 25, 2009 1:24 PM ET
In many cases horrible problems have been avoided for the community as a result of anonymous blogging. This includes whistle blowing for white-collar criminals, community awareness when sexual predators move into the neighborhood, and many other alerts that are of great community benefit.
Benefits notwithstanding, you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs and anonymous free speech on the Internet is one such omelette. There is no such thing as free speech; there is always a cost. Sometimes that cost is acceptable, moreover desirable, particularly in the case of positive community awareness. However, often their many false and deceptive rumors, and libelous attacks are motivated only by hatred and vindictive antisocial promptings. More often than not, these serial cyber defamers have some type of antisocial personality disorder. They have nothing better to do than hurt other people; in fact they are actually fueled by other people's pain. Normal people like 97% of the readers of my comment cannot begin to relate to how these people think. Stop for a moment and imagine not having a conscience..... it is simply impossible.
A concerted, focused and malicious Internet smear campaign can be as devastating for a person that relies on his or her reputation for employment as a fire can be for a farmer who loses his fields, barns, and livestock.
Respectfully submitted by Michael Roberts. Internet Libel Victim's Advocate.
www.Rexxfield.com
By Joe Sharkey on February 24, 2010 8:34 PM ET
Just FYI, the lawsuit against me in Brazil rests on the bizarre assertion that in reporting and commentary after the 2006 mid-air Amazon collision that I was one of 7 survivors of, I defamed and caused dishonor to the entire nation of Brazil and every single citizen in it. The complaint cites absurd and false charges -- for example, that I wrote that Brazil was "idiots of all idiots." Even if I had written a barely-English phrase like that, it would not have been actionable in any U.S. court. Also, the Brazilian authorities have said, according to Brazilian media, that they plan to file a criminal charge against me, of causing dishonor to Brazil, once the civil judgment is rendered.
Walter Cronkite's press freedom legacy
By Joel Simon/Executive Director
Walter Cronkite had such a profound impact in so many ways that one might overlook an important part of his legacy--his long efforts on behalf of international press freedom and his advocacy on behalf of local journalists around the world. Cronkite was a vital participant in the launch of the Committee to Protect Journalists 28 years ago and, though his title here may have been honorary co-chairman, he was an active force throughout the years.
In 1981, Michael Massing, then executive editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, and CBS News writer Laurie Nadel formed the Committee to Protect Journalists to fight for the rights of journalists around the world. Dan Rather, who had just taken over from Cronkite as anchor of the CBS Evening News, summoned Nadel into his office demanding to know more about the Committee. Rather not only offered to join the board, he offered to help recruit Cronkite.
Walter Cronkite with CPJ founder and board member Michael Massing. (CPJ)Massing and Nadel drafted a letter and sent it through CBS inter-office mail. Cronkite wrote back saying that he didn't generally lend his name to organizations in which he could not play an active role and, given his schedule, he knew he could not be active. But because of the importance of CPJ's mission he would make an exception and serve in an honorary position. But there was nothing honorary about Cronkite's involvement with CPJ.
Not only was Cronkite America's best-known journalist, he had led a group during the Vietnam War that gathered information about reporters and photographers who were missing in action. His involvement with CPJ suggested to U.S. journalists the seriousness of the new organization, and his name at the top of the letterhead had the potential of getting the attention of government officials around the world. It did.
In April 1982, for example, after Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, starting a war with Britain, the government there arrested three British journalists on charges of espionage. The Swiss government, the pope, and the U.N. secretary-general all appealed for the release of the three journalists, Simon Winchester of The Sunday Times and Ian Mather and Tony Prime of The Observer.
But Winchester remembers that it was the CPJ letter, signed by Walter Cronkite and sent to Argentina's foreign and justice ministers, that gave him the greatest hope. After he learned of the letter, he wrote to his wife and children in England saying that he believed that the end was in sight because Cronkite and CPJ had taken up his case. After 77 days in captivity--during which British Marines retook the Falklands Islands--Winchester, Mather, and Prime were released and put on a plane out of Argentina. Mather later sent a letter to CPJ noting that, "we are totally convinced that it was outside pressure that the led Argentine authorities to realize that our continued incarceration could never be beneficial to the reputation of Argentina no matter how well they looked after us."
The next year, when CPJ sought to visit apartheid South Africa, it was a letter from Cronkite to the South African Embassy that secured visas for our delegation. Our representatives, including Nadel and then-board member Aryeh Neier (who helped found Human Rights Watch), tried to persuade South African officials to ease the country's practice of imprisoning journalists and taking other highly repressive steps such as "banning" them from public life.
Minister of Law and Order Louis La Grange was unabashed about procedures that clearly lacked due process and indignant that they were being challenged. Yet later in the meeting, La Grange's tone softened: He told our delegation that he had once met Cronkite. "Should I give Walter your regards?" asked Neier. "No, he wouldn't remember me," said La Grange. "But I certainly remember him."
For Neier, the interaction was a lesson in the power of the U.S. media and one of its leading figures. A government official who was so powerful in South Africa that he proudly took credit for approving journalist detentions was in awe of Walter Cronkite.
At the 2005 International Press Freedom Awards, Cronkite appears with then-Executive Director Ann Cooper, left, and awardee Beatrice Mtetwa, the Zimbabwean media rights lawyer. (CPJ)Cronkite's involvement continued through the years. He continued to write letters, host fundraisers, and attend our annual International Press Freedom Awards. In 1995, Cronkite helped persuade Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to drop charges against Reuters correspondent Aliza Marcus, who faced prison for reporting on counterinsurgency strikes against Kurdish rebels.
In a 2006 interview for our magazine, Dangerous Assignments, Cronkite recalled CPJ's efforts on behalf of Turkish journalists: "The committee's long-running efforts to persuade several consecutive governments in Turkey to adopt basic democratic principles of free speech and free speech and free press resulted in wide recognition of our devotion to these freedoms. It's an enduring effort and I'm proud to say that (former chairwoman and current board member) Kati Marton and I were early representatives of the committee, dispatched to try to relieve the Turkish leadership's incredibly repressive treatment of the press."
Michael Massing recalls Cronkite's contributions as invaluable:
In its nearly 30 years, the Committee to Protect Journalists has undergone many changes, growing from a tiny group of volunteers in New York to a global network working on behalf of beleaguered journalists around the world, but throughout its existence one thing has remained constant: Walter Cronkite's position as its honorary chairman.
Walter's association with the organization proved invaluable. Indeed, without it, the Committee might not have survived. His name has remained prominently linked with the Committee's--a seal of integrity and trustworthiness. On the occasion of the Committee's 25th anniversary, Walter appeared at a private dinner held in his honor and attended by executives from national news organizations whose backing CPJ was seeking. He spoke with great feeling about the Committee's work over its first quarter-century and about the gratitude he felt for being associated with it. The real gratitude, of course, is the Committee's, for the unwavering support he showed for its work over all these years. CPJ remains committed to continuing that work in the spirit of the ideals he so faithfully embodied.
As CPJ Chairman Paul Steiger said in remembering Cronkite's enduring contribution to press freedom, "From putting his own life on the line to cover the battlefields of World War II to challenging the 'thugs' who physically harassed his reporters on the floor of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Walter Cronkite knew firsthand the challenges journalists face bringing news to the public, and he never forgot them. Whenever press freedom needed a champion, he was there. We will miss him."
Categories:Africa,
Americas,
Asia,
Europe & Central Asia,
Middle East & North Africa,
USA
Tags:CPJ
July 17, 2009 9:14 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Comments
By Jean-Paul Marthoz on July 18, 2009 3:32 PM ET
It says a lot about Walter Cronkite's influence that his death was mentioned on many foreign TV channels whose viewers never had the chance to see him. Tonight Belgian public service TV paid tribute to his journalistic legacy as if he were one of their own anchors and I had calls from friends and from younger people asking for more information on "Uncle Walter". They had just discovered that the world had lost a great and inspiring journalist.
During my first years as a journalist Walter Cronkite was a constant reference. I never really watched him but I read about him in books and essays commending his decency and high professional standards.
More personnally he reminded me of an episode in history that shaped my country and my family's fate. While researching for a book on the U.S.history "from Bastogne to Baghdad" I discovered that as a journalist for UPI he had been with Patton's army during its counteroffensive to free the town of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in winter 1944. Living in the Ardennes, my parents were on the frontlines of Hitler's last gamble and for years on until they passed away they read everything about this dramatic moment. They had read Martha Gellhorn and John Toland's reportages on the Ardennes battlefieds but they had missed Cronkite's wire stories.
Today I listened with respect to Walter Cronkite's 2004 testimony on NPR recalling the largest pitched battle in US military history and the victory that changed the course of the war and more modestly the life of my parents. His testimony is a great contribution of the hard encounters between journalism and war. It is above all a lesson of modesty and humanity.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4246503
By Laurie Nadel on July 18, 2009 5:58 PM ET
Joel, Great article. Walter was very generous with his time and support as we organized the CPJ trip to South Africa which included delivering funds to the families of imprisoned journalists.
He modeled excellence in every sense of the word.
By Gorethy Kenneth on July 18, 2009 7:22 PM ET
From Papua New Guinea - we pay tribute to the late Walter Cronkite.
Walter was an idol and role model to me personally and to young journalists although we never met, we read and followed his writings and advises.
To the family - our sincere heartfelt wishes and our prayers are with you all at this time of sorrow.
Gorethy Kenneth on behalf
Papua New Guinea
By Bristol, Indiana on July 18, 2009 8:01 PM ET
I read a book years ago about Walter Cronkite called "The Last Train out of Berlin", he wrote it. I got it at one of the Elkhart Indiana library's for 25 cents or so at their book sale rack, passed the book on to a friend's son to read after holding on to it for years and never saw it again. It was such a great book and truly Walter Cronkite at his best at what he did. I sure wish I had that book now. I remember the book well and his working into the dead of night trying to finish an article or newspaper for the states and just about to miss (for real) the last train out of Berlin during Hitler's era. I can almost as when I read it see him pinging on the old typewriters back then.
Walter Cronkite had such a profound impact in so many ways that one might overlook an important part of his legacy--his long efforts on behalf of international press freedom and his advocacy on behalf of local journalists around the world. Cronkite was a vital participant in the launch of the Committee to Protect Journalists 28 years ago and, though his title here may have been honorary co-chairman, he was an active force throughout the years.
In 1981, Michael Massing, then executive editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, and CBS News writer Laurie Nadel formed the Committee to Protect Journalists to fight for the rights of journalists around the world. Dan Rather, who had just taken over from Cronkite as anchor of the CBS Evening News, summoned Nadel into his office demanding to know more about the Committee. Rather not only offered to join the board, he offered to help recruit Cronkite.
Walter Cronkite with CPJ founder and board member Michael Massing. (CPJ)Massing and Nadel drafted a letter and sent it through CBS inter-office mail. Cronkite wrote back saying that he didn't generally lend his name to organizations in which he could not play an active role and, given his schedule, he knew he could not be active. But because of the importance of CPJ's mission he would make an exception and serve in an honorary position. But there was nothing honorary about Cronkite's involvement with CPJ.
Not only was Cronkite America's best-known journalist, he had led a group during the Vietnam War that gathered information about reporters and photographers who were missing in action. His involvement with CPJ suggested to U.S. journalists the seriousness of the new organization, and his name at the top of the letterhead had the potential of getting the attention of government officials around the world. It did.
In April 1982, for example, after Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, starting a war with Britain, the government there arrested three British journalists on charges of espionage. The Swiss government, the pope, and the U.N. secretary-general all appealed for the release of the three journalists, Simon Winchester of The Sunday Times and Ian Mather and Tony Prime of The Observer.
But Winchester remembers that it was the CPJ letter, signed by Walter Cronkite and sent to Argentina's foreign and justice ministers, that gave him the greatest hope. After he learned of the letter, he wrote to his wife and children in England saying that he believed that the end was in sight because Cronkite and CPJ had taken up his case. After 77 days in captivity--during which British Marines retook the Falklands Islands--Winchester, Mather, and Prime were released and put on a plane out of Argentina. Mather later sent a letter to CPJ noting that, "we are totally convinced that it was outside pressure that the led Argentine authorities to realize that our continued incarceration could never be beneficial to the reputation of Argentina no matter how well they looked after us."
The next year, when CPJ sought to visit apartheid South Africa, it was a letter from Cronkite to the South African Embassy that secured visas for our delegation. Our representatives, including Nadel and then-board member Aryeh Neier (who helped found Human Rights Watch), tried to persuade South African officials to ease the country's practice of imprisoning journalists and taking other highly repressive steps such as "banning" them from public life.
Minister of Law and Order Louis La Grange was unabashed about procedures that clearly lacked due process and indignant that they were being challenged. Yet later in the meeting, La Grange's tone softened: He told our delegation that he had once met Cronkite. "Should I give Walter your regards?" asked Neier. "No, he wouldn't remember me," said La Grange. "But I certainly remember him."
For Neier, the interaction was a lesson in the power of the U.S. media and one of its leading figures. A government official who was so powerful in South Africa that he proudly took credit for approving journalist detentions was in awe of Walter Cronkite.
At the 2005 International Press Freedom Awards, Cronkite appears with then-Executive Director Ann Cooper, left, and awardee Beatrice Mtetwa, the Zimbabwean media rights lawyer. (CPJ)Cronkite's involvement continued through the years. He continued to write letters, host fundraisers, and attend our annual International Press Freedom Awards. In 1995, Cronkite helped persuade Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to drop charges against Reuters correspondent Aliza Marcus, who faced prison for reporting on counterinsurgency strikes against Kurdish rebels.
In a 2006 interview for our magazine, Dangerous Assignments, Cronkite recalled CPJ's efforts on behalf of Turkish journalists: "The committee's long-running efforts to persuade several consecutive governments in Turkey to adopt basic democratic principles of free speech and free speech and free press resulted in wide recognition of our devotion to these freedoms. It's an enduring effort and I'm proud to say that (former chairwoman and current board member) Kati Marton and I were early representatives of the committee, dispatched to try to relieve the Turkish leadership's incredibly repressive treatment of the press."
Michael Massing recalls Cronkite's contributions as invaluable:
In its nearly 30 years, the Committee to Protect Journalists has undergone many changes, growing from a tiny group of volunteers in New York to a global network working on behalf of beleaguered journalists around the world, but throughout its existence one thing has remained constant: Walter Cronkite's position as its honorary chairman.
Walter's association with the organization proved invaluable. Indeed, without it, the Committee might not have survived. His name has remained prominently linked with the Committee's--a seal of integrity and trustworthiness. On the occasion of the Committee's 25th anniversary, Walter appeared at a private dinner held in his honor and attended by executives from national news organizations whose backing CPJ was seeking. He spoke with great feeling about the Committee's work over its first quarter-century and about the gratitude he felt for being associated with it. The real gratitude, of course, is the Committee's, for the unwavering support he showed for its work over all these years. CPJ remains committed to continuing that work in the spirit of the ideals he so faithfully embodied.
As CPJ Chairman Paul Steiger said in remembering Cronkite's enduring contribution to press freedom, "From putting his own life on the line to cover the battlefields of World War II to challenging the 'thugs' who physically harassed his reporters on the floor of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Walter Cronkite knew firsthand the challenges journalists face bringing news to the public, and he never forgot them. Whenever press freedom needed a champion, he was there. We will miss him."
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July 17, 2009 9:14 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
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By Jean-Paul Marthoz on July 18, 2009 3:32 PM ET
It says a lot about Walter Cronkite's influence that his death was mentioned on many foreign TV channels whose viewers never had the chance to see him. Tonight Belgian public service TV paid tribute to his journalistic legacy as if he were one of their own anchors and I had calls from friends and from younger people asking for more information on "Uncle Walter". They had just discovered that the world had lost a great and inspiring journalist.
During my first years as a journalist Walter Cronkite was a constant reference. I never really watched him but I read about him in books and essays commending his decency and high professional standards.
More personnally he reminded me of an episode in history that shaped my country and my family's fate. While researching for a book on the U.S.history "from Bastogne to Baghdad" I discovered that as a journalist for UPI he had been with Patton's army during its counteroffensive to free the town of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in winter 1944. Living in the Ardennes, my parents were on the frontlines of Hitler's last gamble and for years on until they passed away they read everything about this dramatic moment. They had read Martha Gellhorn and John Toland's reportages on the Ardennes battlefieds but they had missed Cronkite's wire stories.
Today I listened with respect to Walter Cronkite's 2004 testimony on NPR recalling the largest pitched battle in US military history and the victory that changed the course of the war and more modestly the life of my parents. His testimony is a great contribution of the hard encounters between journalism and war. It is above all a lesson of modesty and humanity.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4246503
By Laurie Nadel on July 18, 2009 5:58 PM ET
Joel, Great article. Walter was very generous with his time and support as we organized the CPJ trip to South Africa which included delivering funds to the families of imprisoned journalists.
He modeled excellence in every sense of the word.
By Gorethy Kenneth on July 18, 2009 7:22 PM ET
From Papua New Guinea - we pay tribute to the late Walter Cronkite.
Walter was an idol and role model to me personally and to young journalists although we never met, we read and followed his writings and advises.
To the family - our sincere heartfelt wishes and our prayers are with you all at this time of sorrow.
Gorethy Kenneth on behalf
Papua New Guinea
By Bristol, Indiana on July 18, 2009 8:01 PM ET
I read a book years ago about Walter Cronkite called "The Last Train out of Berlin", he wrote it. I got it at one of the Elkhart Indiana library's for 25 cents or so at their book sale rack, passed the book on to a friend's son to read after holding on to it for years and never saw it again. It was such a great book and truly Walter Cronkite at his best at what he did. I sure wish I had that book now. I remember the book well and his working into the dead of night trying to finish an article or newspaper for the states and just about to miss (for real) the last train out of Berlin during Hitler's era. I can almost as when I read it see him pinging on the old typewriters back then.
An Iraqi journalist in America: California pilgrimage
By Mudhafar al-Husseini
I couldn't say anything. I didn't want to blink and waste a single moment of looking at the beach and the Pacific. I had never seen an ocean. If I could set up a tent on the sand, I thought, I could stay there forever. I have loved the seas, rivers, and oceans since I studied them when I was a child. Now here I was standing on the beach at Santa Monica, watching the waves of the biggest ocean shattering on the California coast.
Mudhafar al-HusseiniTwo months ago, I was on my way from Baghdad heading south to visit the holy city of Karbala; two weeks ago, I was on my way from Arizona heading west to California. No comparison at all.
During the first trip, I was trying to say farewell to every dear place and city in Iraq. Karbala is one of the most important places to me because it has the shrines of Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas, the grandsons of our Prophet Mohammed and two of 12 Imams followed by Shiite Muslims. I'm also a descendant of Imam Hussein, which makes the whole thing very special for me. For a Shiite, visiting those shrines has no equivalent in America.
Driving from Tucson to San Diego is something I never imagined I would do, not even in my dreams. I had always watched American movies with yearning and wide-eyed wonder. Flashbacks from those movies come every now and then to my mind, especially when I contemplate things around me here.
I had great company on the trip with Lew Serviss, who drove us all the way back and forth to California. He's like my guide here in Tucson; I call him "my American father" as a way of respect to others, as I learned in Iraq, but he's really more like a friend. As we set out, several Iraqis gathered near my apartment to say goodbye. They pleaded with me not to stay long in California because they depend on me for many things like translation and interpreting.
The view along the highway between Tucson and San Diego was much the same stark desert landscape of cactus, brush, and mesquite. Interstate 8 rolls out of Arizona straight toward San Diego, which was my destination to see cousins I had never met. We made just one stop, in a tiny town along the highway to have burritos for lunch. It was the first time--one of many "firsts" on this journey--that I had Mexican food. It was similar to Iraqi food--uncomfortably heavy.
The mountains just east of San Diego were funny. They seemed to be composed of clusters of big rocks that looked like they were glued one to another. The music we had in the car was even funnier: Tom Waits with his hoarse voice talking about Jesus--"The Lord is a very, very busy man." There's no way we can mention our God in such a comical manner in our music--you dare not even think about it! Still, driving through this prehistoric-looking area listening to this crazy voice singing an outlandish song made me double over with laughter.
I took several naps on the way to San Diego. I'm still yawning my head off; I think my body is thirsty for sleep because I really had few hours of sleeping in Baghdad for the last five years. Even when I did sleep, it was a restless sleep.
San Diego was very beautiful; it made me think of Baghdad. It's almost impossible for me to see new things here in America and not compare it with home. Though California was amazing in many ways--a pretty state with clean streets and really fresh air (the breeze was just awesome)--nothing could replace the streets and friendly people of Baghdad. They say that people are friendly here in Tucson, and they are, but in Baghdad people are kind to such an extent that you could knock on any door and be given food and refuge for the asking. You would walk in the street and dozens of strangers would greet you.
We stopped in front of my cousin's home. She came out to greet me. It was the first time I'd seen her since she left Iraq when I was five years old in 1991 with her family on an American chopper after the Gulf War. When she hugged me, a special Iraqi warmth overwhelmed me. It was as though Iraq with its old civilization and two rivers had hugged me.
Lew and I were exhausted. We chatted with the family. In the Iraqi manner we were served Iraqi sweets and strong tea. My cousin wasn't satisfied merely offering sweets; she decided to serve "a simple banquet," as she described it, of okra broth with lamb and tomato paste, rice, and chicken. Fortunately, Lew was satisfied with it.
I think a lot in my daily life about almost everything that happens to me or to others. A couple hours after the heavy Iraqi meal, Lew had to drive on to Los Angeles to see his son; I would join them the next day. I sat after he left thinking for a while: Why can't people get along and live in peace? Why can't my country have a normal existence? Why is it so hard to get things right if we want to do them right? Why couldn't the Americans have done more of the right things in Iraq?
I spent more than 24 hours in San Diego with my relatives. I got to see the city. It has a big Iraqi Chaldean society--bigger and better than even the original Catholic society in Iraq. It's the American influence, which seems to be a good influence and a bad influence at the same time. I heard that Iraqis deal with drugs there and some are involved in gangs, while other Iraqis care only about their daily life like most Americans. San Diego was a beautiful city but I think Tucson is better.
I took a train to Los Angeles, seeing some beautiful Southern California scenery along the way. The train was comfortable, and this, too, reminded me of Iraq. We had one of the first train stations in the Middle East. We had the Baghdad-Berlin railroad, but I think it's one of the worst now because of the wars.
I stepped out of the train and I wanted to yell to let my Iraqi friends back home know that I was in Los Angeles. Lew was there to meet me with his son, Ben, whom I called my brother since I have made them my American family. We walked around Little Tokyo and I was thinking it would be funny to have a Little Baghdad, too--but a brand new Baghdad, not the current one.
We drove to Hollywood. Lew's nephew B.J. had invited us to see "Star Trek" in the theater where he works. Watching a movie in a theater was the best part of the whole trip--it was yet another first, my first time in a real movie theater as an adult. "Star Trek" was awesome. And in the middle of the movie, I experienced my first California earthquake. We thought at first that the rumbling, rolling floor was some amazing special effect. I left that cinema very happy; I was in Hollywood, man!
We ended the trip in a weird restaurant where you can eat and play silly video games at the same time right at your table. Our waitress was amusing because she had a special way of saying "All rii-iiight" that was like a melody.
I got back to Tucson and I was so eager to see it again as if I had been abroad and Tucson was my real home.
Mudhafar al-Husseini worked at The New York Times in Baghdad for two years, reporting news stories and writing blog entries as well as acting as a fixer and translator for other reporters. Before that, from 2004 to 2006, he was a translator for the U.S. Army in Iraq. He graduated from Baghdad University in 2007 with a degree in English literature. Now living in the United States, he is updating us on this new chapter in his life.
I couldn't say anything. I didn't want to blink and waste a single moment of looking at the beach and the Pacific. I had never seen an ocean. If I could set up a tent on the sand, I thought, I could stay there forever. I have loved the seas, rivers, and oceans since I studied them when I was a child. Now here I was standing on the beach at Santa Monica, watching the waves of the biggest ocean shattering on the California coast.
Mudhafar al-HusseiniTwo months ago, I was on my way from Baghdad heading south to visit the holy city of Karbala; two weeks ago, I was on my way from Arizona heading west to California. No comparison at all.
During the first trip, I was trying to say farewell to every dear place and city in Iraq. Karbala is one of the most important places to me because it has the shrines of Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas, the grandsons of our Prophet Mohammed and two of 12 Imams followed by Shiite Muslims. I'm also a descendant of Imam Hussein, which makes the whole thing very special for me. For a Shiite, visiting those shrines has no equivalent in America.
Driving from Tucson to San Diego is something I never imagined I would do, not even in my dreams. I had always watched American movies with yearning and wide-eyed wonder. Flashbacks from those movies come every now and then to my mind, especially when I contemplate things around me here.
I had great company on the trip with Lew Serviss, who drove us all the way back and forth to California. He's like my guide here in Tucson; I call him "my American father" as a way of respect to others, as I learned in Iraq, but he's really more like a friend. As we set out, several Iraqis gathered near my apartment to say goodbye. They pleaded with me not to stay long in California because they depend on me for many things like translation and interpreting.
The view along the highway between Tucson and San Diego was much the same stark desert landscape of cactus, brush, and mesquite. Interstate 8 rolls out of Arizona straight toward San Diego, which was my destination to see cousins I had never met. We made just one stop, in a tiny town along the highway to have burritos for lunch. It was the first time--one of many "firsts" on this journey--that I had Mexican food. It was similar to Iraqi food--uncomfortably heavy.
The mountains just east of San Diego were funny. They seemed to be composed of clusters of big rocks that looked like they were glued one to another. The music we had in the car was even funnier: Tom Waits with his hoarse voice talking about Jesus--"The Lord is a very, very busy man." There's no way we can mention our God in such a comical manner in our music--you dare not even think about it! Still, driving through this prehistoric-looking area listening to this crazy voice singing an outlandish song made me double over with laughter.
I took several naps on the way to San Diego. I'm still yawning my head off; I think my body is thirsty for sleep because I really had few hours of sleeping in Baghdad for the last five years. Even when I did sleep, it was a restless sleep.
San Diego was very beautiful; it made me think of Baghdad. It's almost impossible for me to see new things here in America and not compare it with home. Though California was amazing in many ways--a pretty state with clean streets and really fresh air (the breeze was just awesome)--nothing could replace the streets and friendly people of Baghdad. They say that people are friendly here in Tucson, and they are, but in Baghdad people are kind to such an extent that you could knock on any door and be given food and refuge for the asking. You would walk in the street and dozens of strangers would greet you.
We stopped in front of my cousin's home. She came out to greet me. It was the first time I'd seen her since she left Iraq when I was five years old in 1991 with her family on an American chopper after the Gulf War. When she hugged me, a special Iraqi warmth overwhelmed me. It was as though Iraq with its old civilization and two rivers had hugged me.
Lew and I were exhausted. We chatted with the family. In the Iraqi manner we were served Iraqi sweets and strong tea. My cousin wasn't satisfied merely offering sweets; she decided to serve "a simple banquet," as she described it, of okra broth with lamb and tomato paste, rice, and chicken. Fortunately, Lew was satisfied with it.
I think a lot in my daily life about almost everything that happens to me or to others. A couple hours after the heavy Iraqi meal, Lew had to drive on to Los Angeles to see his son; I would join them the next day. I sat after he left thinking for a while: Why can't people get along and live in peace? Why can't my country have a normal existence? Why is it so hard to get things right if we want to do them right? Why couldn't the Americans have done more of the right things in Iraq?
I spent more than 24 hours in San Diego with my relatives. I got to see the city. It has a big Iraqi Chaldean society--bigger and better than even the original Catholic society in Iraq. It's the American influence, which seems to be a good influence and a bad influence at the same time. I heard that Iraqis deal with drugs there and some are involved in gangs, while other Iraqis care only about their daily life like most Americans. San Diego was a beautiful city but I think Tucson is better.
I took a train to Los Angeles, seeing some beautiful Southern California scenery along the way. The train was comfortable, and this, too, reminded me of Iraq. We had one of the first train stations in the Middle East. We had the Baghdad-Berlin railroad, but I think it's one of the worst now because of the wars.
I stepped out of the train and I wanted to yell to let my Iraqi friends back home know that I was in Los Angeles. Lew was there to meet me with his son, Ben, whom I called my brother since I have made them my American family. We walked around Little Tokyo and I was thinking it would be funny to have a Little Baghdad, too--but a brand new Baghdad, not the current one.
We drove to Hollywood. Lew's nephew B.J. had invited us to see "Star Trek" in the theater where he works. Watching a movie in a theater was the best part of the whole trip--it was yet another first, my first time in a real movie theater as an adult. "Star Trek" was awesome. And in the middle of the movie, I experienced my first California earthquake. We thought at first that the rumbling, rolling floor was some amazing special effect. I left that cinema very happy; I was in Hollywood, man!
We ended the trip in a weird restaurant where you can eat and play silly video games at the same time right at your table. Our waitress was amusing because she had a special way of saying "All rii-iiight" that was like a melody.
I got back to Tucson and I was so eager to see it again as if I had been abroad and Tucson was my real home.
Mudhafar al-Husseini worked at The New York Times in Baghdad for two years, reporting news stories and writing blog entries as well as acting as a fixer and translator for other reporters. Before that, from 2004 to 2006, he was a translator for the U.S. Army in Iraq. He graduated from Baghdad University in 2007 with a degree in English literature. Now living in the United States, he is updating us on this new chapter in his life.
Radio Lumière in Haiti loses three journalists in quake
By Jean Roland Chery/CPJ Haiti consultant
Radio Lumière has officially published the names of three of its journalists who died in the January 12 earthquake in Haiti: Jude Marcellus, Marlene Joseph, and Ginord Desplumes. They died under the rubble of collapsed buildings. It took a month for Radio Lumière officials to decide to publish the names of the three victims.
“The death of these colleagues is a great loss to the staff,” said the station’s newsroom director, Gesner Toussaint. Radio Lumière is one of media outlets in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, that has suffered the worst human loss during the disaster, Toussaint told CPJ from Haiti. The station is the voice of the country’s Protestant churches. Its main studio in Carrefour (west of Port-au-Prince) suffered no serious damage. On January 16, engineers from the U.S.-based World Gospel Mission came to the area to assess the damage to the station’s equipment.
Since the earthquake, Radio Lumière has been operating from a makeshift tent, like most media outlets in the Haitian capital. With great difficulty, it is resuming its daily news editions. With the death of journalist Marlene Joseph, the midday news editions have stopped, Toussaint told CPJ. However, Radio Lumière continues to relay news reports three times a day in Creole from the U.S.-backed Voice of America. "The loss of our three journalists deeply hinders the operation of the newsroom," said Toussaint.
Radio Lumière is facing a deep financial crisis, said Reverend Varnel Jeune. According to Jeune, the station’s reserve funds are exhausted and its journalists are receiving only half their salaries.
The earthquake has completely changed the activities that were expected to mark the 50th anniversary of the Haitian gospel radio station, which was founded in 1959 by David Hart, an American evangelist from the West Indies Mission. Radio Lumière reaches 90 percent of the Haitian territory. Broadcasting on both AM and FM, the central studio is connected by a network of local radio stations to the 10 geographical departments in the country. Radio Lumière launched the Télé Lumière channel in 1999. Its programs are usually broadcast in Creole.
Editor’s Note: If you have any information on journalists and media outlets in Haitiplease post a comment below or notify us via e-mail msalazar@cpj.org, or Twitter: @HelpJournalists. We are collecting funds that will go directly to Haitian journalists. If you’d like to make a contribution, please click this link and enter “Haiti” in the “Notes” section on the second page
Radio Lumière has officially published the names of three of its journalists who died in the January 12 earthquake in Haiti: Jude Marcellus, Marlene Joseph, and Ginord Desplumes. They died under the rubble of collapsed buildings. It took a month for Radio Lumière officials to decide to publish the names of the three victims.
“The death of these colleagues is a great loss to the staff,” said the station’s newsroom director, Gesner Toussaint. Radio Lumière is one of media outlets in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, that has suffered the worst human loss during the disaster, Toussaint told CPJ from Haiti. The station is the voice of the country’s Protestant churches. Its main studio in Carrefour (west of Port-au-Prince) suffered no serious damage. On January 16, engineers from the U.S.-based World Gospel Mission came to the area to assess the damage to the station’s equipment.
Since the earthquake, Radio Lumière has been operating from a makeshift tent, like most media outlets in the Haitian capital. With great difficulty, it is resuming its daily news editions. With the death of journalist Marlene Joseph, the midday news editions have stopped, Toussaint told CPJ. However, Radio Lumière continues to relay news reports three times a day in Creole from the U.S.-backed Voice of America. "The loss of our three journalists deeply hinders the operation of the newsroom," said Toussaint.
Radio Lumière is facing a deep financial crisis, said Reverend Varnel Jeune. According to Jeune, the station’s reserve funds are exhausted and its journalists are receiving only half their salaries.
The earthquake has completely changed the activities that were expected to mark the 50th anniversary of the Haitian gospel radio station, which was founded in 1959 by David Hart, an American evangelist from the West Indies Mission. Radio Lumière reaches 90 percent of the Haitian territory. Broadcasting on both AM and FM, the central studio is connected by a network of local radio stations to the 10 geographical departments in the country. Radio Lumière launched the Télé Lumière channel in 1999. Its programs are usually broadcast in Creole.
Editor’s Note: If you have any information on journalists and media outlets in Haitiplease post a comment below or notify us via e-mail msalazar@cpj.org, or Twitter: @HelpJournalists. We are collecting funds that will go directly to Haitian journalists. If you’d like to make a contribution, please click this link and enter “Haiti” in the “Notes” section on the second page
Journalists fleeing Haiti in aftermath of quake
By Jean Roland Chery/CPJ Haiti consultant
Thousands of Haitians, including many journalists, have fled the country since the January 12 earthquake. Ronald Leon, a veteran journalist who worked with Haiti’s National Television station, Radio Caraibes and Tropic FM, has now settled in Florida, leaving behind his family and his journalism training school, Ameritech, which was destroyed in the earthquake. Its last class had 15 students.
Leon told CPJ that his school, in the north of Port-au-Prince, had been devastated and looted. The computers that were not damaged in the natural disaster were stolen by gangs of looters, he said. From his new home in the United States, Leon said he intends to continue his work as a journalist, informing the Haitian community in Florida. Leon’s home in Port-au-Prince was completely destroyed.
Linda Jean Gilles, a presenter and reporter with Radio Lumière, also decided to leave Haiti. Traumatized by the earthquake and the loss of three of her colleagues at Radio Lumière, she has now settled in Boston. Gesnel Toussaint, the news director for Radio Lumière, told CPJ that he understands why journalists have decided to leave the country. Everything has to be begun again from scratch, he said, adding that the working conditions of journalists are so bad that those who continue to practice are “real fighters.” Toussaint, who has just returned to Haiti after spending two weeks in New York, said that he may also emigrate in the near future.
Some journalists who were seriously injured left Haiti in search of medical care abroad. In addition to Yves Adler, a journalist for Amicale FM and National Radio of Haiti, who received assistance from CPJ and is now in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo, journalist Sony Destine of Radio Echo 2000 has also moved to the Dominican Republic.
Guyler Delva, secretary general of the Haitian press group SOS Journalistes, said that more journalists will leave Haiti in the days to come. In many cases, media outlets cannot afford to pay their staffs and the country’s overall economic situation is catastrophic, he said. An exodus of Haitian journalists would be a bad blow to Haiti, Delva said.
Editor’s Note: If you have any information on journalists and media outlets in Haitiplease post a comment below or notify us via e-mail msalazar@cpj.org, or Twitter: @HelpJournalists. We are collecting funds that will go directly to Haitian journalists.
Thousands of Haitians, including many journalists, have fled the country since the January 12 earthquake. Ronald Leon, a veteran journalist who worked with Haiti’s National Television station, Radio Caraibes and Tropic FM, has now settled in Florida, leaving behind his family and his journalism training school, Ameritech, which was destroyed in the earthquake. Its last class had 15 students.
Leon told CPJ that his school, in the north of Port-au-Prince, had been devastated and looted. The computers that were not damaged in the natural disaster were stolen by gangs of looters, he said. From his new home in the United States, Leon said he intends to continue his work as a journalist, informing the Haitian community in Florida. Leon’s home in Port-au-Prince was completely destroyed.
Linda Jean Gilles, a presenter and reporter with Radio Lumière, also decided to leave Haiti. Traumatized by the earthquake and the loss of three of her colleagues at Radio Lumière, she has now settled in Boston. Gesnel Toussaint, the news director for Radio Lumière, told CPJ that he understands why journalists have decided to leave the country. Everything has to be begun again from scratch, he said, adding that the working conditions of journalists are so bad that those who continue to practice are “real fighters.” Toussaint, who has just returned to Haiti after spending two weeks in New York, said that he may also emigrate in the near future.
Some journalists who were seriously injured left Haiti in search of medical care abroad. In addition to Yves Adler, a journalist for Amicale FM and National Radio of Haiti, who received assistance from CPJ and is now in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo, journalist Sony Destine of Radio Echo 2000 has also moved to the Dominican Republic.
Guyler Delva, secretary general of the Haitian press group SOS Journalistes, said that more journalists will leave Haiti in the days to come. In many cases, media outlets cannot afford to pay their staffs and the country’s overall economic situation is catastrophic, he said. An exodus of Haitian journalists would be a bad blow to Haiti, Delva said.
Editor’s Note: If you have any information on journalists and media outlets in Haitiplease post a comment below or notify us via e-mail msalazar@cpj.org, or Twitter: @HelpJournalists. We are collecting funds that will go directly to Haitian journalists.
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