cramer@SUN.COM (08/24/86)
Both Jeff Myers and Larry Campbell seem to have missed the rather elementary point that I tried to make regarding Alexander Cockburn. Cockburn, currently a columnist for the Nation (among other publications), was fired from his post at the Village Voice after it was discovered by his editor that Cockburn was under a $10,000 contract with the Institute for Arab Studies. The Institute, which incorporated in 1979 as a "scientific, educational, cultural, and charitable organization", is a psuedo-academic propaganda mill in the service of the anti-Zionist cause. It is active politically; for example, in September 1982 it co-sponsored an anti-Israel demonstration in Boston. In August 1982, Cockburn was given $10,000 by the IAS for research which was to culminate in a book about the 1982 Lebanon war. Cockburn never wrote the book, and insisted, when the "research grant" was discovered by his editor, that he was just about to give it back! (This after holding on to the money for a bit less than a year and half). Now, what I was trying to suggest in my posting was that Mr. Cockburn, who has written at length on the evil influence of filthy capitalist lucre on the profession of journalism, may just be a bit of a hypocrite. This suggestion evidently confused Messrs. Myers and Campbell, with Myers retorting "you must believe, Sam, that anti-capitalists should just starve rather than make money", and Campbell, after finding my writing "bizarre", asking > What does "the influence of the evil capitalist system" (or decrying > same) have to with being hired by an Arab cultural organization for > research? Allow me to restate my point for the benefit of these gentlemen: Cockburn accepted a non-trivial sum of money, which he did not disclose to his editor, for doing "research" which was meant to end in publication. He has complained in the past of the pernicious effect of money on American journalism. He is a hypocrite. This all seems straightforward enough to me; it may, however, be a bit too unembellished for readers of the "Nation", accustomed as they are to the lurid and byzantine tales of capitalist and imperialist conspiracy which appear in that magazine. PS: Mr. Meyers has asked for references on this matter. I advise him to take a look at the "Village Voice" of January 24, 1984 for the editor's statement on Cockburn's suspension. -------
campbell@maynard.UUCP (09/03/86)
cramer@sun.com writes: >Both Jeff Myers and Larry Campbell seem to have missed the rather >elementary point that I tried to make regarding Alexander Cockburn. >Cockburn, currently a columnist for the Nation (among other >publications), was fired from his post at the Village Voice after it >was discovered by his editor that Cockburn was under a $10,000 >contract with the Institute for Arab Studies. > ... >Now, what I was trying to suggest in my posting was that Mr. >Cockburn, who has written at length on the evil influence of filthy >capitalist lucre on the profession of journalism, may just be a bit >of a hypocrite. Somehow I find it difficult to find any of this particularly evil. Are socialists living and working in a capitalist country not allowed to be paid? Are they supposed to feel "hypocritical" for accepting money? Should Cockburn have refused to accept paychecks from the Voice? I am really confused here. Which part of Cockburn's actions was wrong? - Accepting the money in the first place? - Omitting to tell his editor about it? - Failing to write the promised book? - Or accepting money from greasy Arabs? >Allow me to restate my point for the benefit of these gentlemen: >Cockburn accepted a non-trivial sum of money, which he did not >disclose to his editor, for doing "research" which was meant to end >in publication. He has complained in the past of the pernicious >effect of money on American journalism. He is a hypocrite. Oh come now. Somehow we are expected to believe that accepting money from a cause WITH WHICH COCKBURN IS ALREADY IDENTIFIED is going to sway or influence him "perniciously", and that this is hence evil. I can't find anything more insidious than procrastination in Cockburn's actions. Now, if the money was from The Heritage Foundation, or the Jewish Defense League, or the Cato Institute, that would be pernicious... Interestingly, I first heard of Cockburn in Alan Lupo's series of articles in The Boston Phoenix a few years back. I remember thinking at the time, "What's Lupo so exercised about? So he never got around to writing a book. What's the big deal? Lupo must have some kind of grudge here or something." Later, when Cockburn began writing for The Nation (to which I was already a subscriber), I discovered that (1) he's a superb writer, and (2) he's pro-Palestinian, which explains why Lupo would foam at the mouth about him. -- Larry Campbell The Boston Software Works, Inc. ARPA: campbell%maynard.uucp@harvard.ARPA 120 Fulton Street, Boston MA UUCP: {alliant,wjh12}!maynard!campbell (617) 367-6846 -------