What I’m Reading
February 22, 2022
What I’m Reading returns with three picture stories and a fascinating read on the history of a particular news publication. The photo stories demonstrate strong journalism and reveal details of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the migration crisis at the Belarus-Polish border, and show a snowy kicker.
A Sad Tale in Pictures
We probably all remember the coverage of the hectic days and weeks of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last summer.
But maybe too many fresher events, paired with the business of the pandemic news cycle, have watered down our memories of the consequences for the Afghan people that the decision to bring home the NATO troops has caused.
The Los Angeles Times has an emotional, powerful, also graphic reminder. “A Times journalist’s diary inside the fall of Afghanistan” is a piece of journalism that everyone needs to digest.
Journalist Marcus Yam came to Afghanistan just before the American troops withdrew and witnessed the Taliban takeover play out over two months.
This story is a timeline spanning his entire stay, with pictures, observations, and context on what he’s witnessed.
You’ll find powerful pictures; emotional observations that document a part of history. Yam shows the confusion, the swiftness, the chaos around him. The uncertainty for him is striking, should a foreign journalist evacuate or stay and tell this story, bear witness?
Be warned, some graphic images await, but they always shine with empathy and integrity. Such pictures are a vital part of journalism — as sad and hard to digest as they may be. We need to look at the consequences of our leaders’ decisions (choices made back then, throughout the two decades, and now).
Yam also captured the little details no one thinks about when looking at such events from the outside. One example that stood out to me was how suitcases became scarce and valuables in themselves.
I could write many more lines advocating for this story, including my feelings about the unimaginably powerful pictures of the situation outside the airport. Or the scenes from daily life, which, despite the circumstances, still let the beauty of Afghani society, as many stories over the last decades have shown us, shimmer through.
But instead of getting carried away, I hope you give this gem a chance.
The Birth of a Publication
My curiosity gets tickled every time I stumble across a story about journalism history. I love stories about the evolution of the profession, the role of technical advancements, the breaking of norms. It’s a little bit of everything that makes Politico’s “An Oral History of When Politico Came to Capitol Hill” such a fascinating read.
In commemoration of its 15th anniversary, the publication tells the story of its founding. Interview snippets of key players reveal not only how Politico was received and fared during the early days. But also how politics learned to adapt to online news, blogs, and social media.
It’s a story about the advent of the 24/7 news cycle that landed in people’s pockets at a moment’s notice via the beep of a notification. It’s a story about how media and political establishments were slowly forced to adapt to the faster pace of digital news.
Aside from pure speed and delivery method, the collected interview snippets also reveal a publication that wanted to break away from traditions and take itself less seriously without compromising its trustworthiness.
As one might expect, there were skeptical, negative reactions, but there were also positive reactions from people who saw similarities to how sports was covered.
As important as progress is, I will never be able to shake a certain sadness of the loss of time to care for writing and making sure your story has been reported, researched, and polished to the highest standards. That’s one of the fundamental conundrums journalism faces. And will continue to face, in the digital age.
Nevertheless, this look at the founding days of Politico is a fascinating one that reveals the inner workings of a news publication, how it dared to be different, how that felt for the journalists doing the leg work, and how it felt for the politicians on Capitol Hill.
Migration System Remains Fragile
I started with a picture story, continued with a text story, and now, I’m coming back to pictures. The zReportage blog from the ZUMA Press agency tells an important story about migration in Europe. “Belarus Migration Game” features pictures by Sergei Bobylev, Maxim Guchek, Oksana Manchuk, Ramil Nasibulin, and Leonid Shcheglov. Karolina Kubik penned the words that introduce us to the situation.
It’s a story that documents the situation at the Polish-Belarus border, where EU politicians assume Belarus has lured migrants to the border with a false promise of easy access to the EU.
While the highpoint of the tensions has eased, many migrants remain near the border — a situation that shows how fragile the migration system is.
The images tell a story that Europe needs to see and witness. The pictures are important and strong. As a viewer, you see the harsh realities those migrants have been confronted with. Human fates caught between the lines of a political power play.
Besides the scenes from the border fences, the military presence, and the camp scenes, I liked the striking portraits and the warming humor (the picture that shows a man laughing while washing his face comes to mind — beautiful photography).
A Snowy Kicker
Snowstorms can be uplifting and disruptive affairs. They can quickly turn into elements of the winter season that cause inconveniences and more serious consequences.
But as an uplifting end to today’s recommendations, I found a collection of thoroughly enjoyable pictures from the streets of Washington D.C. The Los Angeles Times published a short story headlined “Photos: Snowstorm blankets D.C. area,” in which photographer Kent Nishimura captures an early January dusting of America’s capital.
I particularly enjoy the third and fourth pictures, which show people walking in the snow. The snow obscures the scene in the third one, which creates a dream-like atmosphere (I guess flash was used in this instance). Outstanding picture. The following picture is a fabulous wide-angle that puts the people against the Capitol in the background. Nice.
With that, I’ll leave you to your readings and hope you’ve found something of value today. I have fresh posts on journalism and photography coming soon. Until then, happy reading and viewing.
