On Demand
Bhutto Assasinated
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Kiran Khalid, a Pakistani-American television reporter. talks about Benazir Bhutto's assassination.
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Comments
it's a shame we have to hear our news of the Bhuto assassination based on the support of the British taxpayer (from the BBC) interspersed with pledge requests.
i'd feel more generous if public radio in this country were as "public" as it is in, say Britain.
i'm looking for public broadcast leaders to start making the claim it's time for public funding.
it's truly a sad day for democracy.
WNYC having a pledge drive during this important news event-a chance at peace and hope have been murdered-you have lost all sense of your own importance. I am disgusted and embarrassed.
I don't think you're schedule is so inflexible you couldn't have waited a day and been respectful.
Thanks for showing your true colors-I no longer feel obligated to give you a dime!
Truly disgusted,
Pamela Brandt
Martyr or Machiavellian?
The passing of time now will reveal the answer.
No matter, certainly BRAVE........."eyes wide open" as to the perils of her return.
A sad day for democracy everywhere
I want to add my outrage and disgust to those of Mr. McGowan and Ms. Brandt, that WNYC would overtly and unashamedly exploit the death of a major international leader to fundraise. Especially in light of the major endowment funds that WNYC received not long ago, it would seem even more respectful and critical that the fundrasing effort be suspended during this time. At the very least out of respect for the large and growing Pakistani community in NYC.
WNYC's pledge drives have become irritatingly more extended in recent years ("post-drive thank yous" "pre-drive 'buy a day pitches'"), but this goes beyond the bounds of operating necessity and into the realm of crass and cruel.
Be embarrassed, at the least.
i'm sure pam would not have felt any obligation to give any way.
what more is there to say, she's dead. any news that comes in they will report it.
you want to hear people repeat their nonnews over and over tune in to CNN and don't forget to close your eyes durning the ads
WNYC has really dropped the ball on this one. I'm switching to the BBC for this story. You really just need to admit that some things are more important than a pledge drive that can always be rescheduled. I can assure you that many potential donors are tuning out.
I agree with callers above. Combining the Bhuto's death with a fund raiser is distasteful. It should be stopped.
Agreed. Honestly, it seems almost like Bhutto's death is being made into a hook to tie it into the pledge drive. It must be really awkward to have to do that spiel in such a context...
Kudos to those being critical of WNYC's continuing to beg for money instead of covering this insanely important story properly. Pledge drives are so pathetic. Channel 13 is worse in my opinion. I used to work in the same building with them and one of their annoying talking heads got on the elevator with me. I said "hey you're always asking me for money, how about a little give and take? I'm a little light today."
But to get onto the topic... I came into my job this morning and opened up the WNYC website and saw the headline. I had to read it twice to really process it and I almost yelled "Oh my God!" and one of my co-workers came to see what was wrong...
I was shocked and deeply saddened by this. I mean, I didn't think she was as great a person as a lot of people made her out to be, but I think when anybody is killed in this kind of political violence, it's a tragedy. And it also means that a politically unstable nuclear power will only become increasingly so.
A bit dissappointed - So much to discuss here about the future of Pakistan, and the world. Let's change our agenda, WNYC, and let this comments page, at least, follow with the topic of news.
This might be a naive question, but does Musharraf have access to people who would be willing to blow themselves up? I mean, if he were an Islamic radical, that would be one thing. But as a relatively secular leader and former head of the army, how would he directly or indirectly find someone to kill themselves in such a way to get rid of his political rivals? Does the army or segments of the army have such connections?
Brian, why do you keep referring to the possibility of the tainted term: "conspiracy theories" in regards to this event? Is it really hard to believe that this is a political assassination? What else would it be? Doesn't this kind of event happen all the time in this region of the world? Why keep hinting at "conspiracy theories" in a tone that already dismisses their possibility?
The irony about conspiracy theories... or rather people's reaction to conspiracy theories is that there are all sorts of conspiracies that we take for granted as being true. I mean, when a military coup occurs, nobody ever thinks that was a random event or an accident. Somebody had to plan it. Somebody had to put it into motion. That's a conspiracy! 9/11... most people accept that a conspiracy of Islamic extremists conspired to attack landmarks in the USA using commercial airliners. Another conspiracy. Conspiracies are certainly real, and many of them we accept as true. Of course, that doesn't mean any proposed conspiracy is necessarily true. Sometimes a conspiracy becomes self-evident. Sometimes they don't, and sometimes they're just figments of the imagination based on scraps of misinterpretted evidence.
It is a sad thing.
Regarding assassination today–your guest wasn't sure how bullets would have penetrated the bullet resistent glass--I saw footage that appears to be well in advance of the assassination attempt, and her people appeared to be using poor security procedures, i.e. opening both doors on the same side simultaneously, and the progress of her entourage to and from her vehicle was poorly controlled.
I admire her courage, but wonder how she expected to live without concentrating more of her resources toward even these basic security procedures.
What's weird to me about this fund-raising business is that I sent in a check to WNYC at the very beginning of this month and they haven't cashed it yet. That combined with the crassness about this particular day's begging leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
It is a sad day when the station that I respect the most cannot drop it's fundraising drive to cover an international story. Bhutto's assassination is an attempt to silence the voice of democracy. I turn to WNYC to hear those voices. And today I heard what I always hear: money. Brian, I am becoming producer of the day: that is the topic to cover, and soon!
This event will only make Pakistan stronger. While Bhutto had her flaws, she had her supporters. As Madison used to say: we need more factions. The Pakistani people struggle for democracy will continue. They will, as all the democracies in this world, preserver.
I don't know why I'm surprised by the news of Bhutto's death. But I was surprised that WNYC went ahead with the fundraising drive. This could easily enough have been delayed in order to show respect.
I will OF COURSE continue to donate to WNYC, just as I did when I was young and broke. It's a great station, one seriously tacky mistake won't sway my opinion. But I seriously hope that Brian and company have the sense to understand that fundraising at this time was a crass, crass mistake and disrespectful to the Pakistani-American community.
I think the part that was worst of all was that they tried to weave discussing the issue into the fundraising discussion... I mean, if they'd just avoided the subject altogether except for the designated news time, it would've actually been BETTER. But when you hear them saying "Oh, this is a tragic event, and we cover tragic events year round, so please give generously..." it's extremely distasteful.
How much money do you really need???? I feel like it open season for fundraising without regard to those of us who already give! I want to hear more news on the Bhutto assasination.
I was shocked when I heard the apalling news on Bhutto's assassination this morning. I admire her for her personal and political courage she had despite the assassination attempt on her person earlier in October. Although she was murdered, the millions of voices desiring democracy and change in her home country will not be silenced.
I can't believe WNYC continued to ask for money in light of the assassination. The fundraiser should have been postponed.
I was truly saddened by the news of Bhutto's death. I think she knew what would most likely happen which made her return home both compelling and frightening. Bhutto was not a saint but she may have been the closest thing we had to reasonable leadership in the region.
May she rest in peace.
I too am shocked and dismayed at WNYC's continuing the pledge drive during this tragic and important event. The WNYC I used to know was the one that suspended a pledge drive when Leonard Bernstein passed away. The management at that time recognized the importance of the event to the culture, the city and the world, and saw fit to honor an important figure rather than beg for money. Laura Walker owes all of WNYC's listeners an apology for such a crass demonstration.
A damn shame WNYC is using Bhutto's assasination to shill for funds. Couldn't you have moved the one-day drive to Friday? You're no better than the commercial broadcasters you disdain.
Though I knew of the threats on her life, I was still shocked and grieved by the death of Benazir Bhutto. Though I have admittedly never been a supporter of the lady whose 2 terms as prime minister were replete with government inaction and corruption, I nonetheless admired her intellect, her principles and her unwavering courage. She was a role model for all Pakistani women that a modern, secular, progressive woman could be head of a Muslim nation. I don't know what will happen to the PPP in the immense void left by her death and I don't know what options are left for the beleagured people of my homeland. But I pray that this act will strengthen their resolve to battle the poisonous forces of religous extremism.
This thread is closed.
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