Bruce Wolman writes:
Howard Schneider has at last settled in as the Washington Post's new Jerusalem Bureau Chief. Hence it was finally time for a trip over to the Occupied Territories to cover the other half of his beat. Setting high reportorial expectations during this critical transition period in Israeli-Palestinian relations, Schneider investigated the core of the conflict: creating normalcy for West Bank Palestinians.
Check out Schneider's in-depth review of the Wadi al-Nees Blue Eagle soccer team ("Soccer, a Link to Normalcy For West Bank Palestinians") and the status of Palestinian Football under one of Yassir Arafat's former security thugs, Jabril Rajoub.
Schneider himself trained for the important Jerusalem mission by serving as the Post's fitness writer. He shared the by-line of WaPo's renowned MisFits column. In his farewell missive last month, he reprimanded himself and readers:
1. It's all our own fault.
2. We're lazy.
3. We're impatient and unrealistic.
4. The process does work.
2. We're lazy.
3. We're impatient and unrealistic.
4. The process does work.
Can you conjure Schneider's final words once his Jerusalem assignment is up?
Postscript:
Weiss to Wolman: I want to remove the implication that MisFits was not appropriate training for Jerusalem, inasmuch as I believe that we need more commonsensical reporting from I/P, and expertise is not the only value.
Wolman: My
point is the opposite. Sending a business & fitness reporter to
cover I-P at this point in time is a disservice to readers. WaPo is one of the two
leading sources in the US for international news, and one of only a
handful of papers with reporters on the ground in I-P. You would want
somebody with more experience if experience is what your brand is
offering.
point is the opposite. Sending a business & fitness reporter to
cover I-P at this point in time is a disservice to readers. WaPo is one of the two
leading sources in the US for international news, and one of only a
handful of papers with reporters on the ground in I-P. You would want
somebody with more experience if experience is what your brand is
offering.
Previously I was hard on Schneider
because I assumed he was an Israeli stringer the Post had picked up. Now I understand he is relatively clueless and not doing such a bad job
for a ME virgin.
because I assumed he was an Israeli stringer the Post had picked up. Now I understand he is relatively clueless and not doing such a bad job
for a ME virgin.
