Furore ensued after the 15 sailors captured by Iran sold their stories to the highest bidder. I am not against the former hostages making a few pound out of their experiences, the tabloids have been full of every Tom, Dick and Sally who had a story to tell over the last decade so it was to be expected really.
What i do expect to happen, and by all accounts is going to happen, is the twisted tales that are going to emanate courtesy of the MOD looking to cover their backs over the whole sordid adventure.
Stories of psychological torture and sub-human conditions look pretty pathetic when the latest pictures from Tehran show the 15 sitting around a table full of food laughing, joking and waving for the camera.
Yes, they probably were terrified and scared but compare their brief incarceration to those held at Guantanemo Bay or Abu Ghurayb and it puts things into perspective. Make your money but don't paint things as even a fraction of what some of the other hostages are having to deal with because they will not be sent back home in a new suit and clutching a goody bag.
2 comments:
Agree Lucy, their ordeal seemed to be more fear based than the kind of hardships compared to other hostages. I am not taking away the fact that for them and their families it would have been terrible, but it does not compare.
As for them being paid to tell their stories, as a hack I take exception to it. To me, when someone looks for the money to tell their story - especially one that is of such interest to the public - it devalues it instantly. The best stories are those truthfully told by someone who wants the public to know.
Putting money in the equation takes power away from them and allows the paper to sensationlise it to the point that it is no longer truthful. The culture of cash for stories does journalism no favours at all.
Yeah, what a great PR stunt for the radical Muslim faction. Never mind that the fifteen sailors weren't sighting down the barrel of an AK-47 at the Iranians at the time of their kidnapping.
Sad to see it's working in spades.
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