Rory Carroll-Maher
Rory Carroll-Maher (pen name Rory Carroll) is an Irish journalist working for The Guardian. Born in Dublin, Carroll is a graduate of Blackrock College, Trinity College Dublin, and Dublin City University. [1] He reported for The Guardian from Rome (1999 - 2002) and Johannesburg (2002 - 2005), before volunteering to work in Baghdad from January 2005. From 2007 (perhaps earlier) he was based in The Guardian's Caracas bureau. His articles in The Guardian usually appear as written by Rory Carroll. [2]
Contents
Abduction and release
On 19 October 2005 Carroll was abducted after carrying out an interview in Baghdad. The interview had been arranged with the assistance of the Baghdad office of Moqtada al-Sadr. Carroll was released unharmed by his captors on 20 October. [3]
Venezuela Coverage
In 2007, Carroll started reporting from Caracas, Venezuela. His reporting has generally been quite critical of Hugo Chávez and the social revolution taking place in Venezuela. He sets out to report "both good and bad things" going on in Venezuela, but certainly he downplays the positive developments and emphasizes the negative ones. [4] [5] He has characterised Chávez as a buffoon seeking to impose a "Marxist-Leninist" regime together with a cult of personality. [6] His first reports from Venezuela dealt with the closure of the broadcasting side of RCTV. All his articles about this topic attacked the partial closure of the TV station while (1) not mentioning RCTV's deeply hostile nature, [7] and (2) not mentioning the US meddling in the TV station. [8]
Informal Diaries
Beginning 20 May 2008, Carroll started a series of Caracas Diaries which treat a variety of topics in an informal way, often attacking Chávez, and in general writing "humorously" about Latin American issues. [9] The Venezuela Informtion Centre - UK stated:
- In a series of 'Caracas Diary' articles published in the Guardian over the past week ... Rory Carroll continues his unrelenting criticism of Hugo Chavez and of Venezuela's progressive policies. Carroll exploits the 'diary' form to take even more licence than usual to depart from anything resembling objective reporting. The articles adopt a particularly unpleasant tone, in parts cynical and patronising, elsewhere ranging from sneering to smearing. He particularly misrepresents the London-Caracas oil deal and completely fails to acknowledge the seriousness of the recent US incursion into Venezuelan airspace or the sinister implications of the Milton Friedman prize for 'freedom', worth US$500,000, being awarded to Jon Goicochea, the right-wing student leader. Instead, he sees these as suitable subjects for a particularly puerile form of 'humorous' comment.
...
The Caracas Diary column is a gross example of superficial, snide and patronising journalism. It caricatures people in Latin America who are working to change their societies for the better against immense pressure from the United States government. Why isn't the Guardian running a column poking fun at the people who are doing real harm in the world such as President George W. Bush? [10]
Affiliations
References, Resources and Contact
Notes
- ↑ 'Guardian reporter missing in Iraq ', BBC website, 19 October, 2005. (Accessed 8 April, 2009)
- ↑ Rory Carroll, 'How I never quite fell for South Africa', The Guardian, 15 August, 2006. (Accessed 8 April, 2009)
- ↑ Rory Carroll, 'Kidnap in Baghdad', The Guardian, 22 October, 2005. (Accessed 8 April, 2009)
- ↑ Rory Carroll, 'Where's the respect, Chávez asks as he seizes dissected cadavers', The Guardian, 10 March, 2009. (Accessed 8 April, 2009)
- ↑ Rory Carroll, 'Students march against Chávez', The Guardian, 10 November 2007. (Accessed 8 April, 2009)
- ↑ Rory Carroll, 'Looney Tunes in Caracas', The Guardian (Comment is Free), 25 August, 2007.
- ↑ Stephen Lendman, 'Venezuela's RCTV and its Acts of Sedition', venezuelanalysis.org, 25 January, 2007. (Accessed 8 April, 2009)
- ↑ Rory Carroll, 'Changing channels', The Guardian, 22 June, 2007.
- ↑ The diaries in question:
- ↑ VICUK, news-email, 25 May 2008
