Mr. Moderate

For a long time now, BBC reporter Alan Johnston has been held captive in Gaza. With the recent takeover of all of Gaza by the Hamas movement, Hamas has announced efforts to free Johnston. You can get the latest details on the BBC web site by clicking on the image.

The only way we can make good decisions is by relying upon facts, not propaganda or fantasy. Good reporters need to go into difficult situations to gather actual facts. Alan Johnston is just one of many brave reporters who has experienced personal tragedy due to his willingness to brave difficult circumstances. The group Reporters Without Borders keeps tab on those who suffer for daring to bring the truth to the public. As of this minute, that group reports that in 2007 (so far), 45 reporters have been killed, most of them (27) in Iraq. In addition, 125 reporters remain in prison for alleged crimes associated with their reporting. It seems like powerful interests find it to be better policy to imprison or kill the messenger than to fix the problem(s) that confront the people of the world. We must all do what we can to change this.