Monthly Archives: September 2020

Journalist

Peter Jackson, journalist and son of US Senator ‘Scoop’ Jackson, dies but his tweets continue

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Just as much of America entered a pandemic-induced lockdown in March, Peter Hardin Jackson, son of the late US Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson, has died at age 53 after a multi-year battle. against cancer.

But thanks to his widow, Laurie Werner, his Twitter feed lives on – in the same low-key, witty way that Peter Jackson played.

Many sons of politicians follow their fathers in electoral politics. Not Jackson. He was too humble and sarcastic, his curiosities too broad, to follow such a narrow path. But his friends found him brilliant and the most pleasant company one could keep.

Jackson spent the start of his career trying out screenwriting in Los Angeles before returning to Washington State and working on environmental issues, as well as writing speeches for two governors, Gary Locke and Christine Gregoire. .

He hit his stride once he moved full-time into the journalistic field, first on the Pacific Northwest Crosscut news website, and then as editor of the editorial page of the ‘Everett Daily Herald, the leading newspaper in his family’s longtime hometown.

As Jackson has been battling cancer since 2016, after enduring countless rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, Laurie said her descent into death “was very rapid,” adding, “We decided on March 11 to stop all treatment and he died 10 days later so we didn’t have a chance to seriously think about whether he wanted me to resume his treatment. [Twitter] feed it or remove it.

Not that she hadn’t tried to discuss it with him.

“I kept pissing him off before he got super sick. I thought to myself, “I should have your passwords; mine are all in this place, ”she said. “But it’s not organized that way. But luckily for me, he just connected everything on his computer [when he died], so I just went in and changed the passwords for Instagram and Twitter. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t lose access to them.

Shortly after President Trump’s election, Jackson started retweeting his most bizarre tweets, accompanied by the comment “You are a madman”. In the months leading up to his death, he offered a more robust Trump commentary, but for the most part, “You are a fool” was the extent of that.

After Jackson’s death, Laurie noticed that some of her friends and followers started tweeting “You Are Mad” in tribute to her late husband. “I thought, ‘I could keep doing this,’ she said.

But she was feeling a little strange about it, so she asked a few of Jackson’s friends what they thought of her idea. “They were like, ‘You should do this.'”

She did so, never straying from the retweet pattern of a “You’re a fool” line.

Her husband’s ability to make political jokes was considerable and, she says, “we weren’t the same that way. Unlike the people who took over Herman Cain’s account, I don’t want to take over his platform, ”she said, referring to the former presidential candidate’s still active Twitter thread. “But I feel like Peter wants me to keep doing this.”

Laurie found her takeover of her late husband’s Twitter account therapeutic. (“I just like browsing it,” she says.) And while she’s stuck with her Trump one-sentence retweet format so far, she admits that “it’s tempting to do more. “.

Namely, when longtime Seattle political columnist Joel Connelly tweeted about Cain tweeting from the dead, Laurie “almost went over to Peter’s account and said,” So what’s your point ? “

Seely is a special correspondent



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Speechwriter

Von der Leyen’s State of the Union Through the Eyes of a Speechwriter

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For five years I wrote the State of the Union speech for a Belgian Prime Minister, and for years I gave a masterclass in speech writing.

So, on Wednesday September 16, I looked at the State of the European Union of Ursula von der Leyen through the eyes of a speechwriter.

Von der Leyen’s speech lasted 75 minutes, or one hour and 15 minutes. It is not too long.

In a State of the Union, the speaker must highlight what Europe has done in the past year and announce what it plans to do in the coming year.

At the same time, there are messages that must be given, to European citizens in general – but also targeted messages to governments, businesses or the European Parliament.

If you try to be too concise, the speech quickly starts to sound like a wish list. It would have been even more difficult to watch.

To avoid a “list” type speech, each topic needs an introduction and a conclusion. This is what von der Leyen did.

However, there is no doubt that for many listeners the speech must have sounded a bit too long.

This could have been avoided by creating ‘bridges’, little stories that give the ears a little breathing space. The story of the two Ligurian tennis players was such a story, but unfortunately the only one.

Why wasn’t there a focus on a message?

To the average listener, von der Leyen’s speech sounded like a wish list that lacked a clear message.

However, unlike most normal speeches, a State of the Union cannot focus on a single issue.

Most people and policy makers hope to hear what the European Commission plans to do in their particular area.

If you skip foreign policy, for example, there would be criticism that the committee is not interested in politics outside the Union.

However, a good State of the Union always needs a narrative framework. This year, that story wasn’t too hard to come by: Covid-19.

Von der Leyen started with Covid-19 and ended with it. This is the right way to go.

Why can’t Europe be more outspoken?

The general criticism of the EU, which she does not communicate clearly, does not really count for this discourse.

Von der Leyen was very clear on many points. Take for example the Green Deal:

“The European Green Deal is our plan to effect this transformation. At the heart of it is our mission to become the first climate neutral continent by 2050. […] On this basis, the European Commission proposes to increase the 2030 emission reduction target to at least 55%. ”

Regarding the ongoing protests in Belarus, she said very clearly:

“I want to say it loud and clear: the European Union is on the side of the Belarusian people. […] The Belarusian people must be free to decide their future for themselves. These are not pieces on someone else’s chessboard. “

She was also tough on several racist incidents in Europe:

“Hatred is hate – and no one should have to put up with it. […] Because in this Union, fighting racism will never be optional. […] And we will appoint the very first anti-racism coordinator of the Commission to keep it high on our agenda and to work directly with people, civil society and institutions. ”

When asked if she couldn’t be more candid on other issues, such as US President Donald Trump, or the rule of law in Hungary, a speechwriter’s response is, do too much. of points is the same as not doing any at all. You have to make choices.

Has he convinced the ordinary EU citizen?

When you start with the good points of the speech, you have to say that it was written in non-bureaucratic language, and in short sentences.

Also, the State of the Union started with empathy towards all those Europeans who suffered because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Another positive point, von der Leyen showed ambition. She wants Europe to move forward.

When asked whether this has convinced people of the role the EU has played so far in the coronavirus crisis, the answer is less certain.

Across Europe, people have seen borders being closed, various measures and closures everywhere, and anti-corona medical supplies stranded at borders.

The EU has made a lot of effort to stop these national measures, often selfish. He has also invested heavily in keeping the economy alive and making huge contracts for vaccines for all Europeans.

Even though it might sound a bit defensive, I would say it was a good time to defend the European Union and the work it has done here.

But the fact that this defense has been too fragmented in the speech will mean that this message will not be heard.


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Manuscript

Manuscript by an American author on the invasion of Japan

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This year marks the 75th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945), which falls on Thursday. A manuscript, collected by a translator in Shandong province, reveals facts buried in the fierce war.

Now painstakingly restored by translator and writer Wang Jinling, the manuscript of American novelist Irving Wallace reveals the atrocities of the Japanese military and the struggle of the Chinese people under the most desperate conditions.

“Wallace and his family still care about the condition and development of China,” said Wang, who recently received an email from Wallace’s son, sending him greetings and expressing concern over the COVID situation. -19 in China.

The manuscript dates back to 1940, when Wallace was a journalist assigned to the Far East by an American magazine to report on the war between China and Japan, part of the global anti-fascist war.

Around this time, Wallace was successful in collecting information from both sides. He interviewed several personalities behind Japan’s expansionist policies, including Hideki Tojo, as well as ordinary people from both countries.

He made scrupulous recordings of several major events in Japan’s invasion of China. In addition to writing articles for the magazine, he decided to write a book to expose Japan’s ambitions and the crimes he committed in China to the rest of the world.

However, his plan to publish the book was postponed due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, after which the United States declared war on Japan and other fascist countries. Since then, the manuscript has remained laden with dust for decades. Its special value was discovered by Wang after the family granted him the right to translate Wallace’s work.

“No matter how long it has been sealed, the truth of the story will eventually emerge and be known to people,” Wang said.

The manuscript was translated into Chinese and published in China in 2005, titled Japan’s Mein Kampf. In the book, Wallace wrote of the Nanjing Massacre that “there were more men, handcuffed back to back, standing against walls used as living dummies for actual bayonet practice.”

Wallace died of cancer in 1990, but his articles are valuable testimonies to this part of history and have made more people aware of China’s role in the anti-fascist war.

Xinhua


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Manuscript

Manuscript by an American author on the invasion of Japan

0 Comment

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945), which falls on Thursday. A manuscript, collected by a translator in Shandong province, reveals facts buried in the fierce war.

Now painstakingly restored by translator and writer Wang Jinling, the manuscript of American novelist Irving Wallace reveals the atrocities of the Japanese military and the struggle of the Chinese people under the most desperate conditions.

“Wallace and his family still care about the condition and development of China,” said Wang, who recently received an email from Wallace’s son, sending him greetings and expressing concern over the COVID situation. -19 in China.

The manuscript dates back to 1940, when Wallace was a journalist assigned to the Far East by an American magazine to report on the war between China and Japan, part of the global anti-fascist war.

Around this time, Wallace was successful in collecting information from both sides. He interviewed several personalities behind Japan’s expansionist policies, including Hideki Tojo, as well as ordinary people from both countries.

He made scrupulous recordings of several major events in Japan’s invasion of China. In addition to writing articles for the magazine, he decided to write a book to expose Japan’s ambitions and the crimes he committed in China to the rest of the world.

However, his plan to publish the book was postponed due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, after which the United States declared war on Japan and other fascist countries. Since then, the manuscript has remained laden with dust for decades. Its special value was discovered by Wang after the family granted him the right to translate Wallace’s work.

“No matter how long it has been sealed, the truth of the story will eventually emerge and be known to people,” Wang said.

The manuscript was translated into Chinese and published in China in 2005, titled Japan’s Mein Kampf. In the book, Wallace wrote of the Nanjing Massacre that “there were more men, handcuffed back to back, standing against walls used as living dummies for actual bayonet practice.”

Wallace died of cancer in 1990, but his articles are valuable testimonies to this part of history and have made more people aware of China’s role in the anti-fascist war.

Xinhua


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