AT HIS COMMAND, INCENDIARY SHELLS DESCEND ON A BUILDING WHOSE CONTENTS SYMBOLISE THE POSTWAR IDENTITY OF THE PEOPLE OF YUGOSLAVIA- THE ONE AND A HALF MILLION BOOKS OF SARAJEVO’S BOSNIAN NATIONAL LIBRARY. AS THE FLAMES SPREAD FROM STACK TO STACK, MANY SARAJEVANS MADE THEIR WAY TO THE LIBRARY TO BEGIN A FRANTIC ATTEMPT TO RESCUE THE PRECIOUS BOOKS. IT WAS A FUTILE EFFORT.

MOST OF THEM WERE LOST, INCLUDING 150,000 RARE VOLUMES. JUST A FEW WEEKS EARLIER IN MAY, THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE IN SARAJEVO… HOME TO ONE OF EUROPE’S MOST IMPORTANT COLLECTIONS OF ISLAMIC MANUSCRIPTS, WAS ALSO DESTROYED BY INCENDIARY GRENADES. AGAIN VIRTUALLY ALL THE CONTENTS WERE CONSUMED BY THE FLAMES. WHY? IT WAS A DELIBERATE ATTEMPT TO SILENCE A CULTURE, TO PLUNDER A NATION’S MEMORY; TO WIPE OUT AN ETHNIC TRADITION; TO OBLITERATE A WAY OF LIFE.

IT WAS A CONCERTED CAMPAIGN TO ERASE HISTORY, TO DESTROY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS, THE HERITAGE OF A WHOLE PEOPLE. DESTROYING PRINTED WORDS WAS FUNDAMENTAL TO THE PROJECT OF ETHNIC CLEANSING. THE PLAYWRIGHT HEINRICH HEINE ONCE OBSERVED: “WHERE THEY HAVE BURNED BOOKS, THEY WILL END UP BURNING HUMAN BEINGS.”

HOW TRUE THAT IS. GENERAL RADKO MLADIC HIMSELF DIDN’T STOP WITH BOOK DESTRUCTION. HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SLAUGHTER OF 8000 MUSLIM MEN AND BOYS, ON A SINGLE DAY – JULY 11, 1995.

ALL THIS HAPPENED ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE – AND, IN OUR LIFETIME! IT BEGAN BY WAGING WAR ON WORDS. AS A JOURNALIST, WORDS ARE MY STOCK AND TRADE.

IN MANY WAYS, WORDS ARE ALL WE – AS JOURNALISTS – HAVE. AND WE MUST BE CAREFUL ABOUT HOW WE USE THEM; BECAUSE IN NORTHERN IRELAND WORDS CAN KILL – WORDS DO KILL.

TO BE A JOURNALIST IN NORTHERN IRELAND IS TO WALK A NARROW LINE – AND WE HAVE BEEN DOING THAT FOR FORTY YEARS. AND IT IS IMPORTANT TO SAY THAT WE, AS PEOPLE, HAVE FELT, AND CONTINUE TO FEEL THE PAIN OF THE PEOPLE WHOM WE SERVE.

THIS IS A SMALL SOCIETY, AND THAT BOX IN THE CORNER IS NO IVORY TOWER WHERE WE ARE IMMUNE TO THE EVERYDAY STRUGGLES OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE. YES, MINE IS A JOB OF PRIVILEGE, BUT THAT PRIVILEGE CARRIES WITH IT, RESPONSIBILITY. TELEVISION IS AVAILABLE AT THE SWITCH OF A BUTTON, IN ALMOST EVERY HOUSE IN THE LAND.

NEWSPAPERS CAN PLUG AN EDITORIAL LINE; TELEVISION DOES NOT. WE WHO WORK IN TV ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL RESOURCES OF THIS COUNTRY… THE AIRWAVES; AND WE MUST ALWAYS BEHAVE IMPARTIALLY!
**

MY OWN INDUSTRY, TELEVISION, HAS REVEALED A WORLD OF NEED IN AWFUL DETAIL. WE HAVE BECOME DOMINATED BY VISUAL NEWS REPORTS, WHICH REVEAL SUFFERING IN GLORIOUS TECHNICOLOUR, IN THE CORNER OF OUR LIVING ROOMS.

IT IS IRONIC, ISN’T IT THAT A SYMBOL OF OUR WEALTH HAS SHOWN US SUCH POVERTY. MASS COMMUNICATION IS A SYMBOL OF WEALTH AND POWER. TELEVISION IS ITS MOST POWERFUL WEAPON. TODAY, WE LIVE IN A GLOBAL VILLAGE – A WORLD IN WHICH THE REVOLUTION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IS BINDING US ELECTRONICALLY. PLANET EARTH IS SHRINKING FASTER BY THE DAY. TV MAKES NEIGHBOURS OF US ALL.

IT WAS TELEVISION WHICH MADE ETHIOPIA A HOUSEHOLD NAME IN 1984. IT WAS TELEVISION, WHICH WAS SYNONYMOUS WITH FAMINE! BUT FAMINE VICTIMS ARE REAL PEOPLE.

I BELIEVE ALL OF US ARE BORN FOR OUR TIME. IN 1994, I FOUND MYSELF IN A FAMINE AREA OF ANGOLA. IT WAS A PLACE CALLED MELANGE – GOVERNMENT HELD, BUT BEHIND ENEMY LINES. THE ONLY WAY TO GET FOOD IN, WAS BY AIR. WE ARRIVED ON ONE OF THESE GRAIN PLANES.

I WATCHED AS THE SACKS WERE UNLOADAD AND PUT ONTO TRUCKS AND DRIVEN TO DISTRIBUTION CENTRES. THEN, AS THE ADULTS LEFT, I WITNESSED THE CHILDREN, WHO HAD BEEN WATCHING FROM THE PERIMETER OF THE RUNWAY. THEY CAME FORWARD WITH EMPTY BEAN TINS, AND I WATCHED AS THEY KNELT DOWN AND LIFTED THE INDIVIDUAL SEEDS WHICH HAD FALLEN ONTO THE GROUND, AND PUT THEM – SOMETIMES ONE BY ONE – INTO THE TINS.

I WAS BORN TO SEE THAT! IT TAUGHT ME THE VALUE OF FOOD IN A WAY I COULD NEVER HAVE LEARNT AT HOME.
***

WHEN HE WALKED THIS EARTH, JESUS USED STORIES ABOUT SEEDS. HIS AUDIENCE WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD, BECAUSE JESUS WAS A STRATEGIC BROADCASTER. WHEN CROWDS GATHERED AROUND HIM, IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE HE SAT DOWN TO TEACH THEM ABOUT HIS KINGDOM. BUT HOW DID HE DO THIS? HE TOLD STORIES; STORIES THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND…

“A FARMER SOWED A SEED IN A FIELD; A SEED SPROUTED WITHOUT ANYONE KNOWING HOW; A MUSTARD SEED GREW INTO A TREE THAT PROVIDED SHADE.”

JESUS SAID TO THE CROWD, “ANYONE WITH EARS TO HEAR SHOULD LISTEN AND UNDERSTAND.” THE GOSPEL WRITERS TELL US OF JESUS’ COMMUNICATION STRATEGY. HE TOLD – OR BROADCAST – FAITH STORIES TO THE CROWDS.

DURING HOLY WEEK, IT IS TEMPTING TO THINK ONLY OF THE CROSS WHICH COMES ON GOOD FRIDAY. BUT THIS IS ONE WEEK AMONG 52; THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT WEEK STARTS WITH THE RESURRECTION.
IT IS THAT RESURRECTION – AND ALL IT IMPLIES – WHICH KEEPS ME GOING.

I’M SURE YOU’VE HEARD THE STORY – WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOD AND A SURGEON? GOD DOESN’T THINK HE’S A SURGEON. HERE’S ANOTHER ONE; WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOD AND THIS BROADCASTER? I TRY, BUT HE IS THE MASTER BROADCASTER!