|
From left to right: Rev. Darryl Gray of Imani Family and Full Gospel Church, Saul’s sister Sylvia Itzhayek, Rabbi Michael Whitman of Hampstead’s Adath Israel Poale Zedek Synagogue, Suburban editor Beryl Wajsman, Father John Walsh of St. John Brébeuf at demonstration for Saul Itzhayek
Advocacy matters!
For the second time in two weeks stories The Suburban championed saw successful conclusions. What does successful mean? It does not mean simply that other media picked them up weeks or months later. It means that the subjects of those stories, ordinary folks like all of us, overcame the resistance of authority to obtain freedom and ease their suffering.
$">
$">Last week it was Saul Itzhayek who was finally released from a fetid Indian jail after serving 10 months for trumped up charges of visa violations. Former Justice Minister Irwin Cotler was bold enough to call Itzhayek's treatment “entrapment”. Saul's sister wrote us, saying that we “opened the floodgates to public awareness” of her brother's plight. Saul himself, both on his arrival in Montreal and in the exclusive interview printed in this issue, not only thanks us but credits the media directly for getting him out.
$">
$">This week it was Ella Shepherd Marchildon winning approval from RAMQ for life-saving cancer surgery in Washington, DC. This time it took weeks, not months, for other media to pick up the story. We are glad they did. But we are also proud that we had the resolve that is the foundational principle of advocacy journalism.
$">
$">Advocacy journalism is too often criticized for lacking balance. It does not. It is the use of our medium to not only report the facts but through pictures and headlines directly, and sometimes subliminally, make the broad public understand that there is suffering that must be eased, injustice that has to be cured and wants that need to be met. And that the focus must be on the victims. It is not about balancing interests. It is about challenging them. Particularly when the interests that oppress are grounded in state power crushing the lives of individuals. Those who would preach balance in such cases as Itzhayek and Marchildon may themselves be lacking the balance of moral compass.
$">
$">In a time when power and privilege, particularly in government, manipulate truth and use it against the innocent for purposes of political profit it is right and proper to use the power of the Fourth Estate — the media — to right a wrong and ease suffering. Maybe it will give all of us, including many in the media, who take too much at face value; who rush to judgment; who willingly sacrifice someone — anyone — to maintain their own semblance of false piety, the courage to dare to care.
$">
$">In this age of instant communication and instant destruction we cannot afford to forget the disempowered, the disenfranchised and the disaffected. The times are too dangerous for that. And too tragic. |
Community journalism at its best
News of Saul Itzayek’s appeal victory and impending release make this among the best of days for the Suburban. When you receive a letter before 9:00 a.m. in the morning saying “You opened the floodgates to public awareness”, from the lady whose brother was just ordered released from a dungeon prison half a world away, it really makes you feel worthwhile.
$">
$"> Our editor, Beryl Wajsman, played a major role in getting the ball rolling and seeing the case through to a successful outcome. His relentless perseverance on behalf of Saul and his family from both a personal and professional standpoint helped greatly to make this happen.
$">
$"> Beryl first heard of Saul's plight in October from Julius Grey the noted constitutional attorney who was representing the family and from former Justice Minister Irwin Cotler Itzhayek's MP. They were both frustrated at government inaction and media neglect. Saul’s sister, Sylvia, was beside herself trying to pursuade the Department of Foreign Affairs to intervene. Beryl not only publicized the case through the Suburban, he also sensitized public officials and made them aware of the urgency of this case. Cotler, Grey and Wajsman were in constant contact with the family and the lawyers in India staying on top of the file. Kudos to all of them.
$">
$">You too played a role. The letters that were written and the feedback we received on our stories were tremendously motivating. You showed that you cared. Together, the large caring audience that is the Suburban community has accomplished very special things.
$">
$">We raised money to bring a plane-load of Jewish emigrants out of Russia. We supported francophone families in their fight to have their children educated in English. We advocate vehemently against the Office de la Langue Francaise each time they pick on an Anglophone business for some inane sign posted in their establishment. And we helped launch the Equality party at a time when it was flush with sound principles (before it lost its way). Community journalism produces real results.
$">
$">Today, at the height of our pride, I would like to thank you, our readers and our advertisers, for providing us the audience and the opportunity to truly serve our community and make a difference.
$">
$"> |
Michael Sochaczevski
$">Publisher, The Suburban
The Marchildon Affair
Community Journalism never ends. We first published a story on the plight of Ella Shepherd Marchildon several weeks ago on our front page. She is battling with the Régie de L’assurance maladie (RAMQ) du Québec to authorize her an opportunity for a life-saving operation in the United States to combat the rare cancer she is stricken with.
$">
$">This weekend there is a benefit on behalf of Ella to raise the funds for the operation in case RAMQ does not agree in time. This is not about elective surgery. This is about life and death for a mother of five on the West Island. Please read about the Ella Marchildon fundraiser and attend if you can. What you do counts.
$">
$">Finally, let your MNA and RAMQ hear about it. The details of the story can be found on-line in the Suburban’s archive (www.thesuburban.com) in two compelling stories by Beryl Wajsman entitled “Dare to Care” and “The Marchildon Affair” published last week. It is plainly unacceptable for our bureaucracy to deny someone a reasonable chance at life because it erroneously believes that the procedure is available here. A healthcare system must be able to react to facts immediately in life and death situations. Anything less is a travesty.
$">
$">
$">Michael Sochaczevski
$">Publisher, The Suburban
|
