PressEthic

In my latest installment of a blog about blogs that matter, I offer this: Jan Pronk's detailed accounts of his work for the UN in Sudan. He has been working in the country as the UN's special representative for two years and blogging about it for one. For all who complain about the bureaucracy obscuring any real work by transnational organizations, the packaged diplomat speak so prevalent in news coverage of them or the general lack of coverage of the Darfur conflict, here's a high-up's weekly (or so) diary. It has some feeling to it, as well as more detailed descriptions of the factions fighting in different parts of Sudan than most news stories include. It just got Pronk kicked out of the country.

According to a BBC.com story, Pronk's comments about the Sudanese army's defeats in Darfur and the soliders' low morale pushed his already shaky relationship with Khartoum to the tipping point. Intolerance for this diplomat is not surprising from a government whose security forces apparently manhandled members of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's staff last year.

There's no question the Sudanese government should not have expelled Pronk; it would be another shame, though, if he were reprimanded by Kofi Annan, as he may be when he returns this week to New York for "consultations." Diplomats who speak out are rare gems.

There's no mistaking similar sentiment in the New York Times headline accompanying the paper's story about Pronk's expulsion. "Khartoum Expels U.N. Envoy Who Has Been Outspoken on Darfur Atrocities," the headline reads. When was the last time putting the word "atrocities" in a news headline amounted to objective coverage? At the same time, can you blame 'em?