Oh To Be A Fly On The Wall: Hillary Clinton Meets With Al Jazeera

by Glynnis MacNicol | 5:22 pm, February 16th, 2010

» 3 comments

Suffice to say that on her current trip around the Persian Gulf Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is not having tea with President Ahmadinejad (this picture speaks a thousand four-letter words). However she did make time to sit down with Al Jazeera the Arabic-language news network that, over the years, has had hot and cold relationship (to put it mildly) with the U.S. No word on whether tea was served but the fact the U.S. secretary of state sat down with the mid-East media giant certainly demonstrates a level of official recognition (and respect) that was unimaginable eight years ago. From the Times piece on the meeting:

The network said in a statement Monday that Ms. Clinton met with its director general Wadah Khanfar “and the network’s senior editorial staff for a meeting to further dialogue with Al Jazeera.”

The meeting was held on the Carnegie Mellon University campus in Doha, Qatar, the city where Al Jazeera is based. It lasted for about one hour.

The meeting was “quite frank” as Al Jazeera managers “put their frustrations on the table,” according to a network employee who was briefed on the meeting.

“Over all, the meeting was very positive,” the network employee added.

After the meeting, Ms. Clinton was interviewed by Al Jazeera’s Washington bureau chief, Abderrahim Foukara, before a group of 300 college students. The interview was shown on Al Jazeera on Tuesday.

al Jazeera, Hillary Clinton, Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, New York Times

http://www.uselessbeauty.com Vidiot

this picture speaks a thousand four-letter words

This reference, to a split-screen compilation of two pictures taken at different times and locations (as the original caption, to its credit, makes clear), seems odd. Yes, I’m sure the NYT photo editors chose these shots based on the way the principals were facing and because of Hillary Clinton’s glowering expression. But the editorial decision here, made by the photo editors, works because of the two pictures together conveying a thought — not because it purports to accurately convey Sec. Clinton’s feelings toward Ahmedinejad.
http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

@Vidiot: Perhaps someone had just asked what her husband thought, or maybe she had heard another rumor about Bill. Otherwise, both subjects were in the region on Tuesday, but there’s not much else we can tell.
http://www.uselessbeauty.com Vidiot

That’s exactly my point. The photo compilation (I’m not sure what else to call the juxtaposition) is effective and sends a message, but the message is entirely because of the juxtaposition and the viewer’s takeaway, rather than anything inherent to either image.