The Model, the Dictator and Dirty Stones

I can’t understand why there is so much fuss over a dictator, a model and a few dirty-looking stones. Letters to the editor loudly complain that interest in the plight of Sierra Leone is now registering only because some celebrity element has been injected into court proceedings which, hitherto, it is claimed, had been largely ignored by the media. Even the BBC has come in for a bit of tongue-lashing and has had to defend itself over its coverage. I hold no brief for the BBC, they are articulate enough to manage their own defence, but in all fairness, it should be said that theirs is at least one news organization that has continued to show interest, not only in the trial of Charles Taylor, but in the country of Sierra Leone as well. 

We just have to concede that in the matter of news reporting, there are bound to be periods when, in a long-running story, tedium supervenes and attention is diverted elsewhere. At least for a while.

Quiet interludes may not necessarily appeal to the chatterati who seem never to want to miss an opportunity to talk anything up. And, in recent years, many have joined the band. Just about anyone now can jump in to say or write their piece (self not exempt): “Cogito, ergo sum” is now translated as “I speak, therefore I am.” 

Let’s admit it. “If it bleeds, it leads” is what drives all news reporting, and most of us do not have an attention span beyond yesterday’s headlines. Don’t know why. May be we don’t concentrate enough on the things that matter, with the result that nothing gets imprinted. Or we are not awake enough. Perhaps we do need something, such as celebrity razzmatazz to rouse us and make us sit up and take notice. When we eventually do, we are embarrassed for not having been in the loop all along. “We didn’t know,” is an excuse that has been heard somewhere before and sure to be heard again. But the thousands maimed by the RUF (Does anyone remember who they were?) knew and  for them, there is no forgetting. We too, must not forget them either. Neither should we forget the other ways in which the RUF laid waste the country, its economy, education, health care, law, order and its very foundation. 

Those who decry celebrity involvement in the Taylor trial forget also that “Blood Diamonds” was a construct elaborated in a movie first screened in 2006, and because of its celebrity buzz, catapulted Sierra Leone into the popular attention (briefly) years after the real brutality had been brought to an end. Although many have forgotten the connection, the movie’s legacy still lingers and “blood diamonds,” now part of common language, is inextricably linked with the fortunes of Sierra Leone. But for some of us the mere mention of “blood diamonds” and Sierra Leone in the same breath triggers total body cringe. 

So, for me, a catfight among three women over a few uncut diamonds is irrelevant in the general scheme of things for Sierra Leone. And whilst diverting, the affray harms none, other than the prosecution’s case against Charles Taylor, strengthening my conviction that he will, in the end, get away with it.

Tell Fren Tru