No tribute to Dr Shea would be complete without a brief mention of
his extended family, over those eighty days, the journalists that attended
the briefings. Like all great orators and respected world leaders, Jamie
realised the importance of audience participation, and from this we can
learn much of the great man.
But, as avid followers of the Daily Briefing are already aware, all
journalists are equal, but some are more equal than others. There were
times when the keen observer could almost predict who would be the next
family member to speak. So who is Jamie's favourite journalist?
To answer this question, the Jamie Shea page has painstakingly searched
the transcripts of each Briefing. In the tradition of the many academic
studies undertaking on Jamie's path to the Doctorate of Philosophy, this
question has been answered using the most objective method possible: who
was asked the most questions? Here are the fully objective, scientifically
proven results...
| Doug Hamilton |
Reuters |
53 |
| Mark Laity |
BBC |
52 |
| Jake Lynch |
Sky News |
36 |
| Antonio Esteves Martins |
RTP |
33 |
| Patricia Kelly |
CNN |
29 |
| Craig Whitney |
New York Times |
21 |
| Bill Drozdiak |
Washington Post |
21 |
| Dominique Thierry |
RFI |
20 |
| Gyorgy Foris |
Maygov Nezmet |
19 |
| Jonathon Marcus |
BBC |
18 |
| Greg Palcott |
FOX News |
17 |
| Neil King |
Wall Street Journal |
15 |
| Stephen Dierckx |
BRT |
14 |
| Freddy Bonnart |
NATO 16 Nations |
12 |
| Christopher Dickie |
Newsweek |
11 |
| Augustino Palokaj |
Koha Ditore |
11 |
| John Dahlberg |
LA Times |
10 |
| Julie McCarthy |
National Public Radio |
10 |
With the competition between Mark Laity and Doug Hamilton so close,
other information may help to decide the issue. Laity held the prized "First
Question of the Day" spot 12 times. Consider these exchanges between Laity
and our heroes Shea and Jertz:
To Mark Laity, BBC:
Jamie Shea: One of the things I love about you is you always
ask me questions to which you know the answers, so let's move on to the
next one.
On a separate occasion, again to Mark:
Major General Jertz : On the first question, Mark, I like you
very much but I have it in front of me. It says: "meanwhile, the air campaign
will continue."
With the counting so close in the Questions Asked event, the praise
of Jamie and Walter and the 12 First Asked's must resolve the issue in
Mark Laity's favour. Congratulations Mark, you're Jamie's Favourite
Journalist!
"A question from Mark please."
It isn't always fun and games at the Briefing. Occasionally, certain
family members will depart from the otherwise polite discourse, especially
when they don't get their way. Here's one example without a happy ending.
Jamie answers question (fully and without any hesitation, as per usual).
But..
Charles: I am sorry, Jamie, we are going to have to push with
this, we can't let you off with that. I know you want to put this set-back
behind you, as you have said, but the simplest way to do this is going
to be to try and share with us as much information as you have.
Still not happy, Charles continues:
Charles: I am sorry, I just can't let that rest there. I find
it absolutely impossible to believe that you know nothing about a six mile
stretch of road with for some reason blown up tanks and bodies on that
road. Whatever the cause, and I am not suggesting that it was caused by
NATO, but I cannot believe that you do not know about it and what might
have caused that.
Jamie tries to restore control:
Jamie Shea: Charles, look, when we have more information we
will share it with you.
Still furious, Charles puts pen to paper and has this to say about his
Briefing experiences:
"In fact, the hour long briefing has baffled the world’s press with
its deafening daily vacuum... Shea, who has a
doctorate in Balkan history, regularly delivers lengthy diatribes on the
complexities of the region but says precious
little that could go into a website headline or news show’s lead story...
This is a far cry from the Persian Gulf War, when the information given
at the daily U.S. press briefings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was by comparison
positively encyclopedic."
Not wanting to sound like the lone voice of dissent, Charles asks his colleagues
at NBC, Rick Stengel and Linda Vester, to jump on the bandwagon:
"When Jamie Shea, NATO’s glib spokesman, admitted that one of the several
mistaken NATO attacks on civilians is “the one we own up to” and that the
deaths were the result of “collateral damage,” it was a statement unworthy
of a democracy... Spinning a war should be a war crime... NATO
spokesmen went on to parrot that line so many times here that some journalists
have started chanting it too — in jest, of course. Daily, the press
corps here — American and NATO European journalists, but also dozens of
pundits, correspondents and scribes from the developing
world — attempt to force the alliance to reveal a bit more of the war’s
gray areas. More often than not, NATO’s slick PR effort has carried the
day... War is hell. Next question, please."
Charles Sabine, on his crusade to further ridicule Jamie, then fell into
the same trap that so many others before him have. In his blind determination
to to make Shea seem weak, he inadvertantly joined the Conspiracy:
"While veteran NATO journalists recognized that that he was more out
of the loop than the public realized, Shea’s confident eloquence
ensured he was talking a good war."
Thank you, Charles, your part in the Conspiracy is appreciated.
This page is proudly brought to you by Iridium. But don't take my word
for it:
Jamie Shea: ...and I'm pleased to tell you that one of those
companies - IRIDIUM - has agreed to provide immediately, free of charge,
a number of satellite telephones to refugee camps in the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia. IRIDIUM - Bravo and thank you, IRIDIUM! I think
that is praise enough for IRIDIUM without spelling it."
