The Non-Aligned Movement (anyone remember the Non-Aligned Movement?) has decided that it doesn’t get the news coverage it deserves in the Western Media and that the movement needs to do something about it. The group, which was set up in the Sixties as a kind of alternative, anti-imperialist UN, and which still represents over half the planet’s population, has decided to set up a news agency of its own, called NNN (for Non-aligned movement News Network) which will be based in Malaysia and work to achieve fair coverage for the Southern half of the planet in the Northern half’s press. It would be way too flippant to respond that the NAM might get better coverage if it ever actually did anything (so I’d never do that), but there’s an obvious and painful irony in the fact that the Western press has apparently completely ignored the announcement. Update: The Beeb is now running a story about the announcement (from a World Service source).
In which I try, after 25 years of blogging, to drop my ironic stance a bit.
The press are right to ignore this announcement because it’s not news, but an intention to share news if they ever generate some.
Are the Non-aligned nations sort of like atheists (we believe in not believing in anything: we are aligned with things that aren’t aligned)? Are they slightly mis-aligned? Did Pakistan become non-aligned after the recent earthquake?
Maybe they should rebrand themselves. How about ‘Aligned!’ (or even ‘Align!’) in the nature of all those worthy seventies organisations like the Marriage Guidance Council who became Relate! or the NCCL who became Liberty! (ok, I added the bangs, but it makes them more retro, OK! like).
Enough already. Good post though, 8 on the obscurity scale (named of course after it’s inventor, O. B. S. Curity)
More.
They might get a bit more attention if the GOT A FUCKING WEBSITE. In this day and age. Sheesh. (Lowers head slowly into hands).
And in case you were wondering, I don’t think this http://www.nonalignedmovement.com/
is THE Non-aligned movement, though it certainly sounds like it could be.
Good point, Stephen, but I’m still pretty sure that the Non-Aligned Movement’s crack press team would be pretty pissed off to see that nobody picked up their NNN press release, even though you’re right to point out that it promises news in the future.