Fox News reporter Steve Harrigan--who I have always thought is not only one of the most amazing reporters ever, but also the next Ernest Hemingway, if he starts writing books--files a reporter's notebook from Venezuela that, as usual, has the kind of soul and understanding that makes you feel like you're there:
You're watching a Yankee game. The Yankees are playing the Red Sox. They're up by one, but already deep in the bullpen in the sixth inning. For some reason they can't hit Wakefield. The announcers are in Spanish, but you can hear the American announcers underneath the Spanish.
But then, the screen changes. It is an ad, no, a taped speech of the President. It goes on longer than an ad, and you get a sinking feeling. It is a montage of speeches. The President is smiling, beaming, greeting ordinary people with humility, and the humble people are so honored to shake his hand and listen to his wisdom. Then it is the President somewhere else, and a big voice comes on — a big, kind voice to instruct you more, to encourage you more. Then there are new scenes of the President and more wisdom. And the game has been taken away from you.
A "cadena" is when the President comes on every channel, TV and radio. It's the law. If you don't put him on, you go to jail. There are no time limits. And these guys can talk. They can come on at nine and go until 12, and any channel you turn to, you can't get away.
A lot of people in the modern world have fits over lack of meaning in their lives. Harrigan doesn't have that problem: he's making the world a better place in the way he fearlessly tells the truth about people like Hugo Chavez. Check out this viewer email to Steve:
I want to thank you for finally reporting some truth about the current situation in Venezuela. I am from there, but living in the U.S. now as a citizen and I am constantly disgusted by the media’s attempts to make Hugo Chavez appear as a left-wing icon, a liberator. From Hollywood idiots to supporters of a corrupt, communist regime I keep hearing all the ‘good’ and humanitarian things Chavez does when in fact, my family has suffered for voting against him! It is just like the Old Soviet Union.
That's the kind of meaning in your work that most people would give anything to have--and it's just another day at the office for Steve Harrigan.
