Jeff Greenwald is in Sri Lanka as the communications director for Mercy
Corps. Not sure how he wrangled that job, but good for him. Greenwald, you may know, is a well-known travel writer
(Shopping for Buddhas, et al) and he’s filing stories for both
Salon and his own organization
Ethical Traveler.
Greenwald is a keen observer, so for a real slice of life view about what’s happening there, read his stuff. The
Salon piece is particularly interesting in that he mentions how a Dateline crew got aboard a Black Hawk delivering
relief supplies and forced them to leave behind half the relief material. If true, that’s pretty dodgy. That’s one of
those untold stories, you know, how journalists interfere with the very stories they cover. Something I’d like to hear
more about.