"You're a Journalist, Aren't You?"

Don't trust the media, at least not CNN. Says who? New York Timesphotojournalist Vincent Laforet, currently on assignment in Pakistan. On a Web page for sports photographers Vincent Laforet advised: "Don't trust anything you see on TV and be wary of some of the things you read. I witnessed how sensationalistic the media can be during the Florida recount. It's even worse here. We covered a pro-Taliban demonstration last week attended by maybe 5,000 protestors. CNN stated there were 50,000. The BBC estimated 40,000. We're continually hearing of 'violent clashes with police' when the TV stations report on non-violent demonstrations we covered ourselves." Laforet notes that "Osama bin Laden and terrorists are the rotten apples. The vast majority of Afghans and Pakistanis I've met are peace loving, generous, hospitable, frightened human beings already living under tremendous hardship." Actually, the worst violence he has witnessed in Pakistan came from government police. In addition to execution-style killings of Pakistani civilians, Laforet reports that police beat him and another photographer for taking politically sensitive photographs.