The Soccer War Blog # 4

"Kapuscinski's Reports Hit Communism at Home"

At the beginning of the report, it is said that Kapuscinski was a reporter a covered the "hot spots in the late 1950's" which is true becuase in The Soccer War he narrates about Africa's situation and he is the narrator in his own stories. Once again I refer to the following quote in the book to relate it with the report. "In the course of a moth I had driven though five countrie. In four of them, there were states of emergency. In one, the president had just been overthrown; in a second, the president had saved himself only by a chance; in a third, the head of government was afraid to leave his house, which was surrounded by troops. Two parliaments had been dissolved. Two governments had fallen. Scores of political activists had been arrested. Scores of people had been killed in political conflicts." Pg. 127. Kapuscinski was int he hot spots, he always wanted to cover every topic that had to do with politics, thanks to his own country, Poland and its communism.
I was surprised, when in the report it was said that Kapuscinski had to live in harsh conditions only to cover the hot spots he talks about in most of his narrations. It would be very hard for me to accept the job Kapuscinski had if I wasn't sure I was going to be safe and if I had to pass over difficult times. The job of a reporter who is a critique must be very difficult becuase when you critique someone or a situation, many people will go against you or will defend your point of view. This, makes the job even more dangerous and makes it a job where you have to take many risks. In the book, Kapuscinski talks about Ben Bella and Boumedienne; "I want to defend Ben Bella just as I am going to defend Boumedienne."Pg. 106. He talks about both in a good way but he also criticizes both.