Strangled Silence by Oisin McGann Read Free Book Online Page B

that
her interest was in the story, not the man. Although
he was in another league compared to all the boys
who had been vying for her attention the evening
before in the club.
    She felt a tingle of excitement as she thought
about her article again. She hoped they wouldn't
edit it too much. It was still part of the whole
journalism thing that grated on her nerves. You
could write what you thought was a brilliant piece
and then someone came along and told you it was
too long, or too subjective or not what the paper
was looking for, so they changed it.
    Helena Jessop, renowned for her work as a war
correspondent and later for her investigative
journalism, had famously decided to become
a journalist after watching a single documentary
about the Holocaust. The turning point in her
career had come in Bosnia during the break-up of
Yugoslavia. She had made a report on the discovery
of a mass grave: twenty-two men, women and
children butchered by Serbian soldiers. An elderly
imam had led her through Serbian-held territory to
show her the site.
    Despite the horrors she had seen – and some
considered these genocidal maniacs to be the Nazis
of the nineties – Helena still considered Serbia's
people to be no better or worse than anyone else.
    'We make decisions about our lives based not
on the world around us, but on our perception of
that world,' she said, putting down her pen and
cupping her hands around her coffee mug. 'Hitler
understood this. Every leader does. Control all the
information and you control how people make
decisions. If you can control it well enough to convince
the majority that a certain action is necessary
– even a monstrous one – then you can carry out
that action and the people will not only let it
happen, they will enthusiastically support you. And
all it takes are the right words and maybe some
pictures to help them along.
    'Hitler and the war he started are perfect
examples of the power of words. He was a master
of propaganda and he knew the importance of
influencing education too. Get 'em young. That was
why he started the Hitler Youth. Start persuading
them as soon as they're able to understand your
words. Empower the kids – make them feel part of
the fight.
    'Millions of people were executed, not because
he was an evil mastermind or a madman – but
because he had the power to convince . He could turn
a nation's fear into hysteria with his rousing
speeches. He made ordinary Germans feel as if they
were under attack – not just from enemies in other
countries, but also from the Jews he claimed were
seizing power from within.
    'In fact, by portraying him as an evil monster,
we do people like him a favour. We kid ourselves
that if another Hitler turned up, we'd spot him long
before he could commit the same sort of horrors
again. I mean, it'd be obvious he was a monster,
right? Which is why this shit keeps happening. It's
more likely that the next Hitler will manage to
convince us we are under attack from someone else
long before we realize what he really is.
    'That's why a good journalist can learn a lot
from Hitler. He wasn't the devil in human form, he
was just a man. But he was a superb manipulator,
and that's what journalism is up against. And it's
why a country's most important defence is not
the armed forces or a nuclear deterrent or even
diplomacy; it's a free press – a bunch of bloody-minded
journalists who are determined to tell
people what's really going on, so we know the real
enemies from the false ones. They are the first line
of defence against tyranny.'
    Helena did not need to point out that she was
one of these and took her position as defender of
the nation's freedom extremely seriously. She and
Amina had versions of this conversation on a
regular basis, with just enough variation to avoid
completely repeating themselves. It was a grown-up
equivalent of her mother sitting beside her in bed
and reading a favourite storybook to her night after
night.
    'And what about all the other