solanasaurus.com

I’m in Germany right now, and the only English language news television I’ve been able to watch on the assassination of Benzair Bhutto is CNN International, which people tend to say is “better than the American one”. I saw no evidence of this last night as the hosts of a daily news program clumsily attempted to look like they knew what they were talking about, then cut to a clip of Pervez Musharraf and introduced him as the president of Afghanistan. Bhutto has only been in the media non-stop for the past month, but these pretty faces they hire to deliver the news must not have time to pick up a newspaper or book. Their coverage is so sloppy and superficial. The only people who make any sense are the Pakistanis they interview – at least when they are able to remain on point in spite of the silly questions they ask.

On openDemocracy, Kanish Tharoor, walks us through what they could have asked instead. CNN is so darn black-and-white. They present her as a hero of democracy with little mention of her actual record in office, the numerous corruption charges, back-room dealings with Musharraf, illusions of grandeur, or any number of criticisms that are tactfully outlined in this obituary in the New York Times. If you’re looking for any kind of depth of insight about what people in Pakistan may be thinking after this violent assassination, try Global Voices special coverage page, where we are linking to new posts from South Asian bloggers daily.

As a teenager I once picked up Bhutto’s autobiography at a library in Denmark. It was one of the first non-fiction books I ever read. I had traveled to Pakistan with my father when I was just nine years old, and I was impressed how a woman could become Prime minister of a country where female professors teach male students behind screens and need male escorts to walk around in public. The story was exciting from a female perspective, and I still remember details of her house arrest today. The circumstances of her death are tragic, but I hope her legacy may inspire more women to lead in the future.