Fire David Nason

To:  The Australian, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

This is a request to ask you to fire your employee, Mr. David Nason. Mr. Nason has written inaccurate, disrespectful and biased articles about Kurt Vonnegut. Kurt Vonnegut is a great writer and a great human being. David Nason says that "(a) I found Vonnegut's book average; (b) I found his conversation limited; and (c) I found his views on terrorists dopey."

Of course, Mr. Nason is free to believe in anything. But as a journalist, he has a responsibility 1) to do his homework/research, 2) to substantiate his beliefs on facts, 3) and to make reasonable opinions. He violates all of these three and remains adamant about his position. He mentions proudly as to not having read the book prior to the interview in [1], and his articles reflect his lack of knowledge of Vonnegut’s oeuvre. A key theme in Vonnegut’s writing is a warm concern for humanity while being pessimistic about the ways of the present. Given everything Vonnegut has ever said or written supports that, it seems likely that Mr. Nason is misinterpreting Vonnegut, and quoting him out of context, either intentionally or not.

Vonnegut once suggested the idea of a Hippocratic oath for Scientists. If there would be one for Journalism, Mr. Nason’s current work would violate all of it.

[1] Darkness Visible, November 19, 2005
[2] US author lauds suicide bombers, November 19, 2005

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Fire David Nason Petition to The Australian, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/ was created by and written by Praveen Paritosh (paritos@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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