Photographer and documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington tells of his work

By Joshua Philipp for The Epoch Times

Read the full article about Tim Hetherington in a talk with Mario Tama at NYU on The Epoch Times’ website

NEW YORK—He has taken a unique approach to documentary journalism: living his stories. From the battlefields of the Liberian Civil War to the front lines in Afghanistan, documentary filmmaker and award-winning photographer Tim Hetherington has experienced his stories in ways that few have.

During a presentation at New York University on Dec. 8 Hetherington explained his art and shared his insights on what he has witnessed.

He has seen what the rebels and soldiers have seen, marched where they marched, and shot a different element of the battle. Rather than focus his work on the carnage and violence which characterizes war, Hetherington instead turned his camera inward—toward the soldiers and the lives behind the uniforms. Young men with guns.

His art took form during the Liberian Civil War which lasted from 1999 to 2003. A friend approached him with an offer he couldn’t refuse—to live with the rebel forces, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) who would eventually remove President Charles Taylor from power and establish a new rule.

“My work is really born out, initially, as a kind of witnessing or engagement,” said Hetherington.

Rather than make a one-time visit to shoot photos of the aftermath, Hetherington returns again and again, which allows for a “perceptual process” to develop in his work, as he explains it.

“I was kind of inside the war,” he said. “I mean we lived with these guys and there was no way out. We couldn’t fly in or fly out, we lived with them. It was the rainy season, we had little food, and we lived in pretty extreme circumstances.” Hetherington was embedded with Liberian rebels with a friend and fellow journalist.

Read the full article about Tim Hetherington in a talk with Mario Tama at NYU on The Epoch Times’ website

Register to see Tim Hetherington in NYC on Dec. 8 here

The Epoch Times cordially invites you to attend an evening with Tim Hetherington, an award-winning photojournalist and filmmaker. He will discuss his new book, Long Story Bit By Bit: Liberia Retold, as well as his upcoming documentary about a platoon of U.S. Airborne soldiers in Afghanistan. A book signing and reception will follow the event.

This is the inaugural Ground View forum, the first in a series of intriguing and informative events featuring journalists who have witnessed some of the world’s most important news firsthand.

Hetherington’s upcoming documentary, entitled Restrepo, was just accepted into the Sundance Film Festival.

Register to see Tim Hetherington in NYC on Dec. 8 here

Read the full article about Birch Coffee at The Epoch Times online here

NEW YORK—Grabbing a cup of coffee in any of America’s cities is a common occurrence. But for those who savor the experience of going to the coffee shop and spending time relaxing in a homey environment, things aren’t what they used to be.

For example, Midtown Manhattan is an area full of busy, working professionals. But there is an appalling shortage of welcoming environments to have a cup of coffee and relax undisturbed.

That’s part of what makes Birch Coffee, co-founded by owners Jeremy Lyman and Paul Schlader, such a rare find—even in a metropolis like New York City. Even harder to find than a good cup of coffee is a quiet corner—and Birch Coffee has both. Its charm stems in part from the owners’ personal love of their business.

“A few years ago, I was contemplating what I wanted to do, and I really enjoyed hanging out in coffee shops,” says Lyman. So he combined his love of caffeine and kicking back with his professional experience. “I’ve worked in restaurants and just have a passion for it.”

Read the full article about Birch Coffee at The Epoch Times online here

By Genevieve Long for The Epoch Times

READ THE FULL ARTICLE ABOUT WEST BANK SETTLEMENT FREEZE BY CLICKING HERE

Israel says that it will partially halt new settlement building in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday his cabinet’s decision of a “policy of restraint” during a press conference in Jerusalem.

New residential construction permits and new residential construction in the West Bank for Israelis will be suspended for 10 months.

One goal of the decision was described by Netanyahu’s administration as a way to push peace talks with the Palestinian Authority forward.

“We hope that this decision will help launch meaningful peace negotiations to reach a historic peace agreement that will finally end the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel,” said Mr. Netanyahu in a speech that was published on the Israel minister of foreign affairs Web site.

Recent census data put the population of Israelis living in the region at over 300,000. Settlements are groupings of Israelis in the West Bank that range from medium-sized, well-established cities to small illegal outposts of several families. Jurisdictional control in the West Bank is mixed between full Palestinian control, full Israeli control, and mixed control. The average West Bank resident lives amidst a mixture of Arab villages and Israeli settlements.

The U.S. Department of State emphasized the move’s pivotal role in the peace process in a statement on their Web site from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“We believe that through good-faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines,” said Ms. Clinton.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE ABOUT WEST BANK SETTLEMENT FREEZE BY CLICKING HERE

by Charlotte Cuthbertson for The Epoch Times

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY ABOUT JOURNALISTS KILLED IN THE PHLIPPINES

In a massive act of violence, more than 30 people have been murdered in the Philippines, at least 12 of them journalists. Mostly unidentified armed men, including two policemen, appear to be responsible, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Some of them have been linked to the province’s governor, a supporter of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo The victims were massacred on the southern island of Mindanao, and some of the victims were beheaded, said RSF.

Clothilde Le Coz, the Washington, D.C. director of RSF said the organization has a correspondent there who they are in communication with.

“It’s one of the biggest massacres of journalists we’ve ever seen,” said Ms. Le Coz. “We convey our condolences and sympathy to all journalists in the Philippines, who are in state of shock after this appalling massacre.”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY ABOUT JOURNALISTS KILLED IN THE PHLIPPINES

BERKELEY, Calif.—Amidst rally cries, a crowd of several hundred students, faculty, workers, and union representatives gathered outside UC Berkeley’s Wheeler Hall on Friday—beyond police lines. In protest of the University of California (UC) Regents’ recent decision to raise tuition by 32 percent for the Spring 2010 semester, 40 students had occupied the building. According to school officials, 3,800 students were unable to attend class in Wheeler Hall.  As part of the three-day walkout and strike that began on Nov. 18, students and union workers formed picket lines blocking entrance to the university. Fire alarms were set off continually in buildings all over campus to fuel the protest and rally support. The alarms at the main university library were set off so frequently that it was closed down.

read the full story about protests at Berkley here

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TIM HETHERINGTON AND HIS UPCOMING TALK IN NEW YORK

Attend an evening with Tim Hetherington, an award-winning photojournalist and filmmaker on Tuesday, Dec. 8. He will discuss his new book, Long Story Bit By Bit: Liberia Retold, as well as his upcoming documentary about a platoon of U.S. Airborne soldiers in Afghanistan. A book signing and reception will follow the event

This is the inaugural Ground View forum, the first in a series of intriguing and informative events featuring journalists who have witnessed some of the world’s most important news firsthand.

Location: NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute

20 Cooper Square, 6th Floor, New York, NY

Time: Slide show/Discussion/6:30 pm

Book signing and reception to follow

Admission: General Admission $12.00

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TIM HETHERINGTON AND HIS UPCOMING TALK IN NEW YORK

by Genevieve Long for The Epoch Times

NEW YORK—Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, several journalists who were there reminisced on witnessing history. During a forum at the German House in New York, they shared memories of the mood at the moment in history when the barrier between East and West Germany was shattered.

Tim Aeppel is a foreign correspondent based in Bonn, Germany, and covered the events before and after the fall of the wall for The Wall Street Journal. Aeppel was at Checkpoint Charlie in East Berlin on the night of Nov. 9, 1989 with East Germans.

Aeppel recalled that at one point, the border guards started handing out cards to a crowd of over 700 that had gathered. The crowd threw the cards on the ground in defiance, finally fed up.

“I realized that was a turning point,” said Mr. Aeppel, who was awake for the next 48 hours following the story. “The crowd was firm, but they weren’t hostile.”

The sheer historical significance of what was unfolding wasn’t lost on Aeppel.

“As a journalist this was the biggest thing I could have been covering other than a war,” he said.

Michael Meyer, who was also at Checkpoint Charlie that night, said there were moments of uncertainty about whether things would turn violent.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE ABOUT JOURNALISTS WITNESSING THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL ONLINE AT THE EPOCH TIMES

The first annual self-publishing book expo is in New York City today, November 7. The expo is open to the public and will feature authors, editors, publishers, and the like-minded. At the Sheraton in Manhattan on 53rd (E train to 53rd and 6th).

For more information, go to the expo’s website.

A virtual wall created for Twitter users to express their thoughts and hopes on the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall has been blocked in China.

The “Berlin Twitter Wall,” as it’s called, is an initiative of KulturProjekte Berli, a not-for-profit organization that promotes networking and mediation of art and culture.

Launched on Oct. 20, according to the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the virtual wall was blocked by Chinese authorities after almost 2,000 Chinese Internet users left Twitter messages there. The wall currently has just over 4,000 tweets posted on it, mostly in Chinese.

“Chinese Internet users must not be prevented from accessing the Berlin Twitter Wall,” said Reporters Without Borders in a statement released Tuesday morning.  “Initiatives like these are important platforms for the promotion of freedom of speech as well as for critical voices and protest.”

RSF added that many foreign news outlets and social-networking sites remain inaccessible to Chinese users.

Twitter account holders can post comments that appear automatically on the berlintwitterwall.com site by using the hashtag #fotw (fall of the wall).

read the full article here