All Blog Posts from Public Eye

Two weeks ago we discussed former Marine and present-day author Josh Rushing, whose career path has taken him press liaison in Iraq -- where he was featured in the documentary "Control Room" -- to correspondent for Al Jazeera’s English-language network. I recently had a conversation with him where we talked about, among other things, American media, Pat Tillman, Jon Stewart and how, when you really think about it, Qatar is a little like Delaware.

Matthew Felling: You’re from Texas. What sort of a response has your family and community had to your career path?

Josh Rushing: My hometown doesn’t know much about me anymore. It used to be the first county town north of Dallas, but it was swallowed by a shopping mall about fifteen years ago. I can no longer go home again, but I can shop there. That’s a line from “Gross Point Blank;” I’m stealing from John Cusack. My parents moved out to an even smaller town, called Lone Star. I’ve faced a lot of grief for the decisions I’ve made, being a part of Al Jazeera, and that’s okay.

But I kind of feel bad about my parents, because they’re the ones in the small town—mom’s on city council, they go to a small church there—and everyone there knows that I work for Al Jazeera. And so poor mom and dad are left defending and explaining my decision in a much more difficult environment than I do, on a daily basis. So they carry the brunt for me there. But they soldier on, they defend me, they’re very proud of me and the decisions I’ve made. So I’m lucky in that regard. I’ve got a great family.

Matthew Felling: So did you have to give them a talking point or two to answer the questions back home?

Josh Rushing: Nah, they’ve been my number one fans throughout this entire journey. Every interview I’ve given, they’ve watched. They were there before [“Control Room”] was released, and watched this thing blow up on the web before it was released in the theaters. So having been there every step of the way, having read every single interview or watched every single interview, they know the story just as well as I do.

And the funny thing is, while my parents do travel – my dad worked for American Airlines – they’re not entirely keen on international issues. They’re the kind of people who wake up early, work outside, work hard all day long – kind of a Midwestern work ethic – so they’re not the people who sit around reading The New Republic or the New York Times, that sort of thing. And now they’re thrust into the center of this debate over Al Jazeera, and its importance as far as America’s strategic interests are concerned. So it’s sort of a curious thing to watch them defend the issue.

Read full post…