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As journalists, what words do we use to describe the events we are reporting? Are they chosen in part because of how we feel personally about those events?\n<\/p>\n
This content was published on <\/p>\n
June 23, 2026 – 17:00\n<\/p>\n
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\n Imogen Foulkes reports from Geneva for SWI swissinfo.ch as well as the BBC. <\/p>\n
In a conflict in which atrocities are being committed by both sides, is our language more bland if we have sympathies with one side, and more outraged if we have long been negative towards the other?<\/p>\n
And, if we work in a renowned institution, one famous the world over for the excellent, positive work it does, if we see it being destroyed from the inside for ideological reasons, should we remain quiet? Or should we go public, even if it risks losing our jobs, or being punished?<\/p>\n
Please listen to this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n
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International Geneva\n <\/p>\n
Inside Geneva: books to make you think <\/p>\n
This content was published on <\/p>\n
Jun 23, 2026 <\/p>\n
This week, Inside Geneva presents the newest installment of our \u201cBooks to make you think\u201d series. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Read more: Inside Geneva: books to make you think You might think the answers to those questions are easy. In fact, they are not, and both are examined by the two authors we talk to on Inside Geneva, Books to make you think this week. Their books are in turns riveting and forensic accounts of two topics which are very relevant to Geneva. First, the destruction of the US aid and development agency USAID, and the consequences for some of the world\u2019s most vulnerable people.<\/p>\n And second, a data driven investigation of the way the US mainstream media (often called \u201cfake news\u201d or \u201cthe liberal media\u201d by President Donald Trump\u2019s administration) reported the conflict in Gaza.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with the first, a book called Into the Wood Chipper, by Nicholas Enrich, who was assistant administrator for global health at USAID when Donald Trump began his second term as president in early 2025.<\/p>\n Enrich and his colleagues had anticipated cuts to the agency, they had expected ideological pressure. What they weren\u2019t prepared for was the almost total ignorance of Elon Musk\u2019s Doge (department of government efficiency), about what USAID actually did.<\/p>\n Enrich describes how he initially looked forward to explaining to them \u201cwhat we did in terms of infectious diseases, maternal child health, family planning\u2026They were shocked\u201d. One Doge member told Enrich \u201cI assumed it was just, you know, abortions.\u201d<\/p>\n As we in Geneva know, abortions are not what USAID did \u2013 it provided, among other things, programmes tackling HIV-AIDS in Africa, food support in areas where famine threatened, and humanitarian programmes to help civilians in Ukraine. Programmes that are now ended by young, ignorant people whose decisions were influenced not by the reality of USAID\u2019s work, but by a right-wing disinformation campaign that lied about what the agency did.<\/p>\n Enrich\u2019s book is a compelling, but also poignant, account of how USIAD was destroyed. He and his colleagues had genuinely thought there could be a dialogue with the new administration, they even offered areas where savings could be made, but to no avail. When Enrich finally realised he could influence nothing, and that he too was about to lose his job, he decided he should write an account of what he witnessed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people who so recklessly tore down the agency and put so many lives at risk around the world are still sitting in high positions of government,\u201d he told Inside Geneva. \u201cAnd it was able to be torn down that easily because people did not stand up and speak out against what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo I hope this book is a call to action for people who see that something is fundamentally breaking in American democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n International Geneva\n <\/p>\n Inside Geneva: what\u2019s the point of foreign aid? <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Jun 9, 2026 <\/p>\n On our Inside Geneva podcast this week, we host a debate on a key question: what\u2019s the point of foreign aid? <\/p>\n
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