As someone that spends a great deal of time immersed in the geopolitical, these are heady days. Trying to consume information is hard enough without having to write about it in detail. Given what’s transpired globally over the last four weeks it’s a truly daunting prospect.

From the protests in Iran to the coup in Honduras, from the recent unrest in China’s Xinjiang Province to the implementation of the Status Of Arms Agreement and the impending national referendum, from new US operations in Helmand to Pakistani operations in Swat and Waziristan – these represent but a handful of significant issues.

I’ll not lie, sometimes I wish I ran a news website, if only to have a collection of well informed contributors able to focus on specific issues. In the past I have had numerous authors contribute here on the website, but not in the capacity of covering specific geopolitical subjects.

Samar Mazloum’s coverage of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006 is an example of the sort of contribution that I’m talking about. She was in Lebanon at the time, was able to write first hand about events on the ground, about the political climate, and about the reaction of the people. I remember being on MSN messenger with her when the IDF were dropping bombs near her home and she was forced to seek cover – sitting at my computer a world away wondering if she was alright. Of course, her brother was outside with his video camera attempting to film it all, their first hand experiences ultimately leading to interviews with CNN and the BBC.

Had I the financial ability, I’d probably spend a great deal of time flying all over the world so that I could put my proverbial money where my mouth is. I more than realize that it’s easy to sit in the safety of my home and comment about what goes on in the world, never having to risk gathering first hand accounts. But believe me, were I able to independently do it I would – in a heartbeat. But that would require the ability to do so without external agendas playing a role in such experiences.

A few years ago I was asked by a member of our government to travel to Sudan. In the end I declined for two reasons. One, I was heading out on tour, but more importantly because I feared that I my coverage would be trite given that I would be in the country with government officials and therefore unable to seriously address sensitive issues in fear of displeasing Sudanese authorities. That possibility was something that was made clear to me from the get go. Such restriction is the very same reason why I have never entertained the possibility of travelling to Afghanistan to perform for Canadian forces. Not because playing a show for them wouldn’t be a great experience, but because I would be unable to actually see the country for myself – even if just Kabul or Kandahar – without being accompanied by a military attaché.

I utterly envy journalists that have the opportunity to base their reports on first hand experiences. Even more, those independent journalists that have the ability to do so without being restrained by the outlets for which they work due to the ever increasing politicization of the fourth estate – if we can even call it that anymore. It’s one thing to cover events in Iraq while embedded with US forces. It’s another matter altogether to do it independently.

Dahr Jamail represents one of the best examples of the impact that an independent journalist can have. In 2003, because of his disappointment in “the overall failure of the US media to accurately report on the realities of the war in Iraq for the Iraqi people and US soldiers.”, Jamail took matters into his own hands and travelled to the Middle East to cover the war in Iraq. Since his decision to do so, his work has been published by The Independent, The Guardian, Le Monde, Foreign Policy In Focus, and The Nation – just to name a few. His coverage of the impact on Iraqi civilians during the sieges of Fallujah remains a prime example of how crucially important independent journalism is.