Media Portrayal in United States
In 2004, the New York Daily News drew reference to Singh in an article about protesters against the Republican National Convention. The article incorrectly spoke of Singh being Muslim (he was born to a Sikh father and Catholic mother), prone to violence, that he was proficient in firearms and received training from Kazi Toure (he has never met Kazi Toure or received any firearms training), and that the teddy-bear launching catapult of the Quebec Summit of the Americas had instead launched molotov cocktails. At the same time, the New York Post published a photo of someone they alleged to be Singh shooting off a handgun. A friend of his who saw the picture noted: "It is some brown guy with high cheekbones and a Harry Potter haircut, but it's not Jaggi."
Singh does not readily throw himself into the spotlight due to an awareness of how the media likes to develop cults of personality: "I didn't choose to be covered in the way I have been. I've said no to interviews far more often than I've said yes." In 2001, when the CBC's The Fifth Estate aired a documentary profile of Singh, it was difficult to get his cooperation. Anna Maria Tremonti, the show's host, noted that "Often, people clamour to get in front of a microphone. But Jaggi didn't clamour."
Singh does acknowledge that not all his dealings with the media have been bad: "There are some journalists who are willing to take time on a story. That doesn't mean days, it just means making a couple of calls and getting all the background information so the story is not exploitative."
He was interviewed and included in a PBS documentary # Commanding Heights: about the global political economy. Of free trade agreements, like NAFTA, he says: "We are not here to negotiate the terms of our own misery."
Read more about this topic: Jaggi Singh
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