A Rare View on the Media
While this blog has analysed the media closely, and has been able to see the bias of the media in their opinions and agendas. While this blog has focussed strongly on the wars and violence being dealt out in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, perhaps the most scathing view that has been presented against the media on national defence and war has come in regards to Iraq by Lieutenant Colonel Tim Ryan and the negative view which is portrayed. It is interesting to note that the two sides which have been presented is concerned around how things should be done, such as whether mroe troops should be sent, or who is to blame for the problems in Pakistan. No article however, has discussed what all of this war has achieved, and the value of it. All have put a negative spin on the war, something which Tim Ryan finds most frustrating in his article (in relation to Iraq).
I just read yet another distorted and grossly exaggerated story from a major news organization about the “failures” in the war in Iraq. Print and video journalists are covering only a small fraction of the events in Iraq and more often than not, the events they cover are only the bad ones. Many of the journalists making public assessments about the progress of the war in Iraq are unqualified to do so, given their training and experience. The inaccurate picture they paint has distorted the world view of the daily realities in Iraq.
Through this article, Tim Ryan has shown the view that the public is effected by the media. This in itself is a question of modern day journalism, whether public is effected by the media, or as is often seen throughout this blog, the media is a representation of the public. It can be argued that the apparent split view on the war in the Pakistani/Afghan area in the media in what should be done, and the negativity surrounding it, is due to what societies views are. However this article expresses the ideology that the media has instead enforced these views to the public in regards to the war in Iraq.
The result is a further erosion of international public support for the United States’ efforts there, and a strengthening of the insurgents’ resolve and recruiting efforts while weakening our own. Through their incomplete, uninformed and unbalanced reporting, many members of the media covering the war in Iraq are aiding and abetting the enemy.
Tim Ryan also expresses his frustration in the view that the media have only reported negative news regarding the war. This is something he may well have a valid point in making given that the coverage in regards to Afghanistan and Pakistan displayed in this blog has been mostly of a negative nature. This may well fit into the very popular belief that journalists are much more likely to write about negative stories as they will grab headlines. Ryan also notes that people die everyday, not neccisarily for a good cause, and thus questions why deaths at the war in Iraq have been covered so heavily.
What if domestic news outlets continually fed American readers headlines like: “Bloody Week on U.S. Highways: Some 700 Killed,” or “More Than 900 Americans Die Weekly from Obesity-Related Diseases”? Both of these headlines might be true statistically, but do they really represent accurate pictures of the situations?
. . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . .. .
As a recent example, the operation in Fallujah delivered an absolutely devastating blow to the insurgency. Though much smaller in scope, clearing Fallujah of insurgents arguably could equate to the Allies’ breakout from the hedgerows in France during World War II. In both cases, our troops overcame a well-prepared and solidly entrenched enemy and began what could be the latter’s last stand. In Fallujah, the enemy death toll has already exceeded 1,500 and still is climbing. Put one in the win column for the good guys, right? Wrong. As soon as there was nothing negative to report about Fallujah, the media shifted its focus to other parts of the country. Just yesterday, a major news agency’s website lead read: “Suicide Bomber Kills Six in Baghdad” and “Seven Marines Die in Iraq Clashes.” True, yes. Comprehensive, no. Did the author of this article bother to mention that Coalition troops killed 50 or so terrorists while incurring those seven losses? Of course not. Nor was there any mention about the substantial progress these offensive operations continue to achieve in defeating the insurgents. Unfortunately, this sort of incomplete reporting has become the norm for the media, whose poor job of presenting a complete picture of what is going on in Iraq borders on being criminal.
Ryan also displays some clear agendas in that he is becoming increasingly frustrated in the fact that the media is portraying their own people as the antagonists, while their enemy is presneted as the protagonists. It is here however the piece begins to fall apart when Ryan attempts to compare the coverage of abuse of prisoners withinin Abu Ghuraid Prison, to the torture of an American worker in Iraq. This comparison is somewhat questionable given the high media coverage by journalists when one of their own is taken kidnapped within Iraq and Afghanistan. There is also no way to justify the abuse which was given to prisoners within Abu Ghuraid Prison, and this part of the article begins to show raise question marks over whether this is simply a piece with an agenda for Tim Ryan to defend his own men.
What about the media’s portrayal of the enemy? Why do these ruthless murderers, kidnappers and thieves get a pass when it comes to their actions? What did the media not show or tell us about Margaret Hassoon, the director of C.A.R.E. in Iraq and an Iraqi citizen, who was kidnapped, brutally tortured and left disemboweled in streets of Fallujah? Did anyone in the press show these images over and over to emphasize the moral failings of the enemy as they did with the soldiers at Abu Ghuraib?
The article then continues to further fall apart when it goesa as far as to suggest conspiracy within the media and fails to ignore simple facts such as the ‘Iraqi Government’ which banned Iraqi media group Al Jazeera.
Earlier this year, the Iraqi government banned Al Jazeera from the country for its inaccurate reporting. Wonder where they get their information now? Well, if you go to the Internet, you’ll find a web link from the Al Jazeera home page to CNN’s home page. Very interesting.
Despite the serious question marks which can be raised over this article, and clear agendas which are being produced it does make some very serious points. Away from all of the violent speech of not only encouraging killing, but glorifying it, it does question the role of the media within society, and does hightlight the fact that the majority of the talk of the Iraq war, and as we can see indeed, the ‘War on Terror’ is about negativity within the media. The question must be asked then, are these wars really a failure, or just a picture painted by the media as Tim Ryan points out.
While this article is one of bias and centres around the War in Iraq, a lot can be taken from it in regards to the ‘War on Terror,’ and the violence within Pakistan. The talk of prison violence can be compared to that within Guantanamo Bay, and various Westeners have been taken hostage within both nations. It should be noted also that while the article is indeed from a few years ago now, many of the issues raised still hold true, and can be used strongly to evaluate the ways in which the media have cover National Defence and Terrorism.
The abuse within Abu Ghuraib Prison. Photo: New York Times
