Opinion, May 25, 2003, Al-Jazeerah.info
Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people
Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah
Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
Selectivity in media coverage,
Fahed Fanek
Jordan Times, 5/26/03
AN INFORMATION operative can lie without having to invent incidences that did not happen. Such outright lying is extremely foolish because it can be easily exposed, sooner rather than later. After all, one cannot lie for long. As a matter of fact, a journalist can sometimes lie by keeping silent and ignoring important news and developments.
Reality is so wide, and the scene is usually very vast, complicated and mixed. Comprehensive coverage of everything taking place could not be contained in a news bulletin, a documentary programme, or even by a twenty-four-hour continuous coverage, as in the case of war. Many things happen simultaneously in many places. It is only natural for the information operative to make subjective selections choosing either the convenient news items, as part of psychological warfare, or the most important or exciting news to attract readers or viewers.
It is not, therefore, surprising to find that news coverage of the war on Iraq differs from one media to another, so much so that those who watch and compare the output of American, British, European and Arab world television networks think that they are describing the progress of several different wars that may be taking place simultaneously. That may be the reason why the public in America tuned to BBC to understand what was really taking place in Iraq, because American media were engaged in propaganda.
In the war theatre, there are facts which are so ugly that their publication may lead to an uproar against the American administration, because they deserve condemnation. There is another set of facts which could improve the image of the invaders, support their effort and enhance the approval rating and popularity of President George W. Bush, and help secure his reelection to a second term in the coming presidential elections. It is believed that the fall of Saddam's statue in Baghdad was planned carefully to become part of Bush's reelection campaign TV ads.
The biased selection of facts in this and other cases, real as they may be, borders on misinformation. Objective coverage is supposed to give the recipient a representative sample of informative news that helps make an informed opinion.
One refers to good media coverage as objective, not as neutral, because neutrality can hardly be found in the media. Every journalist, including this writer, has his or her own prejudices, and every publication, broadcasting station or television network has its own agenda to serve. When, at times, such concerns allow the opposite point of view, they do so partially and only to gain credibility and claim neutrality. In crossfire programmes to discuss controversial issues, the selection of the discussants predetermines the outcome of the heated debate.
Selectivity is not confined to news coverage; it is extended to the selection of words and expressions in describing things and actions. These are some pairs of words and expressions which describe the same thing, yet they are loaded with bias. They reveal the position taken, with or against: war/aggression, occupation/liberation, dead/martyr, suicidal/martyrdom seeker, Iraq's army/Saddam's army, terrorist/freedom fighter, resistance/terrorism, war on Iraq/war against Iraq, and the list could go on.
The intelligent recipient can read between the lines and become cautious in interpreting news according to the sources, but the vast majority of the public can be misled. Even in a country like the United States, where the media are private and supposed to be free, the American public believes that Iraq has active programmes of chemical and biological weapons and that Saddam has strong ties with Osama Ben Laden's Al Qaeda. They know nothing about America's using depleted uranium bombs in Iraq and that the Iraqis were shelled by cluster bombs. The number of Iraqi civilians killed in the war is never mentioned. The war is supposed to be clean and surgical, and the bombs are very smart and precise.
American public opinion may, therefore, be the least informed in the world today.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |