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Nshima & Curry

Melvin's  Blog

Nshima & Curry

THE MANY SIDES OF WAR

If you're wondering how well the U.S. media covered the war,
whether they maintained high journalistic standards, rest
assured they remained as objective and unbiased, for the
most part, as Vice President Dick Cheney.

To be sure, some coverage was extremely balanced. Fox News
Channel, for example, went to great pains to show its
viewers ALL sides -- five different ones -- of the Pentagon.

Even more impressive, about 600 journalists were "embedded"
with the troops, giving them the freedom to report whatever
they saw on both sides -- both sides of the soldier they
were hiding behind.

These journalists did an admirable job showing us intimate
details of war from a soldier's point of view. But if you
wanted to see war from a civilian's perspective, you were
better off turning to the foreign media -- the British, the
Arab, and, God forbid, the French. Of course it might have
been a little graphic, spoiling your appetite, making you
wonder if you were watching a different war, or if CNN had
just rented the PG version. (PG, in this case, stands for
"positively gentle.")

Scanning both the American and Arab media might have given
you balance -- and it might have also given you brain
damage. Who were you to believe?

---American newspaper: "U.S. soldiers give candy to Iraqi
children."

Arab newspaper: "American invaders give Iraqi children
cavities. Thousands of dentists celebrate. Americans mistake
celebration for cheerful welcome."

---Arab newspaper: "American missile hits bus, kills seven."

American newspaper: "Bus runs into American missile. Suicide
mission suspected. President Bush offers condolences to
missile's family."

---American newspaper: "Coalition forces discover suspected
chemical weapons. Critical testing begins."

Arab newspaper: "Invaders discover Saddam's wife's
hairspray. Ten barrels stored for emergencies."

American journalism is still among the best in the world
(yes, I'm biased), but in covering the war, many news
outlets were too eager to look patriotic. MSNBC, for
example, loved to display its "America's Bravest" wall,
covered with pictures of soldiers. While that might have
perturbed some journalists, it surely infuriated Bill
O'Reilly of Fox: "I can't believe they're calling our
soldiers America's bravest. They should be calling them the
world's bravest. And if you don't agree with me, one of us
is an idiot."

The fact is, if we can't count on our media to be objective,
we might as well ask President Bush to read the news.

Bush: "Good evening. Today in Baghdad, the forces of good
triumphed over the forces of evil. The brave sons and
daughters of America liberated Iraq, as God continued to
bless them. According to our sources, the liberation
produced great joy, not just on the streets of Baghdad, but
throughout the free world. For more on this story, let's go
to our correspondent in Iraq, Dick Cheney."

Cheney: "Thank you, George. The Iraqis are so grateful for
their liberation, they've dropped the price of oil to five
cents a barrel. They've also renamed the capital in your
father's honor. Yes, Baghdad will now be known as Bushdad.
Back to you, George."

Bush: "Thank you, Dick. In other important news, three more
Democrats have entered the 2004 presidential race. But
according to political analysts, the outcome is clearer than
ever. The forces of good will triumph again."

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