CBS and CNN evening reports commented on this event as of a tragedy that happened “during a hectic day” (FAIR.org). Moreover CNN refused to broadcast the video at all "out of respect for the families” (FAIR.org). From the video, even the shortened version, you can clearly see, that the men or rather ‘targets’ were not doing anything suspicious, one was on the phone and the others were just walking. I could not even make out the weapons; however I am not a trained soldier but laic. It seems hard to believe that a camera could be mistaken for a rifle AK-47 on the picture below. If you can clearly make out somebody is speaking on the phone, you should also recognize camera from a rifle.
More importantly, what does it say about the media, if they refuse to report this and rather “cover up” for their allies in CIA? Of course, we might question the authenticity of the video, we might question the reliability of the source, but aren’t these just excuses to help us turn a blind eye? It would be easier not to care, indeed. The world-wide attention is dedicated to China as the main traitor of free speech, but what about the Western world? At least they know what they can expect in the news, but living in the Western world, we expect what we receive from the media to be truth and not propaganda, when in fact, what we get is nothing less than propaganda of the 21st century. And honestly, this poses a much bigger threat to the society than the ban of Google in China.
This video is conducted by the actual coverage of CNN and NBC with a commentary of its author. It is very interesting, you can actually see from the word choice who controls whom and what (Pentagon officials supposedly CNN). I recommend you to watch this video. It is only for illustration. You don’t need to take it as the only source. Again, I couldn’t find more about the author of the video except his interest in science and politics, so I don’t want to preach about his credibility. I just think it is worth watching.
Sources:
"Iraq Killings and Media Indifference." Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR). Web. 13 May 2010.
WikiLeaks’ Page:
http://www.collateralmurder.com/
Full and not edited version of WikiLeaks video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is9sxRfU-ik&feature=player_embedded
Short Version with description:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfOBV6rxIzw&feature=related
CNN covers after Pentagon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGHH-t_2wsY&annotation_id=annotation_424892&feature=iv
Picture:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Rifle_AK-47.jpg
I've seen this news on BBC and AP.. I wonder if you've seen the movie called "Network", portraits media agencies as Multinational Corporations, and I agree with them. They act according to their own interest, I'll tell you a story, our last President Roh Moo-hyun tried to pass to get a Presidential plane budget on National Assembly and three news agencies, which seemingly representing the view of our current president Lee Myung-bak, started to criticized heavily on this issues and the budget did not passed, and well... few months ago, current president got himself an Airforce One and well.. those three agencies did not criticized anything about it, well.. they even said it will help running foreign diplomacy. my point here is that I agree with you Lucy, if the news represents national interest, it can be tilted and do not report anything might harm it.. as far as I understand, they want to emphasize the cameras looked alike AK-47 so it's just another mistake.
ReplyDeletewell... truth is in fact disgusting and nasty when the money is involved...
This is incredibly alarming. After reading this post, I cant help but wonder what other important pieces of information we, as media consumers, are missing out on. A free press is key to any democracy, as it is supposed to act as a "watch dog" for democracy. I have always thought the media should act in the public interest, and provide all necessary information to society. I realize that this is hard, and yes, someone needs to decide what is shown/published and what is not, but it is alarming to think that something like this could be covered up by the majority of mainstream media sources. I think this speaks to the revolutionary power of citizen media, where eventually news like this does get out. While clearly internet media can be called into question due to credibility issues, I still think it plays a crucial role in allowing more information to get to the people - it challenges who owns the media.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to the last comment, I agree. It is almost heartbreaking to see media representatives sitting back and not asking tough questions to government officials. I remember watching George W. Bush's press conference after he invaded Afghanistan. I remember being shocked that no one was asking any provocative questions. Our country was going to war and yet no one would ask the questions that needed to be asked. It was like they were afraid to step on anyone's toes. This clearly shows that the media in many countries is not nearly as free as we like to pretend.