The White Washing of the war in Iraq
I was listening to AFN Radio the other day, and had the opportunity to listen to two very different reports on the war in Iraq. The first was a re-broadcast of Morning Edition by National Public Radio.
NPR reported three car bombs exploding in Iraq killing over 40 civilians, wounding over 80 people. The program then took a stations break, which allowed AFN to give a news brief. Their story started, "The big news coming out of Iraq..." The big news turned out to be the destruction of a weapons stockpile that the US forces had discovered. There was no mention of over 120 people being killed or wounded by three car bombs.
The story did surface a day and a half later after it was run in the news paper: Stars and Stripes. But that was later, when its absence would have been noticed.
Where is the reality? As a member of the public I believe that we have a right to know the reality of war. That means the good and the bad. Almost everybody seems to be going for the ratings. One station will only mention the deaths of US servicemembers and coalition forces. Another will down play those deaths and talk about the Iraqi casualties without mentioning that those same deaths were not caused by the US.
Does anyone remember the riots after the initial Not Guilty verdict in the trial of the police officers that beat Rodney King? I was watching the news when they showed a peaceful crowd. The news caster stated, "Nothing's happing here." And then they switched to a demonstration that was turning into a riot. The lesson that I learned from that was that the news is made, it is not the reporting of the facts.
Once we as a people start ignoring the totality of the facts, and only listen to what is told to us; once we stop using our brains and our own analysis, and blindly believe the half-truths that are spoon fed to us, that way lies madness. Use your brain. Question the facts. Decide for yourself. Give your own Honest opinion. Only then will the voice of the people be heard.
NPR reported three car bombs exploding in Iraq killing over 40 civilians, wounding over 80 people. The program then took a stations break, which allowed AFN to give a news brief. Their story started, "The big news coming out of Iraq..." The big news turned out to be the destruction of a weapons stockpile that the US forces had discovered. There was no mention of over 120 people being killed or wounded by three car bombs.
The story did surface a day and a half later after it was run in the news paper: Stars and Stripes. But that was later, when its absence would have been noticed.
Where is the reality? As a member of the public I believe that we have a right to know the reality of war. That means the good and the bad. Almost everybody seems to be going for the ratings. One station will only mention the deaths of US servicemembers and coalition forces. Another will down play those deaths and talk about the Iraqi casualties without mentioning that those same deaths were not caused by the US.
Does anyone remember the riots after the initial Not Guilty verdict in the trial of the police officers that beat Rodney King? I was watching the news when they showed a peaceful crowd. The news caster stated, "Nothing's happing here." And then they switched to a demonstration that was turning into a riot. The lesson that I learned from that was that the news is made, it is not the reporting of the facts.
Once we as a people start ignoring the totality of the facts, and only listen to what is told to us; once we stop using our brains and our own analysis, and blindly believe the half-truths that are spoon fed to us, that way lies madness. Use your brain. Question the facts. Decide for yourself. Give your own Honest opinion. Only then will the voice of the people be heard.
posted by Zanla | 4:26 PM
1 Comments:
I'm a fan of NPR. It's like a different world every time you turn it on - I love the background noise in interviews - it's like you're there.
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