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Stage Managed
Those who keep a close eye on Middle Eastern news reporting will have read occasional references to potential stage-managing of the events breathlessly reported from that region by the western media. I can recall such things briefly spoken of at least as far back as the 1979 revolution in Iran. But I've never seen any real investigation of the practice, any serious attempt to uncover cynical efforts to ensure the facts never get in the way of a good story. Far more important are vibrant, powerful images. Far more important are the unsupervised stringers used to ensure western media personalities remain safe, far away from conflict. The Second Draft, with this 18-minute documentary attempts to rectify that situation, if only a little.
While I'm not completely convinced every instance they show actually is stage-managed, I am very convinced at least some of them are. Which then forces me to re-consider the weaker segments a little more thoughtfully. If nothing else, it certainly shows in quite graphic detail how our own popular media outlets oversimplify complex stories to the point of utter confusion, just to get some good pictures.
Via Yourish.
interesting movie. If they're correct, it does point out some interesting things I'll be looking for in the future...
Side note: I live having high-speed. 18 minutes of film downloading in about 2. life is good.
Posted by: ronaprhys on September 26, 2005 07:32 PMIndeed, the War on Terror is a war on an idea, one that has been put off far too long. Does it seem so silly to make war on an idea, when less than a score of men will murder almost 3000 people for the sake of an idea? This war of ideas started last century, when the flawed beliefs of Karl Marx first took hold, and while force of arms inevitably plays a part, the true battles are won and lost with words.
The media, once one of our greatest weapons in this war, has grown hopelessly corrupt. They have come to believe their power grants them divine right of rulership over the entire world, indeed over universal truth itself. They are as wrong as the others who tried to set themselves up in that post, and we have only begun the long, slow war of ideas to overthrow them.
The international media has decided which side they are on, in the War on Terror, and they too will have to be defeated if Terror is to be brought to heel.
Posted by: Tatterdemalian on September 27, 2005 11:18 AM