summer-2003-Part 2-live - Nieman Foundation - Harvard University

Getting a More Complete War StoryArab + U.S. television = more accurate war coverage.Coverage of WarThis article appeared in The Daily Staron March 25, 2003, written by Rami G.Khouri, executive editor of The DailyStar, an English-language newspaperin Beirut, Lebanon. Khouri is a 2002Nieman Fellow.By Rami G. KhouriThe first thing I learned from theearly days of the war in Iraq isnot to rely solely on either Americanor Arab satellite/cable televisionchannels as primary sources of newsand analysis—but one should alsowatch both sides to get a completeview of events on the ground and inpeople’s minds. For different reasons,Arab and American television—with afew notable exceptions that confirmthe rule—both broadly provide a distorted,incomplete picture of eventswhile accurately reflecting emotionaland political sentiments on both sides.Every day I scan through 20 differentArab and American TV services.This is a painful exercise, becausethe business of reporting andinterpreting the serious news ofwar has been transformed into amishmash of emotionalcheerleading, expressions of primordialtribal and national identities,overt ideological manipulationby governments, and crass commercialpandering to the masses inpursuit of the audience shareneeded to sell advertising.American television tends to goheavy on the symbols of patriotism,with American flags fluttering asintegral elements of on-screen logosor backdrops, while emotional collagesof war photos are used liberallyas transitions between live reportsand advertising breaks. Othersigns of how American TV tends toreflect the pro-war sentiments ofthe government and many in societyinclude the tone of most anchorsand hosts, the heavy empha-sis on showcasing America’s weaponstechnology, the preponderance of exmilitarymen and women guests, notshowing the worst civilian casualties inIraq, highlighting U.S. troops’ humanitarianassistance to Iraqis, and reporters’and hosts’ use of value-laden andsimplistic expressions like “the goodguys” to refer to American troops.The most unfortunate and professionallydisgraceful aspect of U.S. televisioncoverage, in my view, has beenthe widespread double assumption thatIraqis would offer no resistance andwould welcome the U.S. Army withopen arms. Some Iraqis will surely doso, but most people in this region nowsee the Americans as an invading forcethat will become an occupying force.The American media probably reflectwidespread American ignorance aboutwhat it means to have your countryinvaded, occupied, administered andretooled in someone else’s image.Cartoon by Hassan Bleibel, Beirut, Lebanon.Reprinted by permission of Cartoonists & WritersSyndicate/cartoonweb.com.Americans are correct to assume thattheir impressive military might willprevail on the battlefield; yet they alsoappear totally and bafflingly obliviousto the visceral workings of nationalismand national identity. I have seen noappreciation whatsoever in America forthe fact that while Iraqis generally maydislike their vicious and violent Iraqiregime, the average Iraqi and Arab hasa much older, stronger and more recurringfear of armies that come intotheir lands from the West carrying politicalpromises and bags of rice.Arab television channels display virtuallyidentical biases and omissions,including heavy relaying of film of theworst Iraqi civilian casualties, interviewswith guests who tend to be criticalof the United States, hosts and anchorswho often seem to see their roleas debating rather than merely interviewingAmerican guests, acceptingIraqi and other Arab government statementsat face value without sufficientlyprobing their total accuracy,and highlighting the setbacks tothe attacking Anglo-Americanforces, by means including showingfilm of captured or dead troops.We in the Arab world are slightlybetter off than most Americans becausewe can see and hear bothsides, given the easy availability ofAmerican satellite channelsthroughout this region; most Americansdo not have easy access toArab television reports and, even ifthey did, they would need to knowArabic to grasp the full picture.Two days ago, I better understoodthe need to see images fromboth sides. Arab television stationsshowed pictures of dead and capturedAmerican troops, many ofwhich were eventually shown onAmerican television. But Arab channelsthe same day also showed ahorrifying picture that did not getinto American TV: a small Iraqi childwho had died during an AmericanNieman Reports / Summer 2003 93