UPDATED - ColdType

EMBEDDED: WEAPONS OF MASS DECEPTION
again; it’s the old story of overexposure and simplification
driving out more nuanced coverage
and follow-up. Leave it to the Guardian in England
to spot the trend in America, reporting
today:
“One month after the beginning of the Iraqi
conflict, America is returning to its normal diet
of reality TV – including a presenting debut for
one Monica Lewinsky.
“Suddenly, it’s as if the war had never happened.
Stefano Hatfield, a contributor to an
advertising magazine explains: ‘War is God’s way
of teaching Americans geography,’ said the
writer Ambrose Bierce. Well, the war is apparently
over because those lustrous locations,
Brooklyn and Queens, have elbowed Baghdad
and Umm Qasr out of the news.
“The hour-long rightwing rant known as Fox
News contained not a single Iraqi name check. Is
it over then? As I look north out of my apartment
window, I can just about make out the red, white
and blue lighting on the Empire State Building
through the clouds. It’s a giant Zoom ice lolly
that will remain patriotically lit until ‘we’ had
‘won.’ Or so we were told. It’s an eloquent symbol
of the confusion reigning over how to define
victory.
“All around us, life has returned to what passes
for normal. Scott Peterson, the platinum-blond
husband who allegedly murdered and decapitated
his pregnant wife, is the top story. The Central
Park Jogger has a book out, Madonna a
“controversial” new CD.
While New York City has a budget crisis, the
Yankees are laying waste to all around them.
Michael Jordan has retired (again) and OJ Simpson
is set to be an ‘expert’ commentator on
Robert Blake’s murder trial.
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Besting the West
IT is not just Al-Jazeera by the way that has
emerged with new respect in this war. Islam
Online is carrying a report today from Cairo
arguing “Western Media No Longer the Best.” It
reads in part: “When the First Gulf War erupted
in 1991, Egyptian TV was almost entirely dependent
on CNN coverage of the war. The logo of the
American news channel appeared on almost
every feed about the war.
“For many years Western media had represented
the best option for Arab viewers. First, it
possessed the necessary resources for high
quality news coverage, resources that Arab
media lacked. Secondly, it was generally viewed
as being free and unconstrained by political considerations.
It had gained a reputation of being
motivated solely by professional incentives, in
which the first and most important objective is to
seek and present the truth as it is. This was in
contrast to Arab media, which had gained a reputation
of being a mere propaganda tool.
“Now, with the outbreak of the Third Gulf War,
things might be changing, and there is evidence
to suggest that Western media might be losing
its edge in the Arab world. “Several Arab satellite
channels, notably Al Jazeera, Abu Dhabi TV,
El Manar TV and possibly the new member of
the MBC group, Arabiyya, have proven to have a
high degree of technical and professional ability.”
Was BBC biased?
AND what about the western media? How well
has it done? The Guardian today looks into the
controversy about BBC coverage. Media