Slanting The News In A War Zone - Commentary from an experienced warzone reporter--must read....

NBC6.Net TV ^ | Wednesday, August 9, 2006 | Ike Seamans

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Now from the Blogosphere:

Captain's Quarters comments:

NBC Newsman Says Don't Believe War Reporting
August 09, 2006

*****************AN EXCERPT *************************

Many of us in the blogosphere have argued that the coverage of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict has shown bias, and in the case of Reuters, outright fraud. The media has not defended itself much in the wake of the wire-service scandal, and now a veteran correspondent from NBC tells Florida residents that the media has indeed stopped providing rational coverage:

See Above........

***************** More ***********************

As Ike Seamans explains, the bald propaganda efforts hardly provide the worst-case scenario with Hezbollah. The terrorists keep copis of the passports of all journalists in the area, making them very nervous about reporting anything remotely critical of Hezbollah. Michael Totten had the same problem during a period of relative peace in Beirut, and one can deduce that Hezbollah takes message discipline much more seriously lately.

Seamans points out a problem that has afflicted news organizations for decades: turnover and financial performance. Seamans, who has the experience and context necessary to even hope for an objective assessment on the ground, sits in Florida. Meanwhile, brave but inexperienced journalists get thrown into a conflict that they do not understand well enough to report correctly, and have too little context to read between the lines Hezbollah hands them -- even if they want to defy the terrorists to report honestly from Lebanon.

Meanwhile, news services increasingly rely on stringers for their reports, and usually this means publishing pictures or reports from people who may have other loyalties. As the meltdown of Reuters shows, when media outlets rely on people like Adnan Hajj with little or no editorial control, they turn themselves into propaganda providers, not news organizations. One would think that an editor would understand the pitfalls of relying on locals in a war for objective reporting, but not only do they fail to consider it, the editors pass along their product without any serious review.

This results in a distorted and dangerously biased view of the situation. In one day, we heard that an Israeli strike killed 40 civilians, which then got corrected to one. The editors love sensational headlines, and the Hezbollah terrorists and their apologists deliver them in spades. Reporters in Israel get less handling and have freedom of movement in the civilian centers of Israel, but the more accurate reporting originating in Israel's north doesn't have the "grab" of Fuad Saniora's sobs.

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See CQ for much more........

[weegee]

Then there's the danger factor if a reporter angers his terrorist tour guides

CNN confessed that they knew of abuse and torture under Saddam but they remained quiet to maintain their Baghdad bureau.

Odd that the media will never hold their tongue when reporting bad news about the US.

What's more, they are quick to run any suspicions as "truth" which only enflames the region.

No one is saying "don't investigate and prosecute" the troops. Abu Ghraib was already being addressed when the media exploited it to try to turn support for the war and Bush. It was one of the men under investigation who leaked the images; with the aid of Ramsey Clark.

[marron]

So start with a general left-bias, add in a dose of raw fear of their arab hosts, and you get what you get.

[tobyhill]

Let's see how the MSM slants the fact that Iranian soldiers were killed in fighting in Lebanon today?

[SierraWasp]

Say Ernest! I've heard the name Nobby Berry (that's NOT the way it's spelled) come up in the news of Lebanon twice in the past month. Do you, or anyone else, remember his name as a Lebononese official during either a hijacking, or the kidnapping of a CIA official, or a hostage crisis where that Anderson guy was held in captivity for so long during the Reagan administration???

My memory is getting sketchy, but the sound of that name ranks right up there with the Iranian named Goatsbody during the idiot Carter's hostage crisis, to me!!!

[SierraWasp]

Oh! And Ernest... I'm taking advantage of this thread to ask Jim Robinson something I've been wondering since all the NY Times "loose lips" leaking and publishing of national secrets episodes... Why does it still say "Loose Lips Sink Ships" where you post replies on FR???

I mean, heck, we couldn't possibly do as much harm as the MSM has already done. Anything we might do would surely be anti-climactic, right???

[GoLightly]

I was thinking earlier, I'd like to see someone do a documentary about the reporters in the war zone. Out Fahrenheit 911 MM, though I don't think it would be necessary to do the kind of twisted editing he does. The truth is out there...

[GeronL]

Then there's the danger factor if a reporter angers his terrorist tour guides. Christopher Albritton, a freelance contributor for Time magazine, wrote in his blog a couple of weeks ago, "To the south, Hezbollah is launching Katyushas, but I'm loathe to say too much about them. The Party of God has a copy of every journalists' passport and they've already hassled a number of us and threatened one." They also take pictures of all journalists, warning they better follow the ground rules or else. Terrorists in that part of the world have been doing this for years.

The TV stations and newspapers need to make this clear in all their articles. 'Passed Hez-Ebola Censorship'.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

That paragraph is exactly the reason I thought it might be useful to post this !

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Berri .... maybe?

Not that I can help any but lots of folks on here with a long memory!

[AFreeBird]

I mean, heck, we couldn't possibly do as much harm as the MSM has already done. Anything we might do would surely be anti-climactic, right???

A lot of folks here are in the know, know people in the know, have people being deployed, or are returning from deployment etc.

Seemingly innocent revelations can have profound impact and importance for someone else.

Better safe than sorry.

[SierraWasp]

Yes, I agree. But I just thought it was (gasp) ironic when I noticed it while posting an earlier reply to this thread. "Loose Lips Sink Ships!"

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel.

also Keywords 2006israelwar or WOT [War on Terror]

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[AFreeBird]

Yes, it is ironic unless you take into account that the MSM is NOT on our side. We on the other do actually understand what is at stake, and voluntarily take some precautions to protect us and our own.

The MSM may vary well be a 5th column, but we won't be.

[Grendelgrey]

IF truth and accuracy in reporting were held in the high regard the Media claims, every paper and news outlet would cancel any wire service that foists false/doctored photos off as truth.Any story pushed or palmed off as Accurate reporting that does not mention the "guidelines" demanded by Hezbollah,would be canned.
No other business,and THE NEWS is a business,would willing accept faulty product from subcontractors.Yet Big Media continues to do so.
Therefore it is logical to conclude that various agendas anathema to accurate reporting are at play.
Those in charge have political agendas as well as bottom line concerns.Lets face it, video and photos are the prime reason these reporters are there.No video equals no audience equals no revenues.
Would Yassar and the PLO have continued granting interviews if the stories were completely and fairly reported after wards?Would Saddam have done so with CNN?
Still when one has an Anti Bush agenda it is rather convenient to be able to cover you fanny by moaning about Kalashnikov wielding handlers after wards.
... Oh what tangled webs we weave when first we practive to report what we please....

[SierraWasp]

Well... I'm not trying to manufacture some kind of equivalence between FR and the miserable MSM! I just think it's ironic that 99 and 44/100% of FReepers don't even need to be reminded to not let sensitive info slip out of their keyboards, while the miserable MSM just DELIGHT in stipping the USA naked to our enemies!!!

There can be NO comparison, let alone some sort of equivalence... not in a million years! They hate their own nation's superpower status and we seek to expand our worldwide exceptionalism!!!

[Don Corleone]

In War...the first casualty is TRUTH!.

[AFreeBird]

Well, there's always that .56%; newbies, or seasoned FR veteran's in the heat of a discussion, that might let something slip. It's just a friendly reminder. A reminder that I'd like to think we'd heed, even while the MSM totally disregards it.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Did you hear about the latest from the NY Slimes?

As I understand it ( from Foxnews) The supposed body pulled from the rubble , in South Lebanon, is now alive and walking around,...he was helping with the rescue of others when he was pulled from debri and an eager photographer got the picture.....

[r9etb]

So start with a general left-bias, add in a dose of raw fear of their arab hosts, and you get what you get.

One must add into this the general anti-Israel antipathy that seems to go hand-in-hand with left-bias....