When a filming crew wants to capture a leopard hunting down his prey, they usually set up a camp and wait days, sometimes weeks just to get that one shot. If they miss it, it’s gone and they have to wait again. Wouldn’t it be convenient if the leopard would show up at the camp and let them know that, in about 6 hours he will try to hunt down an antelope, just two miles west of their camp? Of course it would make things a lot easier. And as we know how nature films work, we always get to see the cruel parts, when the leopard digs his teeth into the flesh of the prey, until the point where vultures show up to fight with hyenas over what’s left from the corps. Most of us are just waiting for things like that to happen. These days we want to see the real face of nature, not “The Living Desert” presented by Walt Disney.
So, what does this have to do with Iraq? I think there are interesting aspects on how media reports from Iraq. All we have to do is to replace the leopard with Iraqi insurgents and the Antelopes with US soldiers, going on patrol, say in the city of Mosul.
The media is in Iraq to keep us posted on what is going on, they are observers, they are not supposed to get involved – right? Just like a filming crew in the heart of Africa. Well, what if a reporter gets a hint that, at a certain time later that day, somewhere in Mosul, something “might” happen? Would it be his agenda to inform US troops to be more cautious when going on patrol? Or would a journalist just get his camera and wait at that certain position, trying to get the best shot? After all, a journalist is not in Iraq to protect locals, or foreign soldiers, he is just in Iraq to keep us informed, to keep us posted on what is going on. He has to produce news, that’s what he gets paid for. If he informs US troops he won’t get any pictures, and the Iraqis will not inform him anymore.
And that’s where this whole thing becomes really difficult. The insurgents in Iraq have a clear goal. They want the foreign troops out of their country. The best way to do so is to get the people in the western countries to think that the war is just not worth it, that there is too much at stake. This then puts western governments under pressure to pull out their troops. The most efficient and fastest way to reach that goal is to kill as many people and cause as much havoc as they can. But this wouldn’t really affect us, if we would not know about it – right? Even reading in a newspaper about five killed soldiers doesn’t really bother us anymore (sadly). Seeing it on TV or a picture in the newspaper of a dying man in a Mosque, that’s what still delivers a message.
So, is the media responsible for how things are in Iraq, or are we all responsible for watching the news, and the commercials, that fund those News corporations?
Comments welcome!