War Coverage, the Media and Iraq

Hala Fatta’s blog, Askari Street, has become one of HNN’s most valuable contributions to the public. If you are even remotely interested in Iraq, she is required reading.

A couple of entries back, Fatta discussed some of the problems in American reporting of the Iraq War. In particular, she noted that there was almost no discussion of, or understanding of, the tribal dimensions of Iraqi society. Instead all the reporting centered on religious divisions and loyalty, and as a result, Americans are not getting an accurate appraisal of the situation.

Just today, Philip Kennicutt of the Washington Post added another interesting article (registration required) on the media and the war. He reports on a new documentary by Jehane Noujaim that illumines how professional and cultural norms divide the approaches of the American news media and al-Jazeera. Here the conclusion is that both audiences are short changed. Kennicutt adds that, in the U.S., the independent documentary is becoming an important way to bypass a rather closed media culture.

I have no grand conclusions to draw from this. Most everyone in this audience sees the limits of American media, in particular, its constant searches for the sensational American human interest story, even at the cost of solid reporting. The hopeful thing is that Americans have more tools at their disposal today to find varied perspectives on any major event than any humans have ever had before.

I hope more and more Americans start utilizing that capacity.