April 05, 2003
War Coverage
Keeping an eye on the coverage of the war in Iraq (or, as Arab media call it, the war on Iraq) has been amusing, depressing, and, at times, downright scary.
Last week, the US media got impatient and started asking if we were in another Vietnam yet (as hilariously captured here by Slate's Daryl Cagle)
Russian media were eager to portray this slowdown in Iraq as the beginnings of America stumbling into its own Chechen quagmire. (Don't forget, many Russians predicted that the US would meet a similar fate as the Soviets if they were so foolish as to invade Afghanistan.)
Interestingly, some of the best coverage of the war in Iraq, according to this British report, comes from Russian spies. Apparently, it's so good that market watchers are making a figurative killing by trading on the Russian G2 covering the literal killings going on in Iraq.
Some of the worst coverage, however, comes from the Russian news agencies. What follows are some reports from Russia's Vesti news service:
Date: March 30, 2003
Headline: The War is Dragging On
Subhead: Bombardment of Baghdad Through the Eyes of a Russian Woman
This blatant and bizarre piece is designed to play to the heartstrings of the average Russian. It's an at-home look at the life of a Russian woman who married an Iraqi decades ago and now lives in Baghdad. She's dressed in simple Russian clothes like the babushka at her dacha. She has five kids that speak Russian. She makes a few comments, such as, "Children suffer during war." Though they portrayed her life as hard because of the American bombardment, when they gave her their satellite phone, she called her relatives back in Russia and said, "Don't worry. We're all fine. It's going to be okay." Not once did the Russian journalists ask her what she thinks of Saddam. If she thinks Iraq will be better or worse after him.
video
Date: March 30, 2003
Headline: The War is Dragging On
Subhead: On 15% of Britons Die in Combat. Who is America Fighting Against?
This in an overall balanced piece about the current state of the war, but the headline writer takes some amazing liberties. Beginning with the statistic that only 15% of British casualties so far have died in combat, the follow-on question implies that the rest were killed by Americans intentionally. That's not journalism. That's just absurdism on the same level as the rumors that Israel orchestrated 9/11.
video
Theme: The War is Dragging On
Headline: The Information War is Being Won by Al-Jazeera
This piece is notable because it is reveals that many Russian journalists respect and envy the independent journalism of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera. (This gets to the heart of my disappointment with the overall state of world media affairs.) The Russians respect Al-Jazeera because it is more independent of commercial influence than CNN and they envy it because it is more independent than they are from state influence.
Video
Theme: The War is Dragging On
Headline: Saddam Learned the Lessons from "Desert Storm"
This piece is easily the most pathetic, if unintentionally amusing, of the series. For it they dragged out some retired military folks from the Soviet cellar to talk about how effective Saddam has adapted since the 1991 conflict. Phlegmatic Makhmud Gareyev says that this is a 'barbaric war', as if there were any other kind. Pyotr Deinekin says, "Iraq has airplanes, and not bad ones at that." He says this with a bunch of rusty 1960-vintage Migs in the background.
Video
(Note: after only 4 days, the theme of the war dragging on is gone)
Headline: American's Enter Baghdad?
The question mark is the most revealing part about this report, which is only available in video. The desk anchor says that 'far from all sources' concur that the Americans have entered Baghdad. She even talks live with their war correspondent in Baghdad, Aleksandr Minakov, who says, "Yes, there are tanks. But they are Iraqi tanks. I don't see any signs of the Americans here." Here, of course, is within the Palestine Hotel, where the Iraqis have corralled all foreign journalists. The hotel is in the northwest section of the city. The US Forces were in the south, center and western parts of the city, so it's not surprising that he didn't see them. What he says next, however, is just plain bad journalism. He tells his anchor that the nightly bombardments have been so relentless that it made it seem to him that the allies, in their desperation and frustration, were carpet bombing residential parts of the city. So, because he didn't see US tanks in Baghdad, that means they're not there. But if he hears bombs, but doesn't see where they land, he can claim that it seems like carpet bombing of residential areas.
(Incidently, Manikov was one of the journalists caught in US-Iraqi crossfire with Russian dimplomats yesterday.)
These stories leave an impression rather than impart facts. The impression is similar, if less funny, to what this cartoon implies.
And then, a reality check.
Headline: The last battle in the war
This piece shows that the journalists in Moscow can read the writing on the wall and have changed their tune, from 'war dragging on' to 'war is almost over'. They show Iraqis greeting the Americans in Baghdad and the burnt-out hulks of Soviet-made Republican Guard tanks.
Here is an American perspective on the Iraqi media perspective.
This piece is, by far, the most diverse and comprehensive look at the many different windows on this war.