What You See Vs. What They See
In this war, the mighty but merciful allies target bombs carefully and tend to the enemy's wounded. In that war, the allies blow up women and babies. In this war, Iraq is postponing certain defeat by cheating, killing civilians and using human shields. In that war, a weak nation is steadfastly defending itself using the only effective means available. This war, on American television, is alternately "the war in Iraq" or "Operation Iraqi Freedom." That war, broadcast by the media of the Arab and Muslim worlds, is "the invasion."
Related Articles
It is hardly unusual for two camps to see the same war differently. But in 1991, Western, Arab and Muslim audiences used their rooting interests to filter the same source: American TV. This time, Arab audiences and Muslims outside the Middle East have homegrown TV networks to reflect their perspectives and, sometimes, bias — Qatar's widely known al-Jazeera, available on some U.S. satellite and cable systems; Al Arabia; Abu Dhabi TV; and more. (You probably watch them too — American TV uses rebroadcast deals to pick up selected footage.) Arabs and Muslims distrustful of Western media — like Turkish students and professors who burned a TV last week to protest CNN's "one-sided" coverage — are happy to have their own alternatives. "We saw [Gulf War I] through the eyes of Peter Arnett," says Nabil El-Sharif, editor in chief of Jordan's Ad-Dustour newspaper, referring to a war correspondent for CNN in 1991. "Now we're seeing the war through Arab eyes."
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
Arab eyes were a crucial consideration in planning Gulf War II. Its targets and tactics were chosen to avoid stirring up anti-American sentiment. But that strategy has not led to friendly coverage on Arab and Muslim TV or a warm reception from its audiences. Like U.S. TV, the Arab networks show briefings, sound bites from George W. Bush and Tony Blair, allied advances and even interviews with coalition troops (al-Jazeera has a reporter embedded with U.S. forces). But they also show charred bodies lying beside gutted cars. Cameras linger over dead allied soldiers and bandaged Iraqi children. Mourning families wail, and hospitals choke with bleeding and burned civilians. If the war on American TV has been a splendid fireworks display and tank parade punctuated by press conferences, on al-Jazeera et al., war is hell.
For its grisly pictures and aggressive coverage of the coalition, al-Jazeera in particular has been treated as a fifth column in the West. U.S. and British officials condemned it for airing footage of allied POWs' corpses, and the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ have ejected al-Jazeera reporters. Hackers attacked its English-language website, replacing it with a red-white-and-blue U.S. map and the slogan LET FREEDOM RING. What better motto for people who shut down a news outlet?
Arab media observers see some slant in the Arab networks' language and image choices, but they also see bias in Western TV, with its reliance on Administration and military talking heads and flag-waving features like MSNBC's pandering "America's Bravest" wall of G.I. photos. Arab networks play to their audience too, which in their case means skepticism of allied claims, lots of tear jerking, and talking heads who doubt American motives and prowess. "Arab commentators don't dare say Iraq will lose the war," says Musa Keilani, editor in chief of Jordan's Al-Urdon newspaper. But, says Abdullah Schleifer, a professor of TV journalism at the American University in Cairo, al-Jazeera has become "more detached and balanced" since the days after 9/11, when it portrayed Osama bin Laden as a noble Arab champion.
Indeed, straight news on the Arab networks in many ways offers viewers a more complete and inside look at the war than U.S. TV does. They are given greater access by Baghdad, which sees them — as it saw CNN in 1991--as a conduit to the outside world. With more reporters and cameras in Iraqi cities, Arab networks often have better camera positions on aerial attacks and show much more of what those pretty explosions wreak bloodily on the street. U.S. TV tends to treat civilian victims in the context of showing allied medics helping them, and some of its coverage of the war's effects on civilians is insultingly picturesque. ABC'S Peter Jennings narrated a travelogue-like "portrait gallery" that included a still image of healthy Iraqi kids walking in the rubble. "Don't you always wonder," he intoned unctuously, "what the children are thinking?" On the Arab networks, there's little need to wonder. "Arab channels know [graphic] images address the core consciousness of their viewers," says Issan Mousa, professor of media studies at Yarmouk University in Jordan. "For the Arab audience, these are the defining image of the war."
Political and cultural considerations aside, Arab viewers have other reasons to trust these networks. They have often had more accurate information. U.S. networks and the BBC reported a revolt against Iraqi troops by Shi'ite Muslims in Basra last week, airing video of allied forces firing supportive artillery into the city. On Fox News, anchor Neil Cavuto crowed, "Don't look now, but the Shi'ites have hit the fan!" But al-Jazeera had a correspondent inside Basra, which appeared relatively orderly — quiet streets and groups chanting pro-Saddam slogans. Later the Western networks backpedaled. And for four days after U.S. TV said the allies had taken the port city of Umm Qasr, al-Jazeera correctly reported resistance there.
Pictures of the Week
The Wrestler: Mickey Rourke's Comeback
An E-Mail Plea: Help Pay My Tuititon!
True Blood: Undead on Arrival
Chef Mario Batali
Damien Hirst: Bay Boy Makes Good
Collider Triggers End-of-World Fears
Free Running Jumps onto World Stage
David Cronenberg Tries Opera
Rice in Libya: A Rare Mideast Success
