THE MEDIA HOUNDS
It’s hardly surprising that so much has been made of those poor British soldiers who were captured by an Iranian patrol boat. This is just the sort of thing that the media thrive on. And it doesn’t matter whether those media are located east, west, north or south of wherever…they love this story. It’s the meat and potatoes of what passes for journalism.
It’s a bit like watching tennis. Statement and response. Statement and response. Or a soccer match- any sport really. There’s lots of "back and forth".(Blair says this, Larijani says that Ahmedinejad hands out a medal… Blah Blah Blah…it’s unlikely they even know who Larijani is- who cares?)
This sort of story allows for lots of colour commentary, speculation, vague knowledge of history and background, description of the players, etc. etc.
It lets the sensation-hungry press, from The New York Times, to BBC to Fox News breathlessly report every nuance of the game without fear of criticism or contradiction. It allows the pundits and editors to raise the spectre of more war, by heightening the rhetoric and raising its temperature. You even get to make stuff up.
Take this quote from the Times, for example- "Some of the captives, possibly under duress, have admitted to trespassing, and it appears that Iran has made such an admission a condition of their release."
"Under duress". Ah…could be torture. Under Duress, but not necessarily under duress…only Possibly under duress. Possibly under duress but with no attribution. Just pure guesswork on the part of the reporter/editor/publisher or whatever…they’re mostly all the same.
Do I sound cynical about the media? You bet.
Now of course, the media have been pre-empted.
Jim
What you describe is called propaganda. Forget truth, reliable sourcing and attribution, all that high ground stuff.
As you say, who cares, as long as it’s entertaining and dramatic.
None of us will ever know what the fine print is on this agreement, not even the inevitable blockbuster movie will have that……
What we DO know is that Iran has eaten Britain alive at the Ristorante Propaganda, and has correctly censured them for placing the mother of an innocent child in harm’s way.
The USA and its belligerent lame-duck carhop didn’t fare too well either, yelling and spitting at this amazing window on the world but contributing nothing to its resolution.
Yes…Where in the world is America headed?