Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Media Lose Asymmetric War in Middle East
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The Kalb Report
Did the news media lose objectivity during the Dec. 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah conflict? Veteran broadcaster Marvin Kalb thinks so. |
A new report on the way the media comported themselves during last summer's Israel-Hizbullah war seems to have gotten little press.
The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006: The Media as a Weapon in Asymmetrical Conflict is well worth reading.
This report was was released a month ago at the U.S. -- Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar -- but the only Google News mention I found for it was a crowing piece in the politically conservative Jerusalem Post. It was written by Marvin Kalb for the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Kalb's concluded that the global media moved -- on its own accord and with careful nudging from a media-savvy Hizbullah -- from "objective observer to fiery advocate, becoming in fact a weapon of modern warfare." He also concluded that this shows how an open society, in this case Israel, can be victimized by its own openness -- while a "closed sect," (as Kalb described Hizbullah), can retain almost total control of the daily message of journalism and propaganda.
The report carefully delineates the pro-Arab and anti-Israel cheerleading of the powerful TV networks Al Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, the anti-Israel tilt of virtually all major U.S. news media, the intimidation and control Hizbullah employed to inhibit open media coverage, and the fumbling Israeli efforts to spin coverage their way.
Kalb also discusses how mobile and wireless technology permitted this war to be brought "live" into millions of households around the world. The media were unable to cope with that pressure. At the same time, news media (such as Arab TV reports of Israeli troop movements) became an important element of military intelligence.
There's too much in this well-researched, detailed report to mention here. However, I think it should be required reading for editors and reporters who cover the Middle East -- and who may soon be called upon again to cover open and heated conflict in this part of the world.
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