Page 252 - Mass Media, Mass Propoganda Examining American News in the War on Terror

242 Chapter 9

also released a statement on behalf of the Blair administration stating: "we de-
plore the decision by A1 Jazeera to broadcast such material and call upon them
to desist irn~nediatel~."~'~ Finally, the interim Iraqi regime appointed by the
United States punished A1 Jazeera for its independent reporting by shutting
down its Baghdad office and expelling the news organization from Iraq for one
month in August of 2004. Interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari defended the
action by deriding A1 Jazeera for "one-sided and biased coverage" of news in
U.S. occupied Iraq. The Iraqi government's distrust of A1 Jazeera was again
shown when the Iraqi Interior Ministry demanded of the lawyer representing A1
Jazeera that the station sign an agreement with the Iraqi government guarantee-
ing it would limit its criticisms of the U.S. occupation and the interim regime.'''
As of 2007, A1 Jazeera is still expelled from Iraq as a result of its anti-war re-
porting.
The American media also attacked A1 Jazeera and other media outlets for
presenting graphic images of dead soldiers and civilians. The New York Times
called for "more sensitivity and less stridency on A1 Jazeera's part" in terms of
its "sensational news coverage" and the "graphic details of its Iraq war cover-
age."I2' The New York Times rejected what it considered "the gratuitous use of
images simply for shock value."'22 Substituting for Wolf Blitzer on CWs Wolf
Blitzer Reports, Daryn Kagan lambasted A1 Jazeera by claiming that it "adds to
the sense of frustration and anger and adds to the problems in Iraq, rather than
trying to solve them."'23 Notice here that Kagan's assertion projects A1 Jazeera
as a force that is fueling public resentment of the U.S., rather than reflecting
such resentment. Aaron Brown of CWs Newsnight portrayed the conflict over
the use of graphic war images as "a question of taste," as he considered gory
images of the dead to be "too pornographic" for American consumption.124 Re-
garding the well publicized execution of a Falluja resistance fighter by Ameri-
can troops, NBC Vice President Bill Wheatley stated that, "Generally speaking
NBC doesn't show specific acts of violence if too graphic. . . it is not a question
of bias, but one of ta~te."''~
Alternative assessments of A1 Jazeera's reporting by some in the U.S. mili-
tary further drive home the monumental differences between the American
mainstream press and critical media outlets like A1 Jazeera. Lt. John Rushing,
former press officer for U.S. Central Command (Centcom) in Qatar discussed
the Western media' failure to extensively cover civilian casualties, sharing his
reaction to a few incidents when A1 Jazeera reported on Iraqi deaths:
The night they [Al Jazeera] showed the POWs and the dead soldiers it was
powerfi~l because America doesn't show those kinds of images. Most of the
news in America doesn't show really gory images, and it was revolting and
made me sick to my stomach. And then what hit me was, the night before, there
had been a bombing in Basra and A1 Jazeera had shown equally if not more
horrifying images. . . and it didn't affect me as much, and it upset me that I
wasn't as bothered as I was the night before [when they showed American
cas~alties].'~~