What to do without a war?

Ivo Skoric ivo at reporters.net
Wed May 7 06:30:25 CEST 2003


While Bush, ending his war quickly, is doing so well, that I don't 
know when are his delirious fans going to build a thirty feet bronze 
statue of him dressed in fighter pilot's suit in Austin TX, thanks, in 
a big part, to the US media, the American TV news networks are 
getting more bad rap every day. 

With a sly businessmen's grin on his face, Greg Dyke, head of 
BBC, declared himself SHOCKED by the American news networks' 
coverage of the Iraq war (The Economist, May 3). Of course, he is 
jumping at the economic oportunity: American TV networks *really* 
lost viewers, particularly in Europe, once they voluntarily 
abandoned impartiality during the Iraq war. There is some space for 
BBC's expansion. 

In the US, too - because about half of the US population was 
against the war, they mistrusted American networks, and watched 
BBC, as the alternative (which, fortunately, is not in French or 
German). After many weeks, I just turned CNN Headline News on, 
a couple of minutes ago. What do I see? A guy in a thong on a 
bicycle. Anchors are amiably discussing how disgusting the sight 
is, and how they won't even show us the rear end. 

The only thing missing is one of their eloquent pundits offering a 
wise comment, saying how in Saudi Arabia that guy in a thong 
would be flogged to death in front of his villagers, or, perhaps, 
worse, while in our perfect republic he is merely ridiculed in front of 
the entire world. 

We should ask our Ceasar to make another war soon, because our 
media are really in trouble finding news without one. Which brings 
me to the thought that coverage of the war on/in Iraq might not be 
the only reason for the loss of appeal of American news media.

ivo




More information about the Syndicate mailing list