De Commerciele Massamedia 65

Het Zwarte Goud speelt geen rol van betekenis in de westerse verslaggeving over Irak. Het Britse Media Lens wijst op hetzelfde mechanisme dat men ook in de Nederlandse commerciele massamedia aantreft, van de zogeheten publieke omroepen tot aan de zogeheten kwaliteitskrant NRC.

'MEDIA ALERT: THE SURGE - HERE TO HELP The BBC's Mark Urban And The Independent's Adrian Hamilton On Iraq

On the May 14 edition of Newsnight, the BBC's Mark Urban reported from Iraq that the US troop "surge" was an attempt to "turn the tide of violence" in Baghdad. Urban did not mean it was an attempt to turn the tide of violence in America's favour and against its enemies - the media essentially never present the war in terms of conquest and resistance. The Americans are fighting for 'security', 'stability' and 'peace', not victory. Urban made his opinion clear, referring to "Baghdad's sectarian nightmare" and to the "American struggle to stop its [Baghdad's] descent into mayhem". If America were fighting for its own version of victory, rather than peace, it would have to be charged with causing, not resisting, "mayhem" - but this was not Urban's argument. Hence the following observation:"Clearly a lot of people are supporting the insurgents. And that's really the essence of all this - whether the Americans, with all their concerns for their own safety when they go into such dangerous neighbourhoods, can actually communicate the message that they're here to help, and that they +can+ turn the tide in one of these really violent districts of the city." (Urban, 'Embedded with US surge troops,' Newsnight; http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6650000/newsid_6655700/6655705.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm)This depiction of the American army as a peacekeeping force was presented after Urban had been driven around Baghdad in an armoured Humvee, "call sign Hellstorm Seven". The irony was presumably lost on Urban who disembarked from "Hellstorm Seven" to conduct a straw poll among Iraqis: "I asked passers by whether they feel secure."An Iraqi trader responded: "The security situation, we are relaxed about it. We come and open our shops, even though business is down. There is stability now."An American soldier asked another Iraqi: "So you're happy we're here?"The response: "Oh, very, very, very happy."Surprisingly, then, the Iraqis were keen to appear favourably disposed towards the heavily-armed troops surrounding them and due to return later that night.'

Lees verder: http://www.medialens.org/alerts/index.php