Dereliction of Duty
By Leon H Wolf Posted in Culture — Comments (15) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
In a recent RedHot post, I made a fleeting reference to this Instapundit piece about the failure of major media in this country to cover Muslim anti-terror rallies that took place this weekend all over the globe. However, in the wake of recent discussions on this site, it is high time we took the media to task in more strident style for their gross negligence in covering this important aspect of the War on Terror.
More below the fold:
First, a few snippets from the minimal coverage of the peace rallies themselves:
First of all, from a small local newspaper article:
PALMDALE - "Islam is Peace," the signs read as about 100 Muslims and supporters from across the Antelope Valley offered that message to their fellow residents in a street-corner rally Friday evening.
Drivers answered by honking their horns and returning peace signs. Two sheriff's squad cars idled in the old K-Mart parking lot for security, but deputies said no problems were reported.Asema Sultan immigrated to the United States from Pakistan 24 years ago and has lived in Palmdale for 15 years.
The sign she carried said: "Not in our name."
"Killing any person is not right," she said. "Jihad is an inner struggle, not killing people."
Her concept of jihad is not often heard among those who purport to carry out holy war in the name of Islam.
Jihad, Sultan explained, should be thought of as "restraining desires, resisting from evil."
"Good doesn't come easily," she said. "You have to sacrifice to do good."
As she spoke, a young white man drove by in a beat-up black car, honking his horn and waving his middle finger at the gathered Muslims.
Sultan shrugs it off.
"There are all kinds of people," she said. "They just need more education, that's all.
Next, from Powerline, in a story I have yet to see covered by a major American Newspaper:
Iraqis stood for three minutes of silence yesterday in commemoration of the lives lost in the two attacks in Baghdad Aljadedah and Almusaiyab, which claimed 105 martyrs, 32 of whom were children, and 128 wounded of whom 31 were children.
Traffic of thousand of cars stopped in the Allawi & Tahrier area (central Baghdad) as children (from “Baghdad Aljadedah” area) entered “Tahrier” square (with some of the wounded children) carrying Iraqi flags and displaying victory signs in defiance of the terrorists. These children also stood silent for three minutes to commemorate their relatives and friends who died in the homicide bombing attack last week.
Iraqi Prime Minister Dr. Ibrahiem Aljaafary said in a speech regarding this incident: “We will not sway from our path and we will not kneel to those who commit these crimes.” He added, ”We are confident that all nations of this world stand beside us, because to day terrorism does not only affect us Iraqis but the whole world. We Iraqis have the honor of being in the front line in the fight against terrorism."
The Powerline piece also included commentary from the man who translated the article out of an Iraqi newspaper:
Tens of thousands of Iraqis stood silent for three minutes in over 130 Fahrenheit heat to commemorate victims of terror and in a sign of unified defiance of terrorism and I have not seen a single report on this. I waited all day Wednesday and all day today and nothing. The news reported the small anti America demonstration by Alsadar and some Baathists in April but some how missed the whole Iraqi nation standing still in defiance of terrorism.
When was the last time you heard an Arab leader say that his nation was honored to be in the front lines fighting terrorism?
And finally, from the GatewayPundit:
Iraqi and Danish flags fly over an Iraqi protest in Copenhagen. The Iraqis were protesting against the terror attacks in London and Iraq.
Where else in Europe would you see the Iraqi flag flying next to the host countries flag at a demonstration?
On Friday the Iraqis living in Denmark weren't hiding their admiration for the country they now call home. In a demonstration against "terrorist attacks in London and Iraq the Danish and Iraqi flag flew in the same breeze. These demonstrators know how to spot terror attacks better than the mainstream media!
Glenn's extremely prescient point, in commenting upon all of this, was as follows:
You know, if these people had blown something up, they'd be getting more press. Which suggests that if the press wants to help eliminate terrorism, it should adjust its priorities.
This statement is at once self-evident, and also absolutely infuriating. What can be the excuse for the media's deliberate failure to report on Muslims acting in a way that ought to give hope and comfort to the rest of the entire world?
Some general excuses for the Media will be thrown out at this point, and they are all equally worthless. First, it will be argued, protests are not as "sexy" as explosions, and won't bring in as much ratings. If this is true, please explain how the Media found time in the midst of their "sexy" schedule to broadcast coverage of every single anti-war rally in the country? I swore at the time that if I had to watch the moonbats in San Francisco force themselves to vomit one more time, I would just put my foot through the TV and give up.
So what's the excuse now? A bunch of hippies in San Francisco protesting a war is news, but a bunch of Muslims across the globe protesting terror isn't? It's enough to make reasonable people (especially reasonable Muslims) scream in frustration.
Second, it will be argued, how can these protests compete, ratings-wise, with a bunch of explosions? I don't know, frankly that they can. However, if the news media would like to continue to be called the "news media" and not "information salesmen", then the ratings value of a story ought to take a decided backseat to its newsworthiness.
You make the call, esteemed members of the national news media - and remember, the tattered remnants of your credibility are on the line. Which is more newsworthy: the latest unsubstantiated leak in the two-year-old Plame investigation? The latest whisper of a rumor concerning the whereabouts of Natalee Holloway? Or tens of thousands of Iraqis standing in solidarity against terrorism in the 130 degree heat?
Every time I think my opinion of the news media in this country can't go any lower, they do something to prove me wrong. At these times, I'm always left to wonder, as I do now, "How in the world could they possibly top this?"
Your guess is as good as mine, but rest assured that they will.
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Dereliction of Duty 15 Comments (0 topical, 15 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
(sidenote: it feels really weird to be typing the word "sexy" in a RedState comment).
Leon:
Great story. Of course, I completely agree.
Question for you: why do you think, other than the "not sexy", that the MSM is not reporting these things? I mean, being generally liberal, they're definitely going to go with the "Islam is Peace" bandwagon and consider any belief to the contrary to be bigoted. It's interesting to me that they don't want to back that up by showing Muslims protesting terrorism.
My only guess, personally, is that unfortunately, showing Muslims that are anti-terror would also detract from the meme that all Muslims hate the US and support terrorism because of the United States and because of President Bush. Showing that many Muslims, despite perhaps personally disagreeing with the U.S. and its policies (and those who DO agree with the U.S.), are still anti-terror and anti-hatred, would kinda take away from the doomsday scenario of the US singlehandedly being responsible for all the terrorism in the world.
But in this case, the offense is so flagrant that its inexcusable.
I find it odd that the left and right seem to be unifying in our vilification of the MSM. I would enjoy seeing stories like this that show real news and courage of ordinary people and relate to things that will affect the course of the world. While we may believe the MSM has been awful for different reasons, we can at least coalesce in the belief that the MSM pretty much just plain stinks. Kudos to you Leon for bringing this story up, I'm gonna take it over to Kos and share there, because I think it's important.
I think you're exactly right here:
My only guess, personally, is that unfortunately, showing Muslims that are anti-terror would also detract from the meme that all Muslims hate the US and support terrorism because of the United States and because of President Bush. Showing that many Muslims, despite perhaps personally disagreeing with the U.S. and its policies (and those who DO agree with the U.S.), are still anti-terror and anti-hatred, would kinda take away from the doomsday scenario of the US singlehandedly being responsible for all the terrorism in the world.
Irrational hatred can get you running in circles in a hurry, though.
Personally, I think its more a function of media laziness and pursuit of the "sexy" story (and by consequence, the almighty dollar) than of any bias in this case. After all, it does state that there isn't major coverage in any outlets that I can see, even FOX or conservative newspapers here in the Midwest (and I'm not including the Post-Dispatch there, I know it's openly liberal). Anyway, I would just like to see reporters go out and search for good international stories like this, instead of the easy one that's close to home and probably of no real consequence to the shaping of events anyway (like whether Roberts is a Federalist Society member or not...this really has to take up a front page slot on CNN?). Anyway, I hate the MSM as much as y'all, which is why I pretty much hit here and Kos to get my dose from each side and then figure things out for myself.
1. I don't think the media deserves any praise for their coverage of anything recently, but there may be some reasons (in addition to the main reason-- get W out of DC)
A. The media has connexions with the US/EU left. The US/EU left are a media savvy enterprise, they get the word to the cameras in plenty of time.
B. Bombs leave a pillar of smoke and trail of flashing lights. Free-lance video guys with radio scanners and strong senses of smell can find these on their own.
C. Reporters in Iraq are attached to MNC-Iraq and are not floating freely outside the Green Zone. (They are afraid to be alone, especially since AQ took out Daniel Pearl, with the rough and tumble terror-types in whom they have placed so much confidence in their war on W.) The troops don't respond to peace, they respond to support civil defense and to fight terror. Going out on a scheduled Library build, or watching a KBR truck drop off bricks isn't exciting or newsy-- it happens every day, it doesn't feed a need for further reports during the news cycle.
Stay tuned for more rationalizations.
The anti-war protests got so much coverage, if protests=bad ratings and ratings are the only things that matter.
you make a valid point there, but then I might go back and emphasize the first part of my reasoning that they're lazy and won't look very far for a story (particularly if it involves what "common people" want/feel/think/believe, whether on the right or left. Heck, the protests in NYC last fall were right outside their windows pratically. Doesn't take much of a resource allocation for a producer to go shout, "Get me footage of hippies with angry signs!" I also may not disagree (at this point in time, though not a few years ago) that the media is after Bush because they're tired of being used/abused/made to look like fools. While the Rove stuff may/may not be true (you can guess what I think), the fourth estate was only aroused and indignant when one of their own (not even a noble one of their own at that) went to jail as part of the whole thing. So yeah, I question their motives, because I think most of them are all self interested hacks. It's also one of the reasons I believe that blogging is probably the best thing to happen to journalism since Edward R. Murrow because the right and left can check each other (and by extension, those in power) very effectively by ferreting out some measure of what the truth actually is. Lord knows we need more of that.
I should mention that blogging may not be the best thing that has happened to my work productivity, however.
You are correct sir.
In fact the msm reporters who may actually not be so biased have someting in common with all the silent moderate muslims:
they fear for their jobs if they break the liberal prism in their stories much as so much of the muslim world fears being killed by jihadists if they denounce them.
You make some good points MissouriBrad but you'll have to
SHOW ME more.
welcome to redstate when not at kos and,
Hint: truth lives at redstate.org!
And your work habits can improve by swapping kos time with actual productive work! kidding bro...sort of
show me!!!!!!!!!
We all apparently know why these well-intentioned protests get little or no attention in the Western media. The sad irony is that even we are sometimes guilty of criticizing the reticence of moderate Muslims in the face of terrorism. And yet here we are, happily proven wrong on a worldwide scale, and the story is buried.
Finally, I see why our disdain for the so-called mainstream media is fully justified.
story from iraq to a lot of friends. But its not just the msm, and while i don't know if Fox ran the story, ...
Have you been as disappointed even in Fox News as I am in their increasing tendency to let the msm set the agenda and also the hiring of so many libs and the increased airtime devoted to the libs and to commercials?
Why won't Murdock or some repubs use a broadcast channel to counter the msm on free air broadcasts? In stead Fox the regular channel sells cheap sitcoms or worse.
I find talk radio and the blogs the best info all aound and I'm 42!
Good article.
MSM is a business. Businesses are out to make money. They do this by keeping costs down, and profits up.
Explosions make more profits than protests. But certainly protests make money.
Covering events locally costs less than covering events far away.
So, covering explosions in other countries might make as much money as covering protests in America.
Seems simple enough, and you don't even have to argue about the MSM being right or left, profit rules businesses!
biased truth.
I think one issue with the lack of coverage on the anti jihadist/terrorist muslim marches is that it doesn't fit with the MSM's determination to cover the war as something bad and that all muslims hate.
It is almost like the media (and granted this is a bit of generalization, but close enough I think to generalize) works backward from a conclusion, and covers anything that supports that conclusion, but filters out (either doesn't cover or buries on page 9) the things that don't support that conclusion.
I have always argued that the idea of an unbiased media is a myth, and I still believe this, but I am coming more and more to be bothered not so much by the fact that the media often covers a story with a slant, but that they filter out or choose not to cover.