Media Colonization
This article from the Boston Globe demonstrates to me some of the new priniciples of media colonization and the true operation of 'imperialism' in the postmodern world of today.
"... kidnapping of Jill Carroll in Baghdad is a reminder of... the importance of foreign correspondents in explaining distant places to Americans. Iraqi gangs, which seize foreigners because they are easy targets, harm their country by restricting the flow of information to the rest of the world."
Three things of note:
- rhetoric concerning the 'free flow of information' roughly akin to that of free market economists in reference to economic flows and capital. Information represents a commodity to be bought and sold, not just known or unknown. The article/editorial provides no explanation of the function of this information in helping or harming the country of Iraq, and in this sense seems to presume the universal right of intervention by other, presumably US actors. How else would the flow of information from Iraq to "the rest of the world" be beneficial, except to perfect or allow intervention for the sake of those being spoken of?
- The representation of the world to Americans by reporters. This idea chooses to forget or downplay significant factors that structure news reporting, particularly in a 'war zone' (perhaps Iraq resembles more closely a 'police action zone' or 'crime scene'). The reality of 'embed journalism' and the high centralization of major news outlets in the US mediates the nobility and moral clarity of reporting, particularly in Iraq. Even beyond this, certain cultural assumptions and norms determine how Americans perceive violence in Iraq, even 'human i interest' violence. The question should be asked: "what does the potential news report that would be given look like?" Is it one more in the long line of stories presenting the daily numbers: how many dead, what sect, where; the tyranny imposed by visual/soundbite cues of TV? Or is it a human interest story: isolated and atomized accounts of various suffering feeding a pornographic need to view death?
- The dangerousness of Iraq. This idea contrasts the reporting of deaths in Iraq as announced by George Bush. 30k dead since the invasion puts the crime/death rate at about 2 per 1000, or lower than almost all major American cities in relative peacetime. It seems concern for the personal impact of violence and chaos becomes important only in reference to the media's noble cause in liberating the information of Iraq into the global marketplace.
Out.
"... kidnapping of Jill Carroll in Baghdad is a reminder of... the importance of foreign correspondents in explaining distant places to Americans. Iraqi gangs, which seize foreigners because they are easy targets, harm their country by restricting the flow of information to the rest of the world."
Three things of note:
- rhetoric concerning the 'free flow of information' roughly akin to that of free market economists in reference to economic flows and capital. Information represents a commodity to be bought and sold, not just known or unknown. The article/editorial provides no explanation of the function of this information in helping or harming the country of Iraq, and in this sense seems to presume the universal right of intervention by other, presumably US actors. How else would the flow of information from Iraq to "the rest of the world" be beneficial, except to perfect or allow intervention for the sake of those being spoken of?
- The representation of the world to Americans by reporters. This idea chooses to forget or downplay significant factors that structure news reporting, particularly in a 'war zone' (perhaps Iraq resembles more closely a 'police action zone' or 'crime scene'). The reality of 'embed journalism' and the high centralization of major news outlets in the US mediates the nobility and moral clarity of reporting, particularly in Iraq. Even beyond this, certain cultural assumptions and norms determine how Americans perceive violence in Iraq, even 'human i interest' violence. The question should be asked: "what does the potential news report that would be given look like?" Is it one more in the long line of stories presenting the daily numbers: how many dead, what sect, where; the tyranny imposed by visual/soundbite cues of TV? Or is it a human interest story: isolated and atomized accounts of various suffering feeding a pornographic need to view death?
- The dangerousness of Iraq. This idea contrasts the reporting of deaths in Iraq as announced by George Bush. 30k dead since the invasion puts the crime/death rate at about 2 per 1000, or lower than almost all major American cities in relative peacetime. It seems concern for the personal impact of violence and chaos becomes important only in reference to the media's noble cause in liberating the information of Iraq into the global marketplace.
Out.
posted by Duncan at 5:43 AM
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