How More Media in Iraq Would Help
This is partially a response to a quotation of my blog at http://thoughtsopinionsrants.blogspot.com/. I have left a comment there as well, which I will not rehash here. I highly encourage crossreferencing, so that the Weblog community can be a true dialogue, even and especially if you disagree with me.
I wish that we had more media and not less here in Iraq. While in the past I have said that the Mass Media is not our ally, and I stand by that, at least somewhat, I have come to believe it is the absence and not the presence thereof that is the problem.
Right now, journalists rely on stringers, or at best show up for a few days in a year and they don't really have a firm grasp on the situation. The solution would be to have embedded journalists over the long haul. We could easily protect them, and they would really know what is going on.
A perfect example of this is a recent journalist visit that I was in charge of security for. This was good journalist who asked a lot of questions, but clearly did not understand the cultural differences. She was asking aggressive questions of a General in the Iraqi police, asking why he was unable to provide security. Most Americans would respond with a plan, or an apology, or a statement of "this is merely an outlier..." However to him, and I am pretty sure to every Iraqi, this was a question he didn't understand at all. His only responsibility was to justify himself, and he just made a lot of excuses, and didn't even care when she tried to nail him down. If she had been here for a month or two, she would have adapted to that already.
There are three things that direct media coverage will solve, and I will address each of these in a later blog:
1) Iraqis have a different sense of honesty than we do. Therefore it is perfectly alright for them to tell journalists what they think they want to hear. Quality of reporting and honesty will go up. (We experience this problem in the military as well, when Iraqi's tell us what they think we want to hear.)
2) Arab culture does have similar roots to western culture, but religion, politics and history have taken it down a different path. Many people rely exclusively on the media's portrayal of the conflict, which is flawed. Arabs have mastered pretending to be Western for a few minutes during interviews. Therefore more direct media coverage would allow a more accurate portrayal of the cultural issues, and values with which we are dealing.
3) Finally, it used to be that everyone had been in , or was related to someone that had been in the military. This is no longer true. Therefore, many people have mistaken concepts about soldiers and the military. The Blogosphere tries to help with this, but its very diverse nature and the ability of people to pick and choose to whom they listen leaves us without an authoritative voice. Therefore, more direct media coverage would paint a better picture of the military.
I think each of these topics could probably take up whole books, but stay tuned...
I wish that we had more media and not less here in Iraq. While in the past I have said that the Mass Media is not our ally, and I stand by that, at least somewhat, I have come to believe it is the absence and not the presence thereof that is the problem.
Right now, journalists rely on stringers, or at best show up for a few days in a year and they don't really have a firm grasp on the situation. The solution would be to have embedded journalists over the long haul. We could easily protect them, and they would really know what is going on.
A perfect example of this is a recent journalist visit that I was in charge of security for. This was good journalist who asked a lot of questions, but clearly did not understand the cultural differences. She was asking aggressive questions of a General in the Iraqi police, asking why he was unable to provide security. Most Americans would respond with a plan, or an apology, or a statement of "this is merely an outlier..." However to him, and I am pretty sure to every Iraqi, this was a question he didn't understand at all. His only responsibility was to justify himself, and he just made a lot of excuses, and didn't even care when she tried to nail him down. If she had been here for a month or two, she would have adapted to that already.
There are three things that direct media coverage will solve, and I will address each of these in a later blog:
1) Iraqis have a different sense of honesty than we do. Therefore it is perfectly alright for them to tell journalists what they think they want to hear. Quality of reporting and honesty will go up. (We experience this problem in the military as well, when Iraqi's tell us what they think we want to hear.)
2) Arab culture does have similar roots to western culture, but religion, politics and history have taken it down a different path. Many people rely exclusively on the media's portrayal of the conflict, which is flawed. Arabs have mastered pretending to be Western for a few minutes during interviews. Therefore more direct media coverage would allow a more accurate portrayal of the cultural issues, and values with which we are dealing.
3) Finally, it used to be that everyone had been in , or was related to someone that had been in the military. This is no longer true. Therefore, many people have mistaken concepts about soldiers and the military. The Blogosphere tries to help with this, but its very diverse nature and the ability of people to pick and choose to whom they listen leaves us without an authoritative voice. Therefore, more direct media coverage would paint a better picture of the military.
I think each of these topics could probably take up whole books, but stay tuned...
posted by David Benson | 9:30 AM
1 Comments:
David,
Upon further reflection, I think I understand what you were trying to say regarding the Iraqis. It is true there are cultural differences and there are problems in Arab culture that lead to civil unrest. What I object to is using words such as "lazy." I think it is very dangerous to label people using those type of terms.
Also, as I said before, I worry that your use of these terms could be a reflection of being in this environment for too long and having it take a toll on you. Hopefully you are leaving soon. I think you and the other troops should try to empower the Iraqis and not tell them what to do. Ask them what they think would help get their society on track...put the ball in their court.
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