Finding Reality

In both Issues and the News and in International Communications, I've been reading about media in the Middle East from both those countries and the United States. Journalists face an extreme amount of pressure in this area of the world. This pressure is coming from all different directions. Religious fundamentalists are trying to make themselves heard. Now groups like Al Quaeda don't have to fly planes into skyscrapers to gain media attention. Though in some of these countries, internet isn't as widely expanded as it is in the United States, it is still much easier to voice opinions. Mainstream media reaches the most viewers, listeners, and readers, so media networks, such as Al-Jazeera, GEO-TV in Pakistan, competing outlets in Dubai or Saudi Arabia, and the big Western media outlets, are constantly being pressured by governments, the people, and powerful groups fighting against specific governments. It just seems so hard to actually report "reality," whatever that is.

The direct reports from journalists in Iraq or the blogs from soldiers at war might be the closest things we can really get. My friend lost his life in Iraq. He was in contact with people from home, but, when he died, nobody ever really knew what happened to him. Just like Pakistan will never know exactly how many people were involved in the Red Mosque incident, there are millions of stories and realities we, as the audience outside this region of the world, will never truly understand.

Governments and groups are so concerned about their image in the media, it's nearly impossible to be honest. This is just one of the reasons it's hard to analyze the coverage of the Iraq War by any media outlet. Everyone has an agenda.

I don't know if I want to know the truth. One of the articles mentioned complaints about the lack of "good news" being reported from Iraq. This is the stupidest thing I've ever read. With war, there is no such thing as "good" news. War is horrible. People die. People are tortured. People lose the people they love. It's just too bad journalism isn't powerful enough to end this horrible human tradition. But, as I said, media really has enough responsibility and pressure to deal with right now without an added goal of changing humankind's worst quality.