Yes, terrorists do manipulate the media
Since my role at TMV has developed into occasionally questioning the points made by the other bloggers here, who mostly fall left of center, I’ll answer Joe’s glib take on an interview Donald Rumsfeld did with Rush Limbaugh. I have no doubt, as sourced blogger Boston Progressive says, that “Rush is not going to ask any questions that are off-script” with Rummy. That’s what his audience wants, since they largely sympathize with the embattled defense secretary (unlike a certain neocon journal).
But Rumsfeld’s statement…
They are actively out there trying to manipulate the press in the United States. They are very good at it. They’re much better at (laughing) managing those kinds of things than we are.
…is indirectly backed up by a new book by a leading terrorism researcher with no love lost for antiterrorism legislation. I had the fortune to see Gabriel Weimann speak Wednesday in DC on the subject of terrorists’ use of the Internet. The central premise of the talk was that terrorism has developed into an incredibly media-savvy enterprise. Al Qaeda’s website 10 years ago was quite “primitive,” to use Weimann’s term, but is now a first-class destination for sympathizers – and possibly media. Weimann said that journalists are often fooled by terrorist websites so slickly designed and marketed that they don’t appear to have any connection to terrorism at all, and those journalists use the information on those sites in their reports. For the record, Weimann said he opposes legislating the takedown or blocking of terrorist websites, which would hurt academic research and intelligence gathering. He’s no administration stooge, despite the publishing of his book by the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Boston Progressive also pans Rummy’s irritation over decreasing numbers of reporters embedding with military forces. I won’t assign any bad motives to journalists who decide against embedding – surely they would miss certain things happening, were they in the company of troops for days or weeks at a time. But they are potentially missing equally worthy stories by not embedding as well. Western reporters are still relying mostly on local stringers for reporting outside their hotels, the Green Zone and a few Western-heavy neighborhoods. The choice for them may be embed or stay home, and simply cover events with heavy security.
Stories while embedded aren’t likely to be hard news – explosions, protest marches and such. But they could turn out to be quite insightful portraits into neglected aspects of everyday life for embattled Iraqis and troops, which could work quite nicely as a Sunday NYT or Post feature (or that great neglected paper, the Christian Science Monitor). Guess which day has the highest circulation and readership for any paper? If someone can point me to a reporter whose embedding was on the whole a negative experience, in their view, I’d like to see the account. I’ve heard little but positive feedback from reporters – more than just Fox News, if you were wondering – on their embedding experiences. (To be clear: I don’t know any returning embeds, but I’ve seen their published accounts.)
I’m just a lowly trade reporter in DC, though, so I hope you make up your own mind, embracing that blogosphere credo to fact-check my ass and prove Matt Welch wrong.
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4 Responses to “Yes, terrorists do manipulate the media”
Here’s a post of my own, which gives some historical perspective. Our media has often been manipulated by our enemies — and sometimes by our friends.
I agree with your basic premise – that al Queda et al are trying to influence news media coverage, and by extension, pay close attention to what our news media reports. They’re at war with us – we do the same, and I would expect nothing less from them. Still, to say “They’re much better at (laughing) managing those kinds of things than we are” is either a joke (indicated by the laughter?) a stretch at best or simply sad, given the amount of money we’ve spent on “hearts and minds” and the US status as the home of the biggest and most successful cultural marketers in the world. The other possibility is that ours is an impossible mission – it’s tough to win the hearts and minds of a populace that largely feels itself occupied from without and under siege from within.
I also think that reporters should continue to embed – though at least a couple that I can think of right off the top of my head have had less than stellar experiences. And let’s not forget that they’ve been embedding for 3 years now. At its best I think embedding helps reporters – very few of whom have any experience with the real military – to understand the human face of war, and the professionalism of our military outside of the Abu Ghraib personalities. Also, I’ve begun to wonder, though I’ve seen nothing to indicate it, if US troops are not themselves beginning to scale back their efforts as the political cost increases back home, and support continues to erode within the military itself. If it isn’t happening yet, surely it will.
As for non-mbedded reporters – you are certainly correct in mentioning the difficulties and extraordinary dangers that entails and thus the need for local stringers. That is itself some of the most obvious and damning evidence that the most basic Iraqi need – personal security – has yet to be attained after hundreds of billions of dollars spent and 3 years of blood, sweat and tears.
I have no doubt that at times the media is manipulated, but Rumsfeld gist is that calling the conflict in Iraq and insurgency or a guerrilla war (now accepted) or a civil war are treason and not based on the facts as he delivers.
The media has been lacking in reporting many angles, many believe that electricity and infrastrcture have improved, only a few outlets have reported that we are thinking of a major campaign to liberate Baghdad.
The media is ALWAYS being manipulated by somebody. Anybody with enough money can manipulate the media. Anyone who can organize a large enough group can manipulate the media. In fact, anyone with enough persistence can manipulate the media. I believe the media wants to be manipulated. It wants to be directed to sensationalist crap so it can avoid real issues, because that’s how it makes money. And, since the Milton Friedman mindset has come to rule America, is the only thing that matters anymore.