The Media

News and Fiction

Nov 8, 2006

I just got back from a visit to my dad in the UK. Because he is essentially bedridden, he watches a lot of TV, so I saw a great deal more of it than I usually do. The big news in Britain on Monday was the trial of Dhiren Barot, accused of being a top al Qaeda man, with big plans to make big bangs. None of these plans were ever actually carried out, for which, of course, we are thankful!

The press didn’t have much material to use in its hours of coverage: one photograph of the man and some court transcripts. They’re not allowed to film the trial, so they showed a photo of one of the barristers, superimposed on a computer-generated courtroom.

One of Barot’s ideas for causing mayhem had been to rent three limos, stuff them with gas cannisters and other explodables, and blow them up in garages underneath some of London’s swankiest hotels. To illustrate this point, the BBC showed footage of a white limosine, with an anonymous figure (head cut off by the framing of the shot) putting green gas cannisters inside. In other words: not having anything real to show, the BBC did a “recreation” of an event that never took place. At least they did not go so far as to fake up an explosion.

It seems that the line between news and fiction is getting mighty blurry.

Making Headlines

Oct 26, 2006

I don't actually read many of these news stories. I can get an overview just scanning the headlines and the line or two of story given on the Google page, and I prefer to get my in-depth news from the Economist and the New York Times. Still, I'm absorbing tons of information every day, and there's one journalistic phenomenon - no, two - that I would like to complain about.

1. Stating the Obvious: A recent headline read "N. Korea denounces sanctions". Well, duh. Given what we know of that evil little man who's running the place, what else would their reaction be? This is NOT news. It would only be news if the reaction had been anything different.

Similarly, world leaders "condemning" the latest violence of whomever against whomever - it's all just hot air until and unless they actually do something about it. So don't waste my time on telling me that they all expressed outrage and horror. In fact, I'd just as soon the leaders didn't waste everybody's time convening press conferences to express their feelings - we can take those as given, stop wasting taxpayers' money on telling us how sorry you are that the world is a rotten place. Instead, go do your job and try to fix the bits you can!

2. The Clever-Clever Headline: Journalists (and/or their editors) are always thrilled to go for the easy pun, most of them so gaggingly awful that I will spare you any repetitions - you know what I mean. As soon as some news stories begin to hit which involve particular names and places (and are not so awful that a humorous headline would be out of place), we can all predict exactly what some of the headlines will be. It’s another case of stating the obvious, and there's nothing more boring than the obvious.

Suggested Reading: The Economist

Dec 8, 2004

If you aren't already a reader of The Economist, I strongly urge you to try it. Financially conservative, socially liberal, truly international in scope, it's one of the best magazines and news sources in the world.

It can be hard to find on the newsstand in much of the US; in Silicon Valley, travelling away from my home subscription, I could rarely find the latest issue. Once, heading out on vacation, I eagerly snapped up a copy in an airport somewhere. As I was standing in line to pay for it, the woman behind me looked over my shoulder and gasped: "You actually read that?!?" - as if ordinary mortals could not be expected to understand such a magazine.

Don't let the title put you off. The Economist manages to explain difficult concepts and situations in clear, elegant language, and with a wry, dry, very British sense of humor. Agree or don't with its politics, but read it - you'll be in good company (in several senses).

Italian Hostages in Iraq

The Italian hostages in Iraq don't seem to be getting much media attention outside of Italy. This evening's news here is that they have been shown on Al Arabiya television in an apparently-recent video, accompanied by a message from the kidnappers that: "We will show good faith and free them if you sympathize with our cause, show solidarity, and react publicly against the politics of your prime minister with a massive protest against the war in your capital city."

Well, uh, actually, massive protests of this type happened over a year ago. Berlusconi was not moved then, nor is he likely to be now, nor should he be - now. No matter how ill-conceived this war was from the beginning, we are now stuck in Iraq, probably for many years to come. Pulling out, as far as I can tell, would only lead to civil war and far more Iraqi deaths. Bowing to the demands of hostage-takers will only increase the chances of more people being kidnapped. I'm sorry for these guys and their families (Rossella's English teacher is Stefio's first cousin), but, no matter how fine a line you care to draw between "security consultant" and "mercenary," they surely knew what they were getting into.

Est, Est, Est

Mar 19, 2004

"A policeman called the deaths of six females and three males, all believed to be children of Marcus Wesson, the largest mass killing in the history of Fresno, Calif." NYT

I should certainly hope so. Just how many mass killings have there been in Fresno?

The media's obsession with superlatives has infected us all. We can no longer have just a heavy snowfall or rainfall or whatever - it has to be the heaviEST since... whatever date you can find. The biggEST terrorist attack in Europe since WWII. The longEST winning streak since 1997. The warmEST day since last Tuesday. Which makes every event seem more dramatic than most events actually are.