Fatin Bundagji, a reporter for Arab News whose writings have impressed me, here makes a good argument that fails because it is built on fallacious ‘facts’. She criticizes American media as a tool of the corporations that own them. She gains her perspective from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, FAIR, and a former sociology professor. Ms Bundagji, however, does not seem to recognize that FAIR is itself a liberal advocacy organization pushing a particular political point of view, one that disfavors corporations generally. She might care to read up on the materials put out by conservative media watchdog groups like Accuracy in Media (AIM) or Media Research Center (MRC).
I’d recommend Ms Bundagji take a look at the Wikipedia entry Media bias in the United States and follow the links to the different organizations discussed.
Her critique is that a media organization will march to the tune of the whomever pays for it. That is not, in fact, the case. Most journalists—though there are exceptions—do their best to report accurately. Whether their editors (and particularly in countries as the KSA where ‘mistakes’ carry serious consequences) support accuracy is another matter. The source of funding is not an automatic explanation for points of view any given reader may or may not like.
The problem is that ‘media’ is actually a collection of people, with all the human frailties that come with being human. Some journalists are true to their calling, no matter what. Others are subject to being influenced by other factors, from money to personal security to the lives of their families. One needs to pay attention not to who owns which media (often a convenient excuse for anti-Semitism in the refrain ‘The Jews own the media’), but how each reporter and editorial suite behaves.
Which media do I believe? All and none. Journalism—and this includes broadcast journalism—is still just a ‘first draft of history’. No reportage can provide 100% of any story more complicated than a report on yesterday’s weather. That’s because news is also about people, with actions and motives, desires and drives as varied as snowflakes. Keep yourself exposed to a wide range of media—including those whose viewpoint you don’t like—and you can get an approximation of reality. Read any one media exclusively—or only those whose viewpoint you do like—and you get distortion at best, total fiction at worst. Which academics do I respect? Those whose works (plural: one book is insufficient context) match up with my experiences and knowledge. I tend not to pay much attention to academics writing outside their areas of expertise (e.g. Noam Chomsky I trust on linguistics; on politics, I trust him not at all).
I’ve worked with thousands of journalists in my career, American, international, and local to the countries in which I’ve been assigned. There are good journalists and bad. There are good editors and publishers and bad. There are local laws or regulations or ‘unwritten red lines’ that can influence the truth or falsity of a given report. The only constantly bad reporting I’ve come across has been that of ideologically-driven media, primarily that of advocacy groups left, right, and center.
Are US Media Violating the 1st Amendment?
Fatin Bundagji, fatin@bundagji.comLast week Arab News printed in the “Letters to the Editor†column a letter by Ms. Lin Hansen Petro from Portland, Oregon, commenting on my article, “Peace & Stability: Pre-requisites for Reform†(March 7). Ms. Petro wrote that while writing her article, “Fatin Bundagji conveniently forgot, as Arab writers usually do, that the US was attacked by Arab terrorists which led to retaliatory action in the Middle East and out of America. All those glorious outreach programs she was describing that America used to do would still be in effect and there would be no war waging at the moment if the radical Arabs kept their opinions and hatred of American policies in the academic or political arena… the majority of Americans are getting pretty fed up with handling out billions of dollars in aid, education, medical care, technological advancements, and religious tolerance and so on to a world of egocentric ingratesâ€.
Ms. Petro has every right to her opinion. But as a citizen of a nation built on the values of liberty, equality and justice; a nation that regards a free press to be as important as its three independent arms of government, Ms. Petro also has the right to an accurate and unbiased media beaming into her home on a daily basis. This basic American right, the right to a free press, she, and most American citizens are systematically denied.
To most average hardworking and law-abiding Americans, their view of the international community is severely shortsighted and impaired. It is a worldview that is craftily fine-tuned, filtered and controlled by media outlets that are biased in favor of the sources that fund them.
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16:44,
Here is the way I see it…If Americans were on top of their game they would be saying “Why are we in Iraq?…We should be in Saudi Arabia.” Sorry
Anyways…are you sure you want the American people to be fact finders?
18:11,
I agree that you shouldn’t just read the papers and books that you like, but also the ones by writers whose outlook you don’t like, So good for finding perspective.
I should spend less time here…
I like it too much.
18:26,
Oh, there are plenty of Americans who think we should be at war in Saudi Arabia. There are some who think it’d be a good idea to bomb the Kaaba, too.
The primary reason we aren’t at war with the KSA is that there’s no reason to be at war with the KSA. There are many steps short of war, including various political pressures (no economic pressures are available) and what’s called ‘moral suasion’–though that’s a bit tough to sell these days.
Importantly, Saudi Arabia is making attempts to rein in the crazies, to reform its education system, to stop terrorist funding, and is itself at war with terrorism. That sort of puts the US and the KSA on the same side and allies rarely go to war with each other.
20:31,
I like the statement about reining in the crazies. Hey I don’t want war…I live here and so do my kids.
I am down with the slogan “Make Love Not War” with my own addition and “Make it Anywhere”.
11:33,
Argh!
I wrote a long, well-reasoned (I think) post only to lose it when I forgot to enter an email address… And of course the “go back” on the browser wiped it out…sigh
Let me summarize: The real problems with the US media are: political spin and sensationalism. Political spin is due to the leanings of their editors and owners views bleeding out into almost every story. Most news “stories” really belong on the editorial page. Sensationalism and lack of real factual reporting are due to competition with internet news sources. By the time you really dig up the facts and arrange the story, it’s old news on the web. There is no looking back, no real retractions or apologies, it is on to the next big thing.
As for war with KSA - that’s absurd. Although some ultra conservative types are still chewing on Saudi citizens involvement in 9/11 and insurgents crossing the border into Iraq… The Kingdom cannot and should not exert old Soviet style control over the lives of its citizens. That, IMHO, is what it would take to prevent/preclude that kind of thing. Besides, I content the radical Islam and the various terror groups are more of a threat to KSA than they are to the west. They’re only looking to kill us and influence our foreign policy. However, they threaten Saudi government, lives, livelihoods, culture, religion - basically everything it means to be Saudi. From what I can see, KSA has been one of, if not the single most steadfast, reliable ally we have in the region. Sure, they haven’t always been “on board” with everything we’ve done. They are an ally, not a vassal. And if we’re smart we’ll value that, listen and consider/use their insights. They’ve always seemed to be reasonable in a region not particularly famous for that trait.
So I’m with you Sparky - love, not war. Besides, it is so much more fun - anywhere!
12:15,
Sparky: Woehaha! Right on! Any place, anywhere, anytime!!!
19:16,
John,
I like your blog. But you desperately need a “preview” button. I will try again.
19:17,
This is where Ms.Bundagji gets it wrong. Americans are not systematically denied information. We have information outlets available to us that most of the world does not. I get my information from news magazines, books, international news stories online, television, radio, public meetings, bloggers and private sources. Now compare what is available to me to what is available to the common citizen of the KSA. Who has the opportunity to be more informed?
19:17,
better
19:37,
ratherdashing: Yes, I do. I’ve not yet found one that works to my satisfaction, though. So maybe I’ll have to settle for second-best and in the background clear up the problems it creates!
Stay tuned…
13:35,
Am I the only one who grasped the point of Fatin Bundagji’s response? Abu Sinan, what do you think?
16:00,
Islam And The West Accelerated Links
Crossroads Arabia on critiquing the western media from an Arab point of view.