Audi Partem Alterum

On Al-Jazeera

Having just seen "Control Room" last night, the discussion that followed is fresh in my mind. Is Al-Jazeera's reporting fundamentally biased?

The cheap, obvious answer is yes. Any educated person has opinions, and thus bias. The real question is, do journalists let these opinions influence their work?Obviously they do to some degree or another, and equally obviously, not to the same degree. Can one say that entire institutions are more biased than others? Given a lack of objective truth in many of the areas in which bias is said to shape reporting, it's hard to say, but probably some are less disciplined than others.

One way to monitor bias is to examine processes, another to examine output. On neither can most of us speak authoritatively, as to be able to do so would require far more hours of watching television news than anyone would choose to do. Yet, at least based on this movie (and the comments made by non-al-Jazeera personnel) it seems like the processes compare reasonably with US media best-practices. Certainly Fox News has a poor record of giving open mics to those they criticize.

Making a judgment based on output is far more difficult, as one seldom can separate one's own biases from one's attempt to evaluate said output. Does Al-Jazeera report fairly on the Israel-Palestine conflict? My perspective is no, they do not. They are blinded by the rhetoric of the times, and probably are influenced by the preconceptions of their audience. They focus on one small portion of the overall issue and allow that to dominate their coverage.

I am not Arab. (nor Jewish or Israeli, for that matter) I can't feel the emotional tug of either side of the issue. The bombings in Israel I cannot internalize, nor the horror of having one's home bulldozed. I have neither America's lingering guilt from not doing more in the 40s, nor Europe's guilt over its imperial excesses, now redirected against Israel, whom they and the Arabs see as the last vestige of colonial enterprise. Even so, I am probably biased, shaped by the books I have read, the coverage I have heard, and perhaps even the Muslim imperial legacy in India. If I, so uninvolved with the issue, cannot be objective, who can really say that they can? The point is, al-Jazeera is biased. I am biased. CNN, ABC, NBC, FOX, BBC are all biased. Everyone has their conscious axe to grind, their subconscious cognitive dissonance to avoid, and their hapless indoctrination by the society and media around them.

The reader will no doubt point out that the above is all well and good, but comparative levels of spin, and the specific decision to editorialize in news reporting is a whole different issue than normal conditioning of the reporter. This is true, but impossible to arbitrate.

Al-Jazeera showed images of wounded and dead Iraqis. Coalition authorities accused them of soliciting an emotional response. They then showed images of wounded and dead Americans. The Coalition accused them of "violating the Geneva conventions" (which they couldn't do, not being a nation-state.) It is possible that Al-Jazeera in both cases was trying to undermine the Coalition's ability to govern. It is likely that in both cases the Coalition was trying to undermine their credibility. A fan of Al-Jazeera may argue that they were being fair, and simply reporting on the costs of the war. A critic might say that al-Jazeera's actions both times attacked the Coalition's presence in Iraq, and therefore was irredeemably slanted.

In truth, there is no real resolution to this except to say, demand the ideal, expect the worst. Journalism should be sober, rational reporting of the facts, and like all creations of man, will never live up to that charge.

On "Control Room" itself

A fantastic movie, well worth watching. It is a special treat to watch it with a liberal crowd, and hear the audience snigger when Rumsfeld accuses the network of being a mouthpiece for Al-Qaeda, immediately followed by Al-Qaeda condemning them for being a mouthpiece for American Imperialism.

There are many revelations, and a dry sense of humor. The capstone, in my view, was President Bush going on international TV to demand that the Iraqi insurgents who had captured US troops obey the Geneva conventions and follow the US example in treating prisoners in a humane fashion. To our Bible-obsessed president I wish I could say "Matthew 7:4".

Some movie reviews:
New York Times
Washington Post
MSNBC
"Islam Online"
Culture Vulture
Film Threat
New York Post (owned by Murdoch)