| A PBS-documentary with an agenda! Oh, say it ain't so! And it's too bad, too, because the coverage of the Iraq war in particular broke such new ground that we have barely begun to think through the implications the issues are so richly textured.
Consider just the question of whether the television images were "sanitized." Well, of course they were. But that wasn't because the networks were trying to somehow "pretty up" the war qua war, it's because the networks sanitize everything. Think about even local news, where "if it bleeds it leads." A grotesque car wreck will lead in any market in this country -- but the most you ever see is a body delicately draped under a blanket. If there was a child, you'll see a teddy bear, a tiny sneaker, but never, ever a body. The standard images of plane crashes in this country are haz mat teams shown wading through pieces of twisted metal, but again -- no bodies. But given that, how do journalists manage to convey accurately what war is about without showing us the images? Much less how do they cover war live when they have to worry about what might happen on live TV? Well, that's a far longer discussion then a blog can handle, but my point is this is endlessly fascinating and critically important stuff. so it's too bad PBS went and led with their chin. -- Posted by Cori Dauber to The Volokh Conspiracy at 11/5/2003 08:39:11 AM Powered by Blogger Pro |
