Global Voices Online

On Wednesday evening New York Time at the Reuters headquarters in Times Square, bloggers from around the world joined in a live panel debate over whether the media is telling the real story in Iraq. See the Reuters news story summarizing the event here and a blog post about it on one of The Guardian blogs here.

UPDATE: Video has now posted on the Reuters site. You can watch the whole thing or some selected highlights, including: Bloggers weigh in, why the complete story isn't being told, the dangers of reporting, and how partisan criticism and pressure from both left and right puts pressure on journalists.

The conclusion of the panelists seemed to be that the media isn't presenting a full picture of what's happening in Iraq, but there were no concrete ideas as to what can or should be done about this problem. Problems with the coverage include: It's too politically polarized. There isn't enough background and context due to space and time limitations in news outlets. News organizations are businesses and must tailor their reports to the interests and sensibilities of their audiences (which explains why non-Iraqi victims get more play than Iraqi victims in the Western media). There are physical limitations on what Western, other Middle Eastern, and Iraqi journalists can physically report on because the situation is so physically dangerous. Etc.

We had about 40 people or so who watched the webcast around the world and joined a live IRC chat. We had our own parallel discussion going, and I managed to relay some of the online questions into the room so that the panel could address them.

The consensus among bloggers in the chatroom was that the media does indeed fail to provide a comprehensive or truly objective picture of what is happening in Iraq. However people disagreed on why, or what is to be done. Fayrooz Hancock asked: “why when a foriegn journalist is kidnapped, the media cover it extensively. When an Iraqi journalist is kidnapped (we have two right now), the story is forgotten the next day.” The media representatives answered honestly that unfortunately, audiences back home are more concerned about victims from their own country than Iraqi victims. The concerns of the audiences do drive coverage.

Global Voices Iraq contributor Salam Adil asked why the media doesn't do a better job at explaining the context of news events: “I heard a lot of talk for and against the media. But here is the problem - things happen and the media is flailing around for answers. There is no good background reporting to explain why things are happening.” Panelists admitted that news organizations generally don't do enough on that score.. but blamed lack of audience interest or attention as the main reason why better context and background is not given. Salam responded to this on a blog post titled “the real problem with the media“: “Why are people blaming journalists - when it is the editors who are failing to inform the public or put the politicians on the spot.” I then asked his question as a follow-up to the panel. Panelist Roger Cohen of the New York Times responded that editors actually do follow and respect the guidance of journalists in the field. His claims, provoked the following exchange on the IRC chat:

(more…)