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[casi] BBC radio 4 moral maze/media representation



In message <3E83B73D.11947.2201E6F@localhost>, Mark Parkinson
<mark44@myrealbox.com> writes

>What is interesting is how much airtime she and other members of the
>IPO get here in the UK. They have no constituency in Iraq and are
>only a recent creation. The media thirst for pure anti Saddam Hussein
>and they provide it.

This highlights the fact that the media in the UK pay only cursory
attention to sources outside the country, especially if they

a) don't speak sound-bite, broadcast-standard English
b) don't have an English language website.

The people from the Iraqi Prospect Organisation are a TV researcher's
dream, because they do both - and are young.

By contrast, take the limited coverage of the Iraqi National Alliance.
(there was a CASI post asking about the INA back in the Autumn:  see
Peter Brooke, Sun 24 Nov 2002, 11:40)

One person associated with the INA is the leftist Shia writer Abdul Amir
Al-Rikabi, who is based in Paris.  Seems to me he should be quoted
extensively as well, in the interests of the total picture.  But, oh
dear, many of the reports about him are in French, German or Italian.

See my webpage http://www.twiza.demon.co.uk/iraq/index.htm for links to
things written by and about him.  It took me about 2 days to research
it, as his name is spelt differently in different sources (sometimes
even within one article).

As far as I can see, there were 2 conferences in Paris in February among
anti-American opposition groups including the INA - but there was no
coverage of them in the UK media, compared with the widespread coverage
of the London conference in December (if I'm wrong please send me the
info/references.)

A public service such as the BBC prides itself in being unbiased, but it
sometimes falls seriously below standard in this global age by relying
too much on research done by English-speaking journalists who just tap a
few words into Google from the comfort of their desks.

Cathy
--
Cathy Aitchison

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