"Many people scoff at the notion that the American media propagandizes the American citizenry, but here one sees the vivid essence of that process. Our establishment media loves to point to and loudly condemn the behavior of other governments as proof of how tyrannical and evil they are -- look at those Iranian mullah-fanatics imprisoning journalists/look at those primitive, corrupt, lawless Iraqis and their "culture of impunity"/look at the UAE and their tolerance of torture -- while completely ignoring, when they aren't justifying, identical behavior by our own government.
......................................
A Nexis search for "Roxana Saberi" reveals 2,201 mentions in press reports, virtually all of them in the last two months regarding her arrest by Iran. By stark contrast, a search for "Ibrahim Jassam" -- the Iraqi journalist still held without charges by the U.S. even in the face of an Iraqi court finding that there's no evidence of his guilt -- produces a grand total of 71 mentions. A search of "Sami al-Haj" for the first five years of his detention in Guantanamo (2001-2006) reveals a grand total of 101 mentions. For the entire period of his lawless detention, Bilal Hussein's name was mentioned 556 times. See those Nexis searches here."
Full piece here.
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14 comments:
Wow. Excellent point. Huge imbalance. What do you think could be done to help correct it?
If you know of any women in similar situations to the men you mention, I could possibly profile them on my website...
Or maybe I could somehow tie it to my blogs on imbalance in reporting on Dubai as another example of journalistic imbalance...
Let me know if you have any ideas or more info. thnx.
As part of our new 7-day "Come experience the magic" tour, visitors will now have the option to experience the real Dubai beyond the glitzy surface. Upon airport arrival, our guests will be strip-searched with urine and blood samples taken and their passports confiscated. For visitors who do get out of the airport, our guests will then be able to choose from five options: 7 fun-filled days as a "construction worker", "domestic servant", "brothel team intern", "expat investor" and "media law violator".
"Come experience the magic"--because you are jealous.
You want more search results ?(because they really prove the relevance and importance of an occurrence, right?) How about the Arab media write a lot more about Ibrahim Jassam, then you'll get your results.
Roxana Saberi is a US citizen who was detained and convicted by a puppet court in a scary comedy country on spurious grounds. You have to admit this is a bit more newsworthy for the American media.
"brothel team intern
CAn I be that? lol.
Roxana Saberi is a US citizen (blah blah blah)
She is also an IRANI citizen who was convicted by her own country's courts.
I love how when a conviction is made in this part of the world, westerners say things like "puppet judge."
Guess what, same thing where you are from. Your judges and courts arent any better.
At least she was tried. the US has held people for years who they KNEW were innocent.
Yeah, model of justice the western world is.
Nick,
Search result don't prove anything. They give you an indication of interest. As for the second part of your comment, it's neither your place nor mine to decide what's newsworthy to an American. But I could also put it this way: in general, isn't more newsworthy to report about a journalist held captive without trial by the army who claims to have come to liberate him and his country, rather than to report about what a 'puppet court' in a 'scary comedy' could do?
try google.
;)
"Google helped me find God"
Thanks for the suggestion Hemlock!
An Arabic google search for Sami Al Haj yielded 576000 hits. As for Roxana Saberi it yielded 106000 hits. Which sounds about right since Sami has been held for 5 years while Roxana’s story is only few months old.
I think when push comes to shove, anybody (individual or country) should go the extra mile for a fellow human being. And I guess that's what the US Government did with Roxana Saberi.
('Our establishment media.....while completely ignoring, when they aren't justifying, identical behavior by our own government.')
How many Greenwalds from this region would dare question the behavior of their own government? I believe, this can be argued both ways. Apart from this, I believe Greenwald (with the () line above) is using his ability to speak foolishly and make it sound like, he's doing it in a wise manner.
CG: You're not a Bahai, are you? Iran's a great place if you're one. Google it, in case you haven't got a clue.
Why is the USA different?
Because they are the ONLY humans on earth. The rest of us are sub humans. You didnt get the memo?
Saberi is Iranian, wether she likes it or not
She could have renounced Iranian citizenship. She has that option. Didnt take it though.
Some things really get my goat
You have a goat? Like the baa! kind, or the vroom vroom kind, or a goatee? So very confusisisisisings!
I bit nobody of those who had commented here had heard of Ibarhim Jassam before, or maybe even Sami Al Hajj for that matter.
Not taking any sides but wouldn't these results be indicative of the sheer magnitude of the US media, which presumably outsizes that of the Middle put together?
Saberi is Iranian, wether she likes it or not
Saberi could also be Japanese whether she likes it or not.
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