LONDON, 24 March 2003 — Round-the-clock live television images of the war in Iraq are mesmerizing viewers across the world, but not all are happy with what they see.
US and British broadcasters such as CNN, Sky and the BBC are pumping out coverage of the US-led invasion, and even media in countries not involved in the conflict have cranked up their programming to feed a surging public appetite for news.
Networks are trumpeting their ability to broadcast live satellite images from their “embedded” reporting positions with the US and British forces in Iraq.
Television coverage has also been ramped up in Germany and France, whose governments are opposed to the Iraq war, but the tone there tends to be more downbeat.
One German correspondent warned viewers to beware of “disinformation” from Washington, and a German network ran shots of a US tank stuck in the Iraqi sand.
Even in Britain, some criticize what they see as the overly bullish tone of some television reports. “Somehow the people reporting and presenting have too much enthusiasm for it,” said British marketing manager Tom Greaves.
Many also doubt the pictures tell the whole story, and say television is presenting a sanitized view of war.
Coverage by some Arab stations, including Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, has been far more graphic, showing bloody images of Iraqis killed and injured in air raids.
Gadi Wolfsfeld, professor of political science and communications at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the upbeat tone of US and British coverage might not last.
“Because of the lack of international consensus on this war, the role of the media may change very quickly and turn against the American government,” he said.
“We’re not seeing many dead and wounded. If the war goes badly (for the United States and Britain) we’ll see a lot more.”
Broadcasters spending millions of dollars on Iraq coverage may find the thirst for news drying up if war drags on.