Monday, August 01, 2005
Journalist RhetIraq: Andrew Marshall
Who: Andrew Marshall (Reuters bureau chief in Baghdad for two years)
Source: Editor & Publisher
Quotes:
"But I regard the charge that journalists in Iraq are skewing their reporting and focusing 'too much on bad news' as ill-informed, and a great insult to the Iraqi people. Many of those who criticize Iraq coverage seem to be suggesting that the media should somehow play down or ignore the fact that so many Iraqi civilians are being killed. It's an attitude that implies that Iraqis are not entitled to the level of safety and security enjoyed by people elsewhere in the world.
"Of course, some progress is being made in Iraq. Many people in Iraq, including U.S. soldiers, are doing their best to rebuild the country and improve security. But taken in isolation, the renovation of a power plant or the opening of a new school are not a story unless placed in the wider context, and the wider context is that reconstruction is proceeding much more slowly than had been expected. If anybody knows of an example of a 'positive development' that has been intentionally underreported or ignored by the international media in Iraq, I'd be very interested to hear it. In the absence of such evidence, complaints about media bias in Iraq do not carry much weight."
Interview Excerpts:
E&P: What do you think about the general level of threat to reporters in Iraq now?
The threat level is as bad as it has ever been. The risk comes from so many sources -- you could be targeted by insurgents, captured by kidnappers, shot at by U.S. troops, caught up in a suicide bomb attack or hit by a stray mortar.
E&P: What do you think of charges that the United States may "target" journalists?
I don't believe that U.S. forces in Iraq are deliberately targeting journalists. But many journalists, including at least two working for Reuters, have been killed by U.S. troops in Iraq. The issue is part of a wider problem: the killing of civilians by U.S. forces.
E&P: What is the state of the overall conflict?
The fact the most Sunni Arab groups have reconsidered their boycott of the political process is a very positive development. The main danger is the rise in sectarian tensions, and particularly mistrust between Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs. In my last months in Iraq, sectarian strife became significantly more noticable and more worrying. The threat of civil war is a real concern. But most Iraqis are tired of violence, and determined to promote peaceful cooperation.
Source: Editor & Publisher
Quotes:
"But I regard the charge that journalists in Iraq are skewing their reporting and focusing 'too much on bad news' as ill-informed, and a great insult to the Iraqi people. Many of those who criticize Iraq coverage seem to be suggesting that the media should somehow play down or ignore the fact that so many Iraqi civilians are being killed. It's an attitude that implies that Iraqis are not entitled to the level of safety and security enjoyed by people elsewhere in the world.
"Of course, some progress is being made in Iraq. Many people in Iraq, including U.S. soldiers, are doing their best to rebuild the country and improve security. But taken in isolation, the renovation of a power plant or the opening of a new school are not a story unless placed in the wider context, and the wider context is that reconstruction is proceeding much more slowly than had been expected. If anybody knows of an example of a 'positive development' that has been intentionally underreported or ignored by the international media in Iraq, I'd be very interested to hear it. In the absence of such evidence, complaints about media bias in Iraq do not carry much weight."
Interview Excerpts:
E&P: What do you think about the general level of threat to reporters in Iraq now?
The threat level is as bad as it has ever been. The risk comes from so many sources -- you could be targeted by insurgents, captured by kidnappers, shot at by U.S. troops, caught up in a suicide bomb attack or hit by a stray mortar.
E&P: What do you think of charges that the United States may "target" journalists?
I don't believe that U.S. forces in Iraq are deliberately targeting journalists. But many journalists, including at least two working for Reuters, have been killed by U.S. troops in Iraq. The issue is part of a wider problem: the killing of civilians by U.S. forces.
E&P: What is the state of the overall conflict?
The fact the most Sunni Arab groups have reconsidered their boycott of the political process is a very positive development. The main danger is the rise in sectarian tensions, and particularly mistrust between Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs. In my last months in Iraq, sectarian strife became significantly more noticable and more worrying. The threat of civil war is a real concern. But most Iraqis are tired of violence, and determined to promote peaceful cooperation.
