Media Bias in Iraq

From Editor & Publisher, former Reuters Baghdad bureau chief Andrew Marshall on the media’s coverage of Iraq:

“I don’t agree with those who say it is inappropriate to criticize the work of journalists in Iraq — just because we were working in very dangerous conditions does not mean that we should be immune from criticism. … 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.”