News

Media and the art of deception
As journalism students, we were told ad nauseam that there are five Ws and one H that are essential for a news story: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.
We were also taught to be fair, honest and balanced in our approach to the news.
Legendary British journalist CP Scott’s belief that “comment is free but facts are sacred” was the mantra. Facts are sacred, yes. How many journalists, or for that matter all those big names in media business, believe in and practice these values today? Involuntary or unconscious slip here and there is understandable. Ignorance can also be condoned in certain cases.
But how do you explain the clever, deliberate distortion of facts that could often have catastrophic consequences? In the war of spin, half-truths, slants and innuendos are almost as destructive as blatant, white lies.
Look at the strange case of Neda Agha Soltan, the pretty Iranian girl who became the face of the so-called second Iran revolution last year.
Her striking pictures, ostensibly clicked as she lay on the ground bleeding to death, were splashed all over the globe. Western governments and media networks claimed she was gunned down by the authorities for protesting against Ahmadinejad’s “stolen” election. Her death became the rallying point for pro-reform and pro-democracy crowds around the world.
Adequately aided by BBC, CNN and “fair and balanced” Fox News, Neda became the global... >>>