I was alerted by a reader, Fred, to this article published in the Washington
Times:
Jordanian journalists Saturday demanded their Iraqi counterparts admit
their country is occupied, accusing them of promoting the U.S.
presence. The group of Jordanian journalists gathered signatures for
a petition to be presented to the president of the Jordan Press
Association, demanding to respond to Iraqi journalists’ accusations
that the Jordanian press was writing and instigating against the new
conditions in Iraq.In their petition, the Jordanian journalists insisted Iraq is an Arab
country occupied by a foreign force and Iraqi journalists are
responsible for promoting and supporting that occupation.
If anyone cares to hear my humble opinion, I would say Jordanian
journalists should not meddle with Iraqi affairs in such a way. No
one wants good things for Iraq more than Iraqis themselves. If Iraqis
want to accept the status quo, then this should be respected. Arabs
should really stop meddling in Iraq’s affairs and let the people of Iraq decide
their own fate.
man there are no gaps kinzi.in regards to this, im sticking to what i believe, because im a journalist and journalists should be critical of one another. the more critical we are the more we can get issues like this out in the open, not just discuss them in journalism school like i did. the iraqi journalists were critical, and so were the jordanian ones. but i trully believe the jordanian ones have a better argument. but kinzi, since you are the ecxpert on jordan becuase you live there i guess, why dot you fill me in on the gaps. and man what do you have against chomsky? ever heard of the propaganda model? man, that is so in effect in the states.
Jeff, thanks for saying what I wanted better than I could.
Linda, I think you need to put Chomsky down and come visit Jordan. It would help fill in some of the gaps for you. 🙂
oh by the way, the only thing that keeps me sane is reading anything by chomsky and jamba juice!
Jeff, let me ask you a question? And i will be nice, unlike your last comment. Were you one of those people that thought the elections in Iraq were the greatest thing since sliced bread?
The Iraqi journalists were the ones who complained about the Jordanian journalists for not painting a rosy picture of Iraq. Well, Iraq is not a rosy picture. Yes, jordanian journalists are not the best, but what journalist is totally objective?
And anyone who is going to claim that iraq is all rosy and nice, well then they are kidding themselves. Now, i know there will be people who will say LInda, “you are in no position to talk about how iraqis are living and how anything in the middle east is because you dont live there. you are just an arab american who eats hummos.”
Okay, then I will argue about this as an American, which is what I am, a proud American. I demand that American journalist recognize we are occupying Iraq, spending billions of our tax dollars on a war based on lies, and the fact that our president lied about WMDs. (funny, that issue was never mentioned here) Is there anything wrong with me demanding this Jeff of American journalists? I hope not. IF i remeber right, journalists in this country are supposed to be the fourth estate in this country.
Now, journalism in the ME is not all that great and journalists should be critical of it. That is what some of these Jordanian journalists are doing, just like the iraqi ones did. they are being critical and good for them. But, there is nothing wrong with demanding other journalists to recognize an occupation is taking place. And Jeff, if you actaully think that Iraq and the people of Iraq are in control of themselves and not under the occupation of the U.S., then think that since i guess it makes you happy 🙂
Ahahaha LOL Okay, you go on believing that’s what’s going on here Linda. This is just a bunch of responsible journalists that are demanding the most from their colleagues in Iraq, nevermind that neither they nor any other journalist/union in the ME meets the standard they seem to be setting for Iraqi journalists. No, they are just interested in the truth and it’s just that simple. Okay.
I think you’ll find few things are simple in the ME and the truth is just a mirage on the distant horizon. But you believe what you want to believe if that keeps you sane. I’ve no doubts on this one.
All im saying is that these journalists are doing their jobs. demanding the truth. its that simple.
That’s not quite an accurate picture, nor the real deal here Linda. First off, although the whole of the press is not Al-Ghad, Al-Ghad was regarded as a pre-eminent paper in the kingdom. For it to happen there suggests that it could happen elsewhere and that it just might. It begs a question about the press culture that allowed that to happen: if one of the best thought it okay, what about the little guys. Having worked in the press in the kingdom for a number of years I can tell you that this is not all about journalism or all about the truth. The truth is not always found in the papers of the kingdom BTW. I’m sure you know that.
The JPA (Jordan Press Association) is pissed off because the Iraqi press called them on the Al-Ghad affair. The JPA wants to say: “hey, you guys are just US patsies, get your stories straight! Stop working for the man!” It’s just a bunch of name calling and face saving. It’s dangerous too because it could rapidly devolve into another “incident” or rift between both countries.
And that’s the point really. I don’t care what you say about this “journalists want the truth” business. No organization from one country has any business sounding off against another one saying “you guys suck, you need to report the truth — the truth that we see!” That kind of action is particularly egregious when the neighboring press recently let loose an article of ever growing infamy that resulted in a major international incident.
That incident, BTW, is being cited right up to the White House as crumbling relations between Jordan and the US, an article of dubious intent that still deserves a read to see how this is being spun. Even if you don’t care about US-Jordan relations, you should recognize that no body outside of the government should be influencing international relations. I think the suggestion that this is simply a case of “journalists wanting the truth told” is far too naive.
The JPA and much of Jordan want the US out of Iraq. So do many other nations. But press in Jordan has, in fact, been responsible for augmenting the resistance, showing support for it. Sure not all press in Jordan is doing this, perhaps not even a majority. But it was happening. The culture of “resisting the occupier” present is likely how the Al-Ghad story got out in the first place.
The situation is that the Iraqis were pissed about this, called Jordan’s press on it and said “stay out of our business.” I think they are well within their right to say this. You say the Jordanian press only wants the truth. Is that really what you think? They want “their truth” reported. And the point here is, why should Iraq care what the JPA truth is anyway — whether they agree or not. It’s not like the JPA is an Iraqi organ. It’s not part of the family. Who cares what they think.
Keep in mind in all of this that truth is subjective. That’s an important fact to always keep in mind. So the JPA, wounded by the Al-Ghad affair tries to save face by yelling at the Iraqi press: “You American patsies!” This they think will win them favor after getting red-faced over Al-Ghad. But they really have no place to say anything. They aren’t interested in the truth here, Linda. If they ever say that, they’re hiding their true intent.
There are so many media outlets covering things in Iraq, why do they suddenly single out the Iraqi press. Take a look at Syria, Egypt, Saudi, etc, etc. Why doesn’t the JPA say “hey you guys aren’t telling the full truth about things going on within your borders!!” In fact, more to the point, the JPA doesn’t even tell the full “truth” about what goes on in Jordan. So what place do they have to say anything to Iraq about it’s handling of the truth?
No the situation here is simple. The Iraqi press rightfully shamed the Jordanian press after Al-Ghad. The JPA are doing some damage control here, distracting from the real issue.
If it seems I skipped the part about things not being rosy etc, I’m not. It’s not rosy. The Iraqi press is not monolithic. You’ll find many reports saying it’s not rosy. There’s no doubt it’s not. This idea that the JPA is a bastion of the ‘truth’ and the Iraqis are not is just misleading. Both suffer a similar plight for similar reasons with different masters. I point this out but these issues are simply academic.
The point is that they have no business saying “hey you guys over there better start reporting the truth.” They just don’t. BTW when did you hear that the JPA has the corner on truth in Iraq anyway. Do you know something I don’t? Are you suggesting that the JPA is a great source of investigative journalism that will get to the bottom of this whole Iraqi version of the truth situation? Surely not.
Linda – if Iraq wanted to free Hussein, then I assume the U.S. would take him to the U.S. and try him on charges here. Don’t forget that he ordered hundreds if not thousands of illegal hostile actions against U.S. aircraft during the no-fly-zone period, and that he ordered his security services to attempt to assassinate a former U.S. president. The Iraqis are trying Hussein because his crimes against them are greater. But he committed crimes against the United States, too. America also has a claim on him.
And something above 90% of the news reports I see coming out of Iraq are negative. It’s a remarkable thing: I’ll see months of negative reporting about what’s happening in Iraq, and then some major positive event will occur, like the elections at the end of January, that the media can’t ignore. Those undeniable positives are bright bursts that reveal the global media to be liars the rest of the time – the BBC and Reuters in particular are disgraceful.
The only people Iraqi journalists have to fear now are the Syrian, Iranian and Saudi “insurgents”. If the U.S. was trying to muzzle anyone, Al-Jazeera would have been kicked out two years ago.
Really, what’s the complaint with U.S. troops remaining in Iraq? That they’re not leaving fast enough or that they’re never really going to leave? The first is a matter for the Iraqi & U.S. governments to decide, and the second is nonsense. I’m about as hawkish an American as you’re likely to find, and I can’t wait for our troops to hand over security to Iraqi institutions and get the heck out of there.