Davids Medienkritik

Is it Vietnam yet?????

Blame Bush! Canada is withdrawing from Kyoto. (Or was it just a fundamentally flawed concept from the outset…?)

Dale Hurd put together an outstanding two part report (see text version here) on anti-Americanism in European media that readers can view below. This is must-watch material for anyone interested in anti-Americanism in European media:  

Part 1 (above)

Part 2 (above)

Money quote:

“Polls clearly show that Europeans have turned against America in increasing numbers. You can blame Iraq or George Bush. But it’s also true that Europeans have been fed a steady diet of media distortions about America for years.

And if you repeat a distortion long enough, it can become reality.

If you got your news about the United States only from the European media, chances are good you wouldn’t like the United States either. There are a lot of reasons for the anti-American coverage in the media here, but you can start with the journalists themselves. They’re mostly liberal and they’re on a mission.

America gets a journalistic thumping just about every day in Europe. It’s a one-way media war that our government has shown little or no interest in fighting seriously, even though it has severely damaged America’s image and influence.”

Perhaps the most striking statement on German media was made by Andrei Markovits, who related that a German journalist openly admitted to him that the editors back home were pushing him to provide negative material – because it sells so well. That is something we have known for years – but his statement is just further evidence. Jeff Gedmin – who possesses his own category on this site – was stellar as always. (Hoya Saxa Jeff!) Karin Quade of the German blog anti-anti-Americanism pointed to the painful reality that it is difficult to avoid negative attitudes towards the US – even in everyday conversation. Richard Miniter, another accomplished blogger I have had the pleasure to meet, discusses his time with The Wall Street Journal in Brussels.

UPDATE: Dale Hurd has also posted extensive excerpts of his interview with Andrei Markovits on his blog along with links to his report. Markovits is focused and brilliant. Watch below and check out his book “Uncouth Nation: Why Europe Dislikes America”…

Special thanks to Dale Hurd. Just appearing on a program with interviewees of such high caliber was a deep honor. I must, however, mention one complaint about the presentation: In his preliminary comments, Pat Robertson implied that “most” Europeans believed Americans walked around with M16s. Very different from my observation that (some) Germans asked me if all Americans walked around with M16s – (probably after watching Bowling for Columbine.) The fact that anyone would ask such a thing is more than enough to make a strong point – and there is no evidence and no need to claim that “most” Europeans believe it.

Additionally, as someone who considers himself “secular” – I am a skeptic of Mr. Robertson and the religious right in general. I am, however, deeply grateful to CBN for taking on this subject in a highly professional manner. It is also beyond argument that individuals of faith in the United States have been unfairly vilified and targeted in European media. To conclude, let’s hope that the larger mainstream media picks up on the subject of anti-Americanism in foreign media as well. Considering the general political attitude of the American mainstream media, however, (one of sympathy and empathy for the America-bashers) it is relatively unlikely that this will happen.

For those interested in the BBC report featuring Davids Medienkritik: It is on the emergence of new media. I was interviewed about blogs last year. It is a good watch.

Just wondering Spiegel and Stern – is it Vietnam yet? More evidence of demoralized American soldiers?

“No fewer than 70 Taliban died outside COP Margah on Nov. 8. At least, that’s the estimate the soldiers came up with after picking up body parts the following day — standard procedure following a major attack.”

Guessing we won’t see very much about this in the German media…since it doesn’t fit the long-standing narrative of defeat and humiliation for the United States.

An interesting lead article on SPIEGEL ONLINE’s homepage today:

Headline above: “US Drone War in Afghanistan: Photos Show the Real Victims of the Silent Killers”

“Remotely controlled drones are seen as the wonder weapon in the anti-terror fight. For years, Washington has used the high-tech weapons in west Pakistan, but the suffering of the civilians is mostly hidden. Now a photographer’s pictures show the entire extent of the horror. By Hasnain Kasim, Islamabad.”

As it reads – the headline seems to imply the following: The real victims (and therefore the real targets) of drone strikes are innocent civilians, not the violent jihadists hell-bent on murdering anyone who does not share their worldview.

If there is any doubt amongst our German journalist friends about the kind of people the US is targeting – watch them brutally murdering sixteen Pakistani policemen here. The good, morally-superior journalists at SPIEGEL ONLINE who go to bed peacefully each night protected by American troops should have no doubt that they and their loved ones would end the same way should those the US is really targeting have the chance to effect their agenda.

This latest lead article displays the same sort of muddled logic that allowed SPIEGEL ONLINE and other like-minded media to imply earlier that the inmates at Guantanamo (for the most part) were just innocent Afghani vegetable gardeners or foreign honor students (not determined Islamic Fascists out to create a global caliphate) who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In addition – this story is essentially taking the Pakistani photographer’s word for it that his photos are all actual depictions of civilian casualties. That’s not to say that there have not been civilian casualties – but how many civilians have been victimized because militants chose to use them as human shields or their villages as bases of operations? Do they not at least share in the responsibility for the consequences?

And what about the victims of the Islamic militants? Perhaps SPIEGEL ONLINE would be so balanced as to run a front page post on photos of those victims. Perhaps that would be a bit too messy and not properly directed at the world’s true enemy – the United States…

Oh by the way…is it Vietnam yet?

You can’t argue with the numbers.  Getting rid of Bush solved everything. 

Bring on Marc Pitzke and Peter Scholl-Latour and tell me how the US is doomed to fail now.  

Uhhh.oohhh…will they still protect him or go for the jugular – watch out Mr. President…

Question #2 for the German media “experts”: Are the current freedom movements in the Middle East more proof that Bush ruined everything through his actions? By the way: Is Iraq still a Vietnam? Haven’t seen that headline in a while. Wonder why…