What You See Doesn’t Always Tell The Whole Story
April 6, 2007
Think that that tells the whole story?
Think again. See It’s Not What They Put In, by Kate, over at Small Dead Animals.
Hint: The media just can’t disguise who they are and what they have become.
April 6, 2007 at 3:51 PM
The story is what’s important; not silly details like facts. voted
April 7, 2007 at 11:23 AM
Can’t speak for the British, but during the Iranian captivity of Americans in the late ’70s, the U.S. also choreographed appearances. When some of the original set of hostages were released not long into the thing, I accompanied a U.S. Senator to the U.S. Air Force base where the former hostages landed in the U.S., to at least dozens of cameras (one of the senator’s constituents was among the returnees). We got to the airfield early enough to get in on the rehearsal of the ground crew’s signalling exactly where the airplane was to stop, where the stairs were to be placed, and then, on the tarmac, each hostage had a mark to hit, just like television actors. The marks were done in tape with large lettering so the hostages could see — but the photo angles for the journalists wouldn’t reveal much.
Look, the sailors were released. Iran got struck with a sudden moment of sanity. The picture is worthwhile, cropped or not (we don’t know what the fellow “coaching” was saying — are we even sure he’s Iranian?).
For contrast, check out Cmdr. Lloyd Bucher’s account of the return to U.S. custody of his crew from the U.S.S. Pueblo in 1968. The North Koreans tried to control the thing to make themselves look good, but everyone saw through the poses. On the U.S. side, the press conferences were unrehearsed — who looked good and who didn’t was dependent on how honorably the parties had acted in the affair.
Do you really think anyone thinks the Iranians look good on this deal? Is there such a statement from anyone other than the Iranian public relations people, and perhaps a few stray Arab-world news outlets? Are there even any Arab-world outlets giving Iran credit?