Snow and Sky: "This is going to be a killer story!"

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May 15, 2005

"This is going to be a killer story!"

Now, I'm not suggesting that this phrase was ever uttered in the boardrooms of Newsweek magazine. But I find it interesting, how sometimes our news media wields unexpected power.

Most Westerners have no real conception as to why Muslims venerate their holy book so much. Christianity doesn't explicitly teach respect for the physical copy of the scriptures, and our society is such that if a similar report alleged desecration of the Bible, most people would simply cluck their tongues and move on.

I could rattle on about how our sensationalist media stops at nothing to get a story out there, how there are no longer standards of editorial decency, yadda yadda yadda but I honestly don't think that's the problem in this case. I think simply that here the editors saw it as a standard case of exposing government mishandling, completely appropriate to print in such a rag as Newsweek, and that nobody foresaw the death and destruction that would result.

My heart goes out to the reporter here. Aside from being frustrated, since he is probably taking most of the heat for this, he has to think that had he not published this story, at least twelve people would still be alive today. It's hard to imagine he saw the publication of this story as having the life or death consequences it had.

If you can withstand the irony of the situation, you can read Newsweek's own take on the situation here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7857407/site/newsweek/

Posted by kgutwin at May 15, 2005 03:46 PM

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Comments

I think the true irony of the situation was Rumsfeld saying last night it was "tragic people lost their lives" over a "mistake", this coming from a man who recommended invading a country based on a mistake.
Many in the Muslim world venerate the physical representation of the Koran, and that’s OK – but the violence as a result of their rage is not. The folks at Newsweek are journalists, not ambassadors. No matter what the facts are surrounding the interrogation, Newsweek did what it should do in a poly-cultural, balanced society. It’s the individuals who, acting on their own interpretation of something written, caused others to die who are actually responsible. Odd that no one bothered to dig into the roots of that. It’s so much easier to just say “Newsweek wrote something and people died”. It’s like blaming Newsweek for the violence in Iraq because they write about it…

Posted by: Paul Gutwin at May 17, 2005 06:01 AM

Like Christians, I think Muslims don't revere the physical book per se as much as the story it contains and the meaning it holds for them.

In this case, the violence came not in reaction to what the reporter did, but to the story he legitimately reported, and not to the desecration of a book itself but to the spirit behind the gesture, the gross insult and indignity it expressed. They were reacting to something much greater than anything this one reporter could have done, and it's this broader condition that needs to be examined and addressed.

The press is a powerful institution in our society because of the important role it plays as a counterweight to the public and private sectors. But to function properly it needs to be truly free and independent, and not bullied or intimidated or manipulated by more powerful forces. It's hard to tell in this case exactly what's going on.

Karl, I don't mean to imply that your views are at odds with these - I don't think they are - just to share some observations that came to mind from your post.

Posted by: Beth at May 18, 2005 09:27 AM

I find it stupid and sad when what is read and heard in the media is taken as truth, while reality is somewhere else. Talk to Becca, or myself or anyone who has had a story written up in the paper or put on TV and you will hear how frequently the reporters get things wrong and choose to include the sensational and elimintate other facts, drastically skewing the story. The media does wield unexpected power and they should be more careful.

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