Two stories this week which demonstrate agenda-making politics as one cause gets trumpeted and another is downplayed.
Negative stories dealing with Zimbabwe have been getting lots of airtime recently. Both ITV and Sky devoted the week to special reports from inside the country, focusing mainly on individuals' stories of day to day hardship and tales of torture and coercion. Shaky hidden cameras have shown us bare shelves inside supermarkets and the nervous testament of those unfortunate enough to have run foul of President Robert Mugabe's Green Bombers (his Zanu PF youth militia trained in intelligence, martial arts and 'Zimbabwean customs'). The rate of inflation is now cited as among the worst in the world, currently running close to 4000%. These days in Zimbabwe, we are told, money is not worth the paper it is printed upon.
The treatment meted out to Mugabe's leading political opponents has also been the focus of reports. Only recently, pictures of the MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai appearing beaten and battered garnered attention. Another outspoken critic of John Howard’s "grubby dictator", former Archbishop of Zimbabwe Pius Ncube, suffered a similarly public bashing it emerged this week. Pictures of a man alleged to be the Archbishop having sex with a married parishioner were taken by secret camera and aired on Zimbabwean television for several nights in a row. The planting of the camera was widely seen as a sting operation against one of Mugabe's most respected critics and resulted in the resignation of the archbishop before the Pope.
Less conspicuous in the media's glare this week was the shadowy military incursion made by Israel into Syria. According to the BBC website, and somewhat alarmingly, "Israel and Syria technically remain at war." The news that strikes had taken place was mentioned only quietly on a number of news channels and inside pages. It was confirmed by American sources that near the beginning of the month Israeli jets had entered Syrian airspace and hit military installations. BBC Newsnight discussed the both the Israeli news blackout and rumours that the material attacked, possibly nuclear in nature, was anything from North Korean to Iranian in provenance. Israeli opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly congratulated Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the raid, saying "When a prime minister does something that is important in my view and necessary to Israel's security... I give my backing."
It seems curious that this story did not garner more widespread interest, given the current situation in the Middle East. This week French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner spoke out about the growing threat of regional instability in the shape of Iran, saying "We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war." Seemingly in response to fighting talk from the West and the threat of US backed sanctions, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded: "Those [countries] who assume that decaying methods such as psychological war, political propaganda and the so-called economic sanctions would work and prevent Iran's fast drive toward progress are mistaken."
It is a truth well known that Israel is habitually treated with great indulgence by Western politicians and, by extension, its media. George Galloway aside, few public figures would dare to examine, let alone criticize what in other circumstances would be considered highly controversial and belligerent intervention. History and interests will continue to rule the day when swords get drawn in the Middle East and the media will fall in line, shouting when needed or being quiet as in this case.
Zimbabwe, on the other hand, represents a soft target and risk-free subject; carte blanche for an emotional, moralistic approach from editors and reporters. Mugabe’s tyranny may indeed merit press attention and worthy calls for action, but in the final analysis, the media must be seen to handle every story with equal courage. If not, political motivations and agenda-based reporting will continue to be perceived.
