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WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception
Muzzling Debate
Media gets the blame for march to war with Iraq in 'WMD'
By MARK SOMMER
News Staff Reviewer
2/4/2005
WMD: WEAPONS OF MASS DECEPTION
STARRING:
Danny Schechter, featuring Peter Arnett, Bill O'Reilly, Christiane Amanpour
DIRECTOR:
Danny Schechter
RUNNING TIME:
98 minutes
RATING:
PG-13 for images of bombing victims
THE LOWDOWN:
A documentary on how the Bush administration marketed the Iran war under false pretenses, and an uncritical TV news industry sold it.
"WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception" is a powerful expose that shows how TV news helped the Bush administration, and the Pentagon, manufacture consent for the Iraq war.
Like Michael Moore, Danny Schechter, "the News Dissector," is the unvarnished narrator and presence in this low-budget film that ranks among the best of 2004's outstanding crop of political documentaries.
"The system is dominated by a handful of media companies," Schechter says into the camera. "What they represent today is a message of news biz and show biz, what they represent is a consumer culture. To them, the war was a product. They sold it, and we bought it."
In other words, it was a marriage of Hummer and (CNN anchor/pretty boy Bill) Hemmer.
Schechter is a veteran of both alternative and mainstream media, including an Emmy award-winning stint at ABC's "20/20." He's also a media critic who edits Globalvision's Mediachannel.org. "I joined the media to spotlight the problems of the world, and came to see the media as one of those problems," Schechter says.
In "WMD," he brings his knowledge and sharp wit to bear, interviewing fellow journalists and executives and media watchers when he's not "self-embedded" in front of his TV.
The Pentagon's manipulation of war coverage is examined through how it used embedded reporters to largely tell the story it wanted to get out, turning the Fourth Estate into - in the words of Gen. Tommy Franks - "the Fourth Front."
Schechter contrasts the sanitized view of the war seen by Americans with graphic depictions shown overseas, especially on Arab TV. Unlike Americans, foreigners learn about such controversial weapons in the U.S. arsenal as depleted uranium and napalm-like Mark 77 fire bombs.
The film also examines the pressure felt in TV newsrooms to appear super-patriotic and avoid tough questions of the administration.
"I think the process was muzzled, and I think the press was self-muzzled," offers CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "I'm sorry to say that television, and perhaps my station, was intimidated by the administration and its foot soldiers at Fox News. It put a climate of fear and self-censorship in terms of the kind of broadcast work we did."
Debate and dissent were early casualties of the TV war, Schechter says, despite millions who protested against the war before it even started.
"Mainstream media sort of ghettoizes this kind of coverage and doesn't allow it to enter into the main discourse," he said.
The film also explores allegations U.S. troops intentionally shelled non-embedded journalists on two occasions, resulting in the deaths of Arab reporters.
"WMD" will be an important historical record of a media failure that helped lead the country to war. But it's also a call to action.
Schechter wants people to reclaim the public airwaves by demanding media reform.
"I've had my say," Schechter concludes. "It's your turn."•
e-mail: msommer@buffnews.com
The Buffalo News
Media gets the blame for march to war with Iraq in 'WMD'
By MARK SOMMER
News Staff Reviewer
2/4/2005
WMD: WEAPONS OF MASS DECEPTION
STARRING:
Danny Schechter, featuring Peter Arnett, Bill O'Reilly, Christiane Amanpour
DIRECTOR:
Danny Schechter
RUNNING TIME:
98 minutes
RATING:
PG-13 for images of bombing victims
THE LOWDOWN:
A documentary on how the Bush administration marketed the Iran war under false pretenses, and an uncritical TV news industry sold it.
"WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception" is a powerful expose that shows how TV news helped the Bush administration, and the Pentagon, manufacture consent for the Iraq war.
Like Michael Moore, Danny Schechter, "the News Dissector," is the unvarnished narrator and presence in this low-budget film that ranks among the best of 2004's outstanding crop of political documentaries.
"The system is dominated by a handful of media companies," Schechter says into the camera. "What they represent today is a message of news biz and show biz, what they represent is a consumer culture. To them, the war was a product. They sold it, and we bought it."
In other words, it was a marriage of Hummer and (CNN anchor/pretty boy Bill) Hemmer.
Schechter is a veteran of both alternative and mainstream media, including an Emmy award-winning stint at ABC's "20/20." He's also a media critic who edits Globalvision's Mediachannel.org. "I joined the media to spotlight the problems of the world, and came to see the media as one of those problems," Schechter says.
In "WMD," he brings his knowledge and sharp wit to bear, interviewing fellow journalists and executives and media watchers when he's not "self-embedded" in front of his TV.
The Pentagon's manipulation of war coverage is examined through how it used embedded reporters to largely tell the story it wanted to get out, turning the Fourth Estate into - in the words of Gen. Tommy Franks - "the Fourth Front."
Schechter contrasts the sanitized view of the war seen by Americans with graphic depictions shown overseas, especially on Arab TV. Unlike Americans, foreigners learn about such controversial weapons in the U.S. arsenal as depleted uranium and napalm-like Mark 77 fire bombs.
The film also examines the pressure felt in TV newsrooms to appear super-patriotic and avoid tough questions of the administration.
"I think the process was muzzled, and I think the press was self-muzzled," offers CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "I'm sorry to say that television, and perhaps my station, was intimidated by the administration and its foot soldiers at Fox News. It put a climate of fear and self-censorship in terms of the kind of broadcast work we did."
Debate and dissent were early casualties of the TV war, Schechter says, despite millions who protested against the war before it even started.
"Mainstream media sort of ghettoizes this kind of coverage and doesn't allow it to enter into the main discourse," he said.
The film also explores allegations U.S. troops intentionally shelled non-embedded journalists on two occasions, resulting in the deaths of Arab reporters.
"WMD" will be an important historical record of a media failure that helped lead the country to war. But it's also a call to action.
Schechter wants people to reclaim the public airwaves by demanding media reform.
"I've had my say," Schechter concludes. "It's your turn."•
e-mail: msommer@buffnews.com
The Buffalo News
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