Battle Of Images

As we know, perhaps more than ever before, good PR is vitally important in conflicts.  One can very well win a war on a battlefield but “lose it” in our august media.  Particularly here on the Web.

Apparently destined to be the last democracy willing to risk the wrath of the “international community” by brazenly confronting a (penned in, jammed in, with nowhere to hide) “helpless neighbor” over the small matter of years of serving as a missile bullseye, Israeli officialdom has recently been remarking that it well-understands that new PR reality.

However for every action, naturally, there’s a reaction.  So, as a consequence, what we are increasingly witnessing are moments when media evidently refuses to play ball.  Meaning there are those times when the lines are on the graph touch, when we get to see when the officialdom trying to be heard over the din of media collides momentarily with a media which aims to make sure no one but media is heard.

For instance, a CNN “world respected” journalist, doubtless in NO way influenced owing to from where an increasing amount of CNN “world” advertising monies come, who cannot help but usefully point out to viewers that Israeli officials, you see . . . “bristle“:

Bristling Israeli official, Tzipi Livni

First, that CNN “star” Christiane Amanpour tells us what Israel “says,” and then drops in what that foreign minister had said about the matter of possibly “kidnapped” Israeli soldiers.  Ms Amanpour then very briefly shares her pre-interpretation of the clip to come, particularly emphasizing what “many are calling” Israel’s “disproportionate reaction.”  (Yes, it’s back.)

Yours truly got set to hear the Israeli view.  Foreign Minister Livni is then allowed on screen in that LiveLeak posted part of that CNN piece, from all of 1:18 to 1:40.  22 seconds.  In that time, she is graciously granted time to utter (depending on how one punctuates) about five full sentences.

In comparison, Ms Amanpour is involved for the duration, either on screen, as a voice over, or responding to the keenly insightful CNN studio anchor.  After the clip, in full flow the “star” presumes to sum up what Ms Livni had just stated (which we had all heard, too, assuming we hadn’t been distracted for a moment, that is) and then some.  She then goes on further to observe what “they” — Israeli officialdom — are “saying” about how the conflict is going operationally (in terms of how CNN chooses to present such), and how various statesmen (interestingly, post-Christmas) are now rolling into the region.  A Russian.  Mr Sarkozy.

Even Mr Blair.  Incidentally, where’s the Middle East peace envoy been?  Low key behind the scenes working hard for a cease-fire, or unwilling to interrupt his Christmas holiday.  Again, depending, of course, also on your media point of view.

Above all, Ms Amanpour indicts the “humanitarian disaster situation,” which is growing hourly.  The CNN “star” relates how she had also asked Ms Livni about that.  Ms Amanpour then proceeds to inform us Ms Livni had “said” there is no “humanitarian situation.”  However, the CNN “star” then choses to dispute her own on screen assertion of what Ms Livni had said to herself (are you still with me?), noting that there is certainly a “humanitarian situation” and that Gaza has been “strangled.”

By whom?  You know: Israelis who have nothing better to do than “strangle” Gaza for no reasons anyone can possibly comprehend.

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One wonders, given that and all the rest that CNN had had to squeeze in, why bother at all with allowing Ms Livni to take up all those vital 22 seconds of air time to “bristle”?  CNN curiously doesn’t posit on how such “bristling” likely takes place because those officials know they face war not just with an enemy, but also “on the media front” with the likes of a CNN.  And, even more exasperating, they can’t shoot at CNN.  ["I'd like to share a reaction with our global viewers on CNN from Secretary Stimson as to why American bombers are disproportionately pounding Tokyo and other cities, creating a humanitarian disaster which anyone can see on the ground, with Japanese children unable to find even an egg.  Bristling, he told me a short while ago that those persons of Japanese ancestry, although he used a shorter description, damn well just deserve it."]

Knowing what they are up against on global TV, as Bloomberg reports:

…Israeli officials say they are well aware of the limits of message control.

“‘While I speak, in the background they put images of destruction, of bleeding children,” said [Ofir] Gendelman, the Arabic-language spokesman. “Television is a visual medium, and when you are talking with images in the background, the audience watches the image and doesn’t listen to you.”

Which on those Arab-channels seems to mark something of a difference from CNN.  So we have located one after all?  On CNN, while Israeli jets are shown hammering away, creating a “humanitarian disaster,” as we can see the Israeli official barely gets facetime.

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One also senses a multi-tiered, “informational” divergence taking place, which might be summed up in “dramatic” terms in this way:

• “…Absolutely.  Carry a message to the generous Qaddafi that we will fight them from now until eternity.  The pigs, the murderers, the assassins will bleed.  The women will wail and cry.  Their children will suffer all of the sadness and beg us and we will show none any mercy.  We will kill all of them and all of their eternity!  We just need more rockets!  We will…”
• “Sir, the BBC is on the phone!”
• “Excuse me.  [Ahem.]  Yes, heello.  Thank you for graciously having me on your world respected “Today” radio programme.  We can’t contain our tears.  It is worse than a disaster.  Our hospitals have no supplies, and the wounded and dying crowd the halls.  There is no electricity.  No light.  The children have no milk.  They are targeting international institutions.  How can we go on?  The pain, the suffering, the agony!  Won’t your prime minister do something?!  Can’t you plead with the imperialist Americans to tell the Zionists to have mercy.  Surely, the great new President Obama can…”
• “Sir, sorry to interrupt, but Olmert is on the other line!  He wants an end to the rocket attacks liberation struggle, recognition of Israel Zionist acceptance, and peace talks surrender!
• “A minute, please, Mr Bowen.  How did he get this number?!  Look, tell those dogs and children of apes that not as long as an ounce of blood trickles through even one of our collapsing veins!  We will fight them until forever and a day! Our progeny will fight and kill them when they least expect it!  The Zionists will get no rest!  We will take over their dreams!  We will…”

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Israel Defense Forces web site, January 5:

On Monday (Jan. 5), the Kerem Shalom Crossing was opened for the transfer of humanitarian aid for the first time since the beginning of the ground operations in the Gaza Strip. 40 trucks with 1119 tons of supplies entered the Gaza Strip. The supplies included basic foods, such as flour, in addition to medication and other donations from the World Food Program (WFP), UNRWA, the Red Cross, and the governments of Egypt and Jordan. In addition to the donations from the Red Cross, a team of doctors and nurses came from Geneva, Switzerland in order to help with the treatment of injured Palestinians…

As useful as the Web is, its reach can be over-estimated.  Few are going to read, much less see, that above.  They will instead not be able to avoid here in Britain, for example, ITN telling them:

…Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak says offensive (sic) will continue until communities in Israel are safe from Hamas rocket strikes despite international pressure to secure a ceasefire…

Did Mr Barak really say that?  There’s no quote, so we never find out.  But given that the fighting goes on, that must be clear evidence that he and the rest of the cabal are just cruel, cold thugs, wantonly determined to ignore “international pressure.”  That’s what ITN “says” anyway.

Then, compounding the “informational accomplishment,” having printed that, ITN at some point in the last hour “updated” the page and simply removed it, as if it never were there.

And speaking of images, has anyone else noticed — at the top, in the revolving photos on the IDF web site homepage — how terribly vicious, bloodthirsty and, particularly, non-photogenic Israeli soldiers are?:

It is worth a try to show that Israeli soldiers are not 12 ft tall ogres determined to stamp on Arab babies housed in Hamas-built hospital neonatal wards.  But it won’t help much.  For a bigger worrying TV “presentational” dynamic appears to be hardening into the norm.

ITN positions how we should perceive this overall situation, and tells us what is “said,” without telling us what indeed was said.  Moreover, the likes of Ms Amanpour now not only presume to be the legitimate askers of the questions, but she deigns so far even to answer and interpret them also, which means we are seeing the emerging newest media curve: the TV “journalist” who essentially interviews herself, while citing you about what she says you said and say you are doing and thinking, and then, whenever she chooses, she analyzes and/or contradicts you.

Good luck trying to get in a rejoinder in “that exchange,” when you are on screen, recorded, for all of 22 seconds.

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UPDATE: What about the little children of Kilinochchi? Skye on another war . . . that somehow no one’s protesting. Probably because no Jews are involved.