LOOK FOR THE MEDIA LABELS

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TED RALL by Ted Rall -->

LOOK FOR THE MEDIA LABELS

An Examination of the Propaganda of Nomenclature

NEW YORK--If you read newspapers, listen to the radio or watch television, you

know that the media has assigned Muqtada al-Sadr a peculiar job title: radical

cleric. " Gunmen fired on supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr

on Friday, " reports the Associated Press wire service. National Public Radio

routinely refers to " radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. " " The protesters were

largely supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, " says CNN. Even

Agence France-Press refers to him the same way: " Followers of a radical Shiite

cleric marched in Baghdad. "

I wonder: Does he answer his phone with a chipper " Muqtada al-Sadr, radical

cleric! " ? Does it say " radical cleric " on his business card?

It's a safe bet that neither al-Sadr nor his Iraqi supporters considers him

particularly " radical. " And, if you stop to think about it, there's nothing

inherently extreme about wanting foreign troops to leave your country. Radical

is a highly subjective word that gets thrown around without much reflection.

What's more radical, invading another nation without a good excuse or trying to

stop someone from doing so? But that's the problem: the media has become so

accustomed to absorbing and regurgitating official government propaganda that

they never stop to think.

A Google News search of the terms " Muqtada al-Sadr " and " radical cleric " brought

up 616 news and opinion stories, the latter derived from the former. Despite the

prime minister's obvious status as an American-appointed puppet, " Iyad Allawi "

and " collaborationist " yielded zero results. The message is clear: al-Sadr, and

by extension Iraqis who oppose the U.S. occupation, are marginal wackos. Those

who support it are referred to by questionable legitimatizing honorifics--prime

minister, in Allawi's case--because the U.S. government called a press

conference to announce him as such.

Repetition is key to successful advertising. The American media uses repeated

arbitrary labeling in its supposedly impartial coverage in a deliberate campaign

to alter public perception. Americans were meant to feel less sympathy for an

kidnapped Italian woman shot by U.S. soldiers manning a checkpoint in Iraq after

the talking heads repeatedly referred to her as a " communist journalist. " A Fox

News reporter in the same story would never have been dubbed a " neofascist

journalist. " John McCain (R-AZ) might become president someday but " maverick

senator John McCain " probably won't. Ralph Nader's name rarely appears in print

without the unappealing word " gadfly " or a form of " crusading. " Why not describe

figures in the news using terms that aim for neutrality, like " Italian reporter "

or " former Green Party candidate Ralph Nader " ?

Labeling bias works to marginalize political outsiders while powerful elites

receive their full honorifics. Howard Dean was antiwar firebrand Howard Dean but

George W. Bush was never referred to as pro-war crusader George W. Bush. The

press calls the founder of the Moral Majority " the Reverend Jerry Falwell, " not

" radical cleric Jerry Falwell. " Even the word " cleric " implies foreignness to a

xenophobic public; American religious leaders are the more familiar " ministers "

rather than clerics. Instead of telling readers and viewers what to think with

cheesy labels, why not let public figures' quotes and actions speak for

themselves? Besides, well-known players like al-Sadr and Falwell don't require

an introduction.

Loaded labels are commonly used to influence the public's feelings about groups

of people as well as individuals. Under Ronald Reagan the Afghan mujahedeen, who

received CIA funding and weapons that they used to fight Soviet occupation

forces, were called " freedom fighters. " Iraqis who take up arms against U.S.

occupation troops, on the other hand, are called " insurgents, " a word that

implies rebellion for its own sake. This was the same term used by the New York

Times and other mainstream media to refer to anti-U.S. fighters in Vietnam

during the 1960s. Only later, when the Vietnam War became unpopular, did

American newspapers begin calling the former " insurgents " members of an

infinitely more patriotic-sounding " resistance. "

Editors and producers who value balance ought to establish a consistent

policy--either negative smears or positive accolades for both sides.

Anti-occupation forces should always be called insurgents, guerillas, etc.,

while pro-occupation troops are dubbed collaborators. Either that, or call them

freedom fighters and government loyalists, respectively.

Perhaps the most absurd labeling sin is the media's inconsistent treatment of

nations that decide to change their names. When the Khmer Rouge, who went on to

kill an estimated four and half million people, renamed their country Kampuchea

in 1975, the international media had so little trouble adapting to the new name

for Cambodia that they continued using it well into the 1980s, even after Pol

Pot had fled into the jungle. Notorious tyrant Mubutu Sese Seko easily convinced

the press to start referring to the Congo as Zaire in 1971; his equally despotic

successor got them to switch right back. When the SLORC military junta changed

the former British colony of Burma to Myanmar in 1989, however, journalists

followed the U.S. State Department's refusal to accept the new name. Even

" liberal " outlets like NPR still call it Burma or " Myanmar, formerly Burma. " We

need a consistent rule here, too. Either countries get to call themselves

whatever they want or they should be stuck with their

current names for eternity.

What hits home hits hardest. I too have been victimized by the idiotic practice

of repeat labeling. " Controversial cartoonist Ted Rall " garners no fewer than 58

hits on Google. Care to guess the results for " patriotic cartoonist Ted Rall " ?

COPYRIGHT 2005 TED RALL DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE/TED RALL-->

RALL 4/12/05

 

 

 

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