‘Debating’ War, Corporate Media Style
Discussions of what the Obama White House should do in Iraq and Syria are dominated by hawks, military officials and former national security insiders.
The Iraq Surge ‘Worked’ All Over Again
Treating “the US troop surge worked” argument as a fact, as Engel is doing, is very dangerous–since it logically suggests that it is only the presence of US troops that can keep Iraq safe.
The Good Kind of Protesters—and the Bad Kind
The complex anti-government protest movements in both Venezuela and Ukraine were boiled down by US corporate media to send a clear message to their domestic audience: These are the good guys.
Forgetting Fallujah
More than a decade later, US media still see Fallujah primarily as a place where US forces suffered–and died–perhaps “in vain.” Then and now, the hundreds of Iraqis who died in Fallujah hardly register at all.
Richard Engel and U.S. Aid to Egypt
Since Engel’s point was that things must stay as they are, it’s not likely that the NBC reporter’s words will cause much controversy–certainly things would be different if he’d have given an equally impassioned rationale for cutting off aid to Egypt’s military government.
North Korea’s Attack Plan: Apocalypse Never Mind
It didn’t take long for TV coverage of North Korea to enter the “Retired General Sketches Out War Games on a Big Map” phase. But a recent example of the genre on CNN demonstrated only the alarmism seems to be the order of the day.
North Korea ‘Rattles Sabres’; Meanwhile, U.S. Pretends to Drop Nuclear Bombs on Them
To hear U.S. corporate media tell it, there are “exercises” right next door, conducted by the world’s most powerful military, which possesses thousands of nuclear weapons–and then there’s menacing “saber-rattling.”
When ‘Confirmed’ Means ‘An Official Told Me So’
NBC’s Richard Engel report that “what we’ve been able to confirm” is that a Syrian convoy attacked by Israel “was packed with fairly sophisticated Russian anti-aircraft missiles.” It is highly doubtful that Engel could “confirm” any such thing–unless by “confirm” he means that NBC is confirming that government sources are claiming what they are claiming.
Precise Weapons Kill Civilians Too
As a general rule, it’d be better if media accounts of war did not stress the surgical precision of the weapons being used. It’s a fixture of U.S. reporting on U.S. wars, but the same rhetoric is used when U.S. allies are dropping bombs. According to Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen (11/19/12): Israel has gone […]
Obama’s Imaginary Embrace of the Arab Spring
Surveying international reaction to Barack Obama’s re-election, NBC Nightly News correspondent Richard Engel declared (11/7/12): In the Middle East, there is hope that President Obama will embrace the Israeli/Palestinian peace process in second term the way he embraced the Arab Spring in his first. This would be a surprising reaction to find among people in […]
Iraq, Finally Learning to Ride Its Bike
Richard Engel on NBC Nightly News (10/21/11), speaking about the end of the Iraq War: The training wheels off, Iraq will have to succeed or fail without American troops on the ground to guide the way. That’s quite a metaphor—invading and occupying a country for eight years as “training wheels.” Engel’s report includes this reference […]
Richard Engel, Tear Gas and the ‘Egyptian Perspective’
NBC Nightly News reporter Richard Engel held up a tear gas canister on the air to show that it was stamped “Made in the USA.” But something else he said on the January 28, 2011 newscast struck me: But what’s scattered on the streets of Cairo right now are these little canisters. These were the […]
Is Engel Too Opinionated—or Does He Have the Wrong Opinion?
Disapproval and despair over the lost standards of journalistic objectivity are trotted out only for reporters whose opinions are at odds with official views.
Pentagon Pundits Still Thriving at MSNBC
During coverage of the Obama administration’s 100-day mark, MSNBC had war reporter Richard Engel and anchor Tamron Hall interview MSNBC analyst Barry McCaffrey, who CJR.org‘s Clint Hendler (4/29/09) calls “the retired army general whose many conflicts of interest have been analyzed by David Barstow’s now-Pulitzer Prize winning reporting for the New York Times.” When asked […]
