This film was designed to show how the U.S. mainstream media is not objectively reporting and is being dominated by pro- Israeli filters. The filters are put in place in a complex series that prevent any real world events from being objectively reported on within the U.S. These Filters look like this:
Real World Events
These real world events go through the following filters
Business interests of corporate owners of mass media:
The business owners have interests that extend outside of the US to the Middle East
Political elites:
Have power to access and influence mainstream media. They have the same economic interests as the corporate executives.
Israel’s government PR campaign:
- Employs Americas largest PR firms
- 9 Israeli consulates help implement this campaign
- Private American Christian and Jewish Organizations organize grassroots opposition to any coverage in opposition to Israel
Watchdog Groups:
Pressure journalists and media outlets (CAMERA)
I found this structure to be one of the more interesting things about this film. I made me question to what extent these filters really affect the objectivity of U.S. reporting. I feel that the video did a very nice job highlighting many of the filters surrounding Israel’s PR campaign and the pressure of some organizations on journalists to present a pro Israeli side, but I did not think there was the same hard proof about the business interests of the cooperate owners. That being said, some of the numbers that were flashed on the screen during the movie were quite staggering (like only 4% of the media coverage has mentioned occupation).
I wonder to what extent media sources, like this film, affect the views of American people. When a lot of Israeli support is coming from religious organizations within the U.S., how would films such as this really change anybody’s viewpoint? I may just be pessimistic, but I feel like many people who are in the U.S. and not connected with the situation on a daily basis would be able to stick to their extreme and biased viewpoints. I think that people who believe strongly in one side over the other, especially within a religious organization, would simply write off a video like this one as pro Palestine propaganda.
Posts
I don't know if films like these really effect the view of the American people on a grand scale, because films like these are not mainstream. They do not reach those who would be most educated to watch them. I agree that many would write it off as Palestinian propaganda, but I would go further to say they would never watch it or hear of it at all. I completely agree with you (and I consider myself optimistic) that people in the U.S. are not really connected enough to have such extreme viewpoints. But these people who have such immovable opinions also know that no body knows much about the situation, only that there is a lot of violence. It is easy to take advantage of such an ignorant public. They dont' know what to think because all they know is that there are lots of bombs and people dying, which is obviously bad. So when they are told whose fault it is, they believe without questioning, because it's easier to accept it that way. This is how the "other" is created and why the middle east is the "land of the terrorists."
ReplyDeleteI must say that I did not have enough time to put aside to watch the film now, but I will definitely watch it over Spring Break.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, I just wanted to comment of tressav's comment that films like these cannot really affect the view of the American people on the grand scale, for they are not mainstream enough. Well, if it is aired on a big TV station it could get a lot of attention.
A few years ago, in Bosnia & Herzegovina (where I am from) a film was aired about the civil war in the former Yugoslavia and Bosnia. It had an extremely pro-Serb view with a lot of prominent politicians and people involved in the conflict confirming that it was not the Serb's fault and that everyone was equally guilty - a stance that was not represented during the war.
Anyway, it made huge press and it lead to a huge petition for the Serbs to declare independence from Bosnia and politicians started talking about it, etc. Ultimately, nothing happened, but the point is that films like this actually can lead to some change, at least in people's mindsets.
I don't know really about Americans, but I know it worked home, at least on some people.
Unfourtanately, I agree with tressav these don't really seem to be making much of an impact (especially if you look at the Gallup pole). How can we bring this subject to the concsious of the american public?
ReplyDelete