[Media-watch] REPORTING THE CAPTURE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN

[David Miller]

Against All Reason
Propaganda, Politics, Power
ISSN 1741-0754

Volume 2: 25-30
19 January 2004
Original Article

REPORTING THE CAPTURE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN: 'LET THERE BE LIGHT' IN IRAQ
By Dibyesh Anand
Department of Economics and International Development
University of Bath
Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

The headlines screamed along with a haunting picture of a bearded Saddam
Hussein: "Saddam the prisoner" (The Guardian), "Saddam captured" (The
Times),
"The tyrant is now a prisoner" (The Independent), "The tyrant is a prisoner"
(Financial Times).

The event of the capture of Saddam Hussein, or rather the US approved
mediatised representation of the capture, just like the events of September
11
or the 'shock-and-awe' bombing of Baghdad, was a spectacle for consumption
of
audiences throughout the world. How did the guardians of the free press
(particularly newspapers, who do not have to respond to pressures of
just-in-time news unlike the television news channels) react to and report
this
event on the morning after in the UK? A rhetorical analysis of most major
newspapers published in England (broadsheet as well as tabloids, published
on
Monday 15 December) in terms of their reporting, leading articles and
editorial
comments on the 'news' of the arrest of Saddam Hussein questions the extent
to
which papers merely report an event. This essay is therefore an analytical
exercise in examining the construction of news through representations. It
challenges the glorification of the freedom of press in liberal democracy,
which is based on an objectivist notion of news reporting: journalists
merely
report on events existing 'out there' as objectively as possible.

The dominant, self-congratulatory, liberal narrative goes something like
this:

Unlike liberal democracies, dictatorial regimes do not allow freedom of
press.
An important ingredient in the survival tactics of such regimes is the
misuse
of news as propaganda. Remember Hitler and Goering's propaganda machine?
Remember Saddam's Iraq, which is, now relegated to the dustbins of history,
thanks to 'our' brave leaders and soldiers? Let us all now come together for
truth and reconciliation and build a free, prosperous, democratic Iraq. The
'hand of history' affords us the opportunity to save poor Iraqi people. We
can,
we should, we must, let them see the Light.

But what provides 'us' with the moral certainty to bomb, invade, occupy and
attempt to rebuild Iraq? What allows us to be liberators? What makes us act
like white knights in the shining armour? The answer is a certainty in our
moral (and of course military) superiority, our courage to take on Evil, our
ability to know what is Evil, and most importantly, our capacity to fight
for
the good (and maybe even god). Those who criticise us of being imperialist
forget that this is 21st century and we are fighting for democracy, fighting
for the good of the Other. We are liberal Western democracies with free
press
which makes our system accountable. Let us share the fruits of our
civilisation
with the hitherto oppressed. Let more news reporters report the news. We
should
count our lucky stars for living in a democracy where we have free press. At
least no one is hanging us for speaking out.

Full text
http://human-nature.com/reason/02/saddam.html