Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Beirut destroyed? Depends on who you ask

We've been all-Israel, all-the-time here lately, which was never my intention. However, the coverage of Israeli operations in Lebanon has been driving me crazy for the past week, and I just can't help myself.

Today's lesson in media objectivity: MSNBC and Newsweek have an article entitled "Torn to Shreds" and an accompanying photo essay they call "Hell on Earth". Very dramatic. Lots of pictures of death, blood, and destruction, esp in Beirut and southern Lebanon. Looking at these pictures, you'd think the entire country has been blown into the Stone Age.

On NPR a bit ago, I heard the Lebanese are claiming Israel's campaign has set the country back 50 years, and that the damage from the past week and a half may be more severe than all the damage done in Lebanon's 15-year civil war.

Please contrast all that doom and gloom w/ this article from Vital Perspective, which relays CNN hotshot Anderson Cooper's perspective on his Hezbollah-guided tour of Beirut and southern Lebanon, and includes a map illustrating precisely what Israel has hit in Beirut.

Let's all sing the song from Sesame Street together now: One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong.

UPDATE: A bit more info from Vital Perspective on what's really getting blown up in Beirut and environs. Again, this is not what you're seeing on the network newscasts.

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