Propaganda 4 Corner Reflection

The term propaganda always refers to a negative message.

The documentary Control Room is a film about Al Jazeera and their relations with the U.S. Central Command  as well as other news organizations that covered the Iraq war in 2003. Throughout the documentary, Rushing elaborates on Al Jazeera's bias perspective of the Iraq war, and comments on how no unsettling images of Iraqi military disasters and atrocities are often presented. While Al Jazeera's main goal is to show the costs of any war, certain developing news stories such as the situation in Iraq may promote bias in journalism. Considered to be one of the most controversial news channels in the Arab world, censorship in the media raised a considerable amount of questions. In response to negative attacks against the news channel's choice of graphic footage, they responded by saying that they owe it to their audience, and it was up to them to tell the truth and face that facts.

Al Jazeera who was constantly being accused of producing "American propaganda" against the proud nation, were simply displaying both sides of the story and presenting an unbiased view. At the time, President George Bush shared his thoughts and ideas on Al Jazeera's actions by bringing their "constant pattern of playing propaganda over and over again" to light. In this case, the term "propaganda" seems to be referred to as a negative message. There is a thin line drawn between propaganda and ideas of fact VS perfection when addressing possible signs of media bias in a news story. As a journalist, it is their responsibility to deliver the information to the public in a factual manner and distancing themselves from personal bias.

Overall, I disagree with the prompt to a certain extent.Yes, certain news stories will naturally trigger emotional reactions, but the information presented will aid those in need of facts, henceforth diverting from this idea of the use of propaganda as a defense mechanism. In addition to this, I think it is important to address the term "objectivity" as it is almost portrayed as a mirage and great illusion. By this I mean that if there was true neutrality in media and journalism, information would be welcomed from both sides of the story with open arms.