The theatre of reportage...

One of the most damning bits of disinformation has been the medias handling of events in the middle east ... don't get me wrong, I think that both sides of this war are wrong, with innocents stuck in the middle and paying the price. Thats as far as I'm going on the subject of this war and its reality ... What is a concern is how reporters have allowed themselves to be pawns in a propaganda war and not only obviously, but also in such a callous and underhanded way that the dead bodies of children are being handled with utter disrespect and also to elicit an emotional response that is tainted by the cold blooded calculation with which the events have been managed. From staged photo-ops to extremely badly retouched photography the perversion of the truth is causing a firestorm of consensus from many online bloggers.

I think that reportage should be just that ... any retouching should be kept to a minimum, clean up of dust and removal of corporate logos only. If more is done then a logo should be added which clearly states that the image concerned has been photomanipulated (even better would be to disqualify such imagery from usage in the news media). The press should also endeavour to indicate where the shot has been managed through media handlers, who limit the press representatives access through corralling or by staging a scene, though in reality this is nearly impossible an expectation.

Reportage should be about truth and not about theatre ... if you want theatre watch entertainment ... with the news I want truth. What happens in all cases like this, is a disrespect of the worse kind ... in this case it appears that it is an abuse of the dead, someones children!!!

If your interest has been piqued then visit the Times Online for an intro to a story which upset me almost as much as the war itself.