Living in glass houses

For decades, Arab media, especially Al Jazeera, the 8-year-old Qatar-based television channel, has been fair game for Americans.

Hardly a week passes without this favourite whipping boy being dealt some blow below the belt. But as things would have it, the American media in turn, and particularly in the last month, has had its share of sad and shameful moments. But with the commendable difference that they have been highly publicised. Yet, there is more that needs to be unravelled, especially when the issue touches upon the Arab-Israeli conflict or the fluid situation in Iraq.

Columnist Charles Krauthammer, an unflinching supporter of Israel, has been reported by the liberal watchdog group, Media Matters for America, for praising President George W. Bush's inaugural address of January 20 on television, without disclosing his role in consulting on the speech.

He told Fox News, a conservative network, "[The address] was a revolutionary speech ... To speak, essentially about the abolition of tyranny, which has been a constant in human history for thousands of years, can only be spoken of as radical."

But Alan Shearer, editorial general manager of the Washington Post Writers Group, which syndicates Krauthammer's column to over 140 newspapers, also revealed the columnist had been invited to the White House "for informal, off-the-record discussions on American Middle East policy ... because he is one of the most knowledgeable people on the region".

He said the consultation focused on the United States' "standing in the region and what needs to be done to help the peace process". The actual invitation to the White House, from Peter Wehner, director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives, spelled the administration's concern: "What should this administration do/say more of and what should it do/say less of? What are the key, achievable goals we should aim for during the next four years?"

In a follow-up note, the Washington Post reported, Wehner asked Krauthammer to "lead off the discussion on 'spreading liberty to the Middle East' ".

Diehard supporter

Another participant in the consultation was William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard and a diehard supporter of Israel, who also chose not to disclose that information when he, too, praised the address. Both actions were criticised by the director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The other flap concerned Eason Jordan, head of CNN's news division, for reportedly telling a panel at a World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that American military in Iraq had targeted journalists.

So far 63 journalists have been killed there. (Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said "at least nine died as a result of American fire".)

Jordan's remark, which has so far not been officially disclosed by the Forum, played well among some in the audience according to one news report. The Wall Street Journal's Bret Stephens, who covered the panel for his paper, was quoted in the New York Sun as saying that "European and Middle Eastern attendees warmly congratulated him for his alleged 'bravery and candour' in disclosing the matter". In the end, his remarks turned into "a rallying cry for conservatives who have long harboured an animus against CNN for an alleged anti-American bias".

He ultimately resigned from his post after 20 years at CNN, which has lost three journalists in Iraq under his watch. In other recent media scandals, three columnists, Maggie Gallagher, Mike McManus and Armstrong Williams have now disclosed that they were being paid by the Bush administration so as to support some domestic programmes. They too failed to disclose, as expected, their relationships to their readers. More importantly, federal law bans the use of public money on propaganda.

This is shockingly reminiscent of what happens in many developing nations. So when American pundits or officials criticise publishers and editors elsewhere, they ought to remember that people who live in glass houses do not throw stones.

It is time journalists in America supported calls for US firms operating overseas to begin advertising in the local media, to strengthen the backbone of these media outlets. Obviously, a thriving media can be instrumental in democratic discourse. It can thus help in diminishing the deplorable alternative of eliminating opponents by force.

Just to cite a few seismic events, we have witnessed it recently in the case of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut and John F. Kennedy, more than four decades ago, in Dallas.

George Hishmeh, a Washington-based columnist, can be contacted at ghishmeh@gulfnews.com