The Enigma of the Western Media

There is often a perception here in the Western world, one that has significantly increased in recent years, that we have the most freedom of speech and least, if any, censorship of press. And so much is this portrayal of countries such as the USA and the UK as saint like on the international scene, that anyone who disagrees with any decision is instantly shot down, so to speak. And what makes this truly staggering, is the simple fact that it is the media, so often the governments harshest critic, who are perhaps protecting them, without any visible influence from the bureaucracy.

It seems ridiculous to suggest that even after all we have fought for, the multitude of wars in the 20^th century in which so many perished due to political hostility, that there still exists a concealment in our media.

Just why is this?

Take Syria, and more specifically Aleppo, as an example.

We are all aware that the situation there is currently dire and September has seen the highest death toll yet, with more than 3300 people perishing according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It is far from a peaceful conclusion – if there ever is one in a seemingly ongoing war against the brutal regime of Bashar Assad by the many militant groups that reside in the country.

Amongst those militant groups is the much-publicised jihadist organisation IS, who have risen to fame in the past few years as a result of high-profile terrorist attacks on the West (in reality, not just the West, but they are the better exposed incidents). They populate many areas of the Middle East, but it is their influence in Syria which is most alarming.

The common account placed in front of us by many Western media outlets is that, the merciless establishment controlled by Assad, that has fought against the rebels, who the USA and UK initially armed when civil war first broke out in 2011, should be crushed at all costs.

But the reality is, by attempting to arm and support the rebels, who are only a collective body of people fighting the regime, we are effectively harming the one distinct force that are weakening IS. Admittedly, this may have been the correct decision if we were to intervene at all at the start of this ill-fated civil war 5 years ago, but with IS’ introduction, the situation has backfired for the leaders of the West. Yet, few realise it.

That narrative handed out to us by the Western media is, as suggested in The Boston Globe, somewhat inaccurate.

The paper claims that, due to heavy financial pressure, many newspapers cannot afford to send out many foreign correspondents abroad. This, in turn leads to a lack of reliable sources used by the newspapers, so thus they are given only what comes out of the government, whether that be Washington, London, or any other major city in which the bureaucracy is controlled from.

That is not to say that there are no ground reporters.

There are many, but without the support of their parent media outlet, they cannot spread the message, it is deemed a lot more unlikely that the Western powers have made an uncharacteristic error of judgment.

The media, as unintentional as it may be, are often being fed the government’s point of view, and those incredibly courageous reporters are unable to share their viewpoint, one that you could argue is a more reasoned one. This transfers down to the public, we are shown that perspective on the situation, not just in Syria, but across the world where many crises are occurring, and are very unlikely to be able to make a reasoned analysis on affairs.

However, you cannot simply blame the governments for this. As the Boston Globe also goes on to say, they are only trying to hide their past mistakes and strengthen their position – after all, it isn’t in anyone’s nature to admit they have lied in immense proportions, just so that the public have an accurate sense of what is going on.  

In Syria’s case, the government’s mistaken decisions have led to a somewhat muddled foreign policy, where we do not really know who we are fighting. Is it Assad’s brutal dictatorship, that it could be argued at least controlled the country, or IS, the cause of so much Western strife in the last few years?

To put it simply, given the complex nature of the civil war and the many groups with strongholds in the country, our government are trying to give us the simplest narrative, which suits their agenda the most.

It would be naïve of me to say that the media are blameless in all of this though.

The only reason that the governments feel the need to lie is because of the vicious backlash media outlets give them when something goes wrong – they fear the papers. Take comments in the lead up to the general election of June 2017. Anything either of the political candidates said was jumped upon by the media. Leading to false promises. Which makes everything so much worse.

In the end, to be honest, it is all just one vicious cycle between the two – government and media – that creates most problems in our society. It’s easy to say but if we were more realistic and learnt to accept that bad happens, for the good of everyone.

But that view is too idealistic, and can never be solved, hence the enigma of the media.