DOUBT CAST ON THE OBJECTIVITY OF THE AMERICAN PRESS

Scott Blakeman, New York, 26 September, 2001

Reporters Without Borders

http://www.rsf.fr/uk/home.html

Ten years after the Gulf War, a conflict the reality of which was largely hidden from the media, the US administration has launched a new series of military operations in reaction to the waves of terrorist attacks that stroked the East coast of the United States leaving nearly 6,000 dead. The daily New York Times noted, "This surge of national pride sweeping the country after the terrorist attacks on 11 September sparks the beginnings of new, more difficult debate over balance among national security, free speech and patriotism." The influential American newspaper said in an article on 28 September 2001 that the debate "is being played out on stages large and small", that press comments have on several occasions provoked the fury of the authorities, along with that of the American public, and have led to sanctions including pulling of programs, withdrawal of advertising in the media and disavowal, even outright sacking of the journalists by their employers. This comes on top of a long list of constraints and more subtle pressure that American and foreign media, including the Internet, have been subjected to since 11 September.

Many journalists and foreign observers have already cast doubt on the objectivity and independence of the American press, particularly the TV channels, in this period of "war effort". In the same way, several voices have been raised within the United States warning the public about a decline in freedom of expression and opinion, freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution, in exchange for tightening security. "We are facing an enemy which is exploiting what it is about our society that makes it strong and effective: freedom, openness and freedom of movement. We have to be sure that we remain an open society, in which individual freedoms are respected," said Strobe Talbott, former number two at the US State Department in the Clinton Administration. But these voices, drowned out in the climate of media coverage devoted to covering the aftermath of the attacks, the preparations and continuing US counter-attacks, remain in a minority. Even those who are critical appear weakened by the emotion produced by this dramatic terrorist act, the death of thousands of innocent people and the suffering of their bereaved families.

In the face of calls to national unity, US organizations traditionally devoted to defending individual freedoms, have been muted. They consider that it is still too soon, even inappropriate, to be raising the alarm over events considered largely 'secondary'. "The shock of 11 September seems to have stifled the most militant of people, giving way to a de facto tolerance towards tougher than usual stances on the part of the military and the judiciary," said journalist Sylvie Kauffman, former correspondent of the French daily Le Monde in New York, on 17 September 2001. In fact today, while countries throw themselves into a fresh military operation, the vigilance of organizations defending human rights and individual freedoms are all the more needed.