In terms of responses to the war, one of the things

I've been interested in is the way the internet is

used to support, deconstruct, deride, and decode so

many different points of view in relation to the

current crisis. I have been sending questions to CNN

via their web site that deal with this very issue in a

roundabout sort of way. They have this service on the

site where 'anyone' can participate in the news

production by asking CNN's experts anything they would

like about the current situation. Assuming that

editing the questions is part of the highly complex

and coded system of media production a news service

like CNN must engage, I have been sending questions

that, while I am genuinely interested in answers, I

don't imagine the mechanisms of CNN will engage.

Examples have been: Why is George W. Bush engaging in

bombastic war rhetoric when it seems clear that from

the point of view of American foriegn policy and for

people on the ground in Afghanistan, a prolonged

military conflict will have disasterous results? or

How can the current conflict in Afghanistan be

contextualized vis-a-vis the Soviet invasion in the

1979 and the U.S. support for resistance? I have

recieved an identical form letter for every question I

send askCNN. I don't know for sure if my questions are

ever adressed or not. It would be interesting if more

people began innundating CNN with difficult questions.

It seems that this might poke fun at the 'democratic'

claims of the internet and corporate media services.



ken