shots fired - now, what do we report?
It's always fun to watch the news "break", as the new agencies don't always know how to spin them at first. After all, by definition, "news" are very much new. After the initial floundering, news companies fall in line – by investigating the reports fully, or (as I suspect) by plagiarizing the majority view.
This morning, fighting escalated in South Ossetia, a province of Georgia that has been virtually independent for over ten years. This region has seen much conflict in the past, but recently things have been quiet – so I can bet that none of the news agencies have any reporters on the ground there. So, we can gather the following facts from the secondary sources:
Off the record, Georgians have a long record of being total assholes, but we’ll leave that out for the sake of objectivity. So, based on this information, how do we spin this story?
CNN: Georgia 'under attack' as Russian tanks roll in (a few hours later, the headline changes to a slightly more neutral Georgia says country is under attack by Russia)
AP: Georgia says Russian aircraft bombed its air bases (great strategy – cite your sources, avoid expressing opinions)
ABC News: Face-Off: Russian Troops Move Into Georgia
Fox: Georgia Says Russian Craft Bombed Its Air Bases followed by a surprisingly unbiased explanation:
Georgia's president says country's under attack by Russian tanks and warplanes after Georgia launched major offensive to retake province of South Ossetia
BBC: Russian tanks enter South Ossetia
What's the Russian take on this?
ITAR-TASS: More than 10 peacekeepers die in events in Tskhinvali
RIA: Georgia claims control over most of South Ossetia in major attack
Pravda.ru (admittedly, a more sensationalist outlet): Georgian military executing wounded Russian peacekeepers
What really happened? Kinda like with the Gulf of Tonkin, it might take years for the truth to come out.
This morning, fighting escalated in South Ossetia, a province of Georgia that has been virtually independent for over ten years. This region has seen much conflict in the past, but recently things have been quiet – so I can bet that none of the news agencies have any reporters on the ground there. So, we can gather the following facts from the secondary sources:
- fragile peace was being maintained by a peacekeeping force that included a significant number of Russian soldiers
- fighting renewed between Georgian forces and the separatists, with some civilian casualties
- peacekeeping force incurred a number of casualties as well
Off the record, Georgians have a long record of being total assholes, but we’ll leave that out for the sake of objectivity. So, based on this information, how do we spin this story?
CNN: Georgia 'under attack' as Russian tanks roll in (a few hours later, the headline changes to a slightly more neutral Georgia says country is under attack by Russia)
AP: Georgia says Russian aircraft bombed its air bases (great strategy – cite your sources, avoid expressing opinions)
ABC News: Face-Off: Russian Troops Move Into Georgia
Fox: Georgia Says Russian Craft Bombed Its Air Bases followed by a surprisingly unbiased explanation:
Georgia's president says country's under attack by Russian tanks and warplanes after Georgia launched major offensive to retake province of South Ossetia
BBC: Russian tanks enter South Ossetia
What's the Russian take on this?
ITAR-TASS: More than 10 peacekeepers die in events in Tskhinvali
RIA: Georgia claims control over most of South Ossetia in major attack
Pravda.ru (admittedly, a more sensationalist outlet): Georgian military executing wounded Russian peacekeepers
What really happened? Kinda like with the Gulf of Tonkin, it might take years for the truth to come out.
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