Did the U.S. use military retaliation against foreign journalist to prevent media from reporting on the War in

Question

Did the U.S. use military retaliation against foreign journalist to prevent or intimidate media from reporting on the War in Iraq?





WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception (2004)




Average of raters like you: 4.7 stars
Average of 12,861 ratings: 3.6 stars

Details
Not rated. This movie has not been rated by the MPAA.
Length:
90 minutes
Director:
Danny Schechter
Genres:
Documentary
Political Documentaries
Military Documentaries
Other features:
Color; interactive menus; scene access.
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Screen Formats:
Full Screen 1.33:1
Language and Sound:
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Original Release Date:
2004
Official Movie Site
At a Glance
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Critics
More Like This
Independent investigative reporter and filmmaker Danny Schechter's documentary focuses on howDid the U.S. use military retaliation against foreign journalist to prevent or intimidate media from reporting on the War in Iraq?




WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception (2004)




Average of raters like you: 4.7 stars
Average of 12,861 ratings: 3.6 stars

Details
Not rated. This movie has not been rated by the MPAA.
Length:
90 minutes
Director:
Danny Schechter
Genres:
Documentary
Political Documentaries
Military Documentaries
Other features:
Color; interactive menus; scene access.
Featured in the following custom lists:
My List
Political Intrigue
documentary.be.informed
Patiently Waiting
Political Documentaries
+ Create your own custom list (What?)
Screen Formats:
Full Screen 1.33:1
Language and Sound:
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Original Release Date:
2004
Official Movie Site
At a Glance
Friends
Member Reviews
Critics
More Like This
Independent investigative reporter and filmmaker Danny Schechter's documentary focuses on how the media shaped people's views of the Iraq War through their intense coverage from the war's inception through February 2004. Schechter's film examines provocative theories such as the Pentagon's involvement in media messages, how new methods such as satellites and embedded journalists affected media coverage, and the competition between media outlets.
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Critic Reviews


Ned Martel, The New York Times
"A former ABC producer at 20/20, Mr. Schechter revels in his autonomy and crams too many points in too many minutes." ... Read More
Member Reviews

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George Parker
71%
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"WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception" offers an intelligent and critical look the media and how it was more or less manipulated or controlled by interests other than journalism during its coverage of the run up to Operation Iraqi Freedom and beyond. Danny Schechter uses his experience in news broadcasting combined with original film, interviews, file footage, print, etc. to examine the role of news media in OIF and how the war was delivered to the public as a carefully package and planned media event not unlike the Superbowl. An insightful study of news which is much less agenda-driven propaganda than Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911" and consequently less entertaining, "WMD..." will appeal most to those interested in major network news broadcasting. (B)


96 out of 166 people found this review helpful.
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JR 1824621
64%
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I was sorry to see that only one person reviewed this film. Having said that, I must also say that there's really nothing else to add other than opinion. I would hope that many people watch this film because it will help the viewer acquire a more critical eye about the "facts" that are fed to us every day by the media...not just about Iraq but about everything else. I would like to suggest you view this film if for no other reason than to help you become a more critical media viewer.


64 out of 116 people found this review helpful.
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Heather Anne
60%
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I am not even sure where to begin. I am absolutely outraged to know now what I didn’t know 2 hours ago. Yes, we all knew that the news played a major part on our opinions and beliefs about the war in Iraq, but I was not aware of the meticulous planning to bring us one sided stories, the precision of which it was executed, and the driving forces that made it all work almost as well as a scripted film. This documentary was not at all like Outfoxed. Outfoxed targeted one news outlet blaming them for all that was wrong with the media. This program brought you the facts, which were presented by an independent investigator, one who is not funded by either side, one who has nothing to lose or gain by the facts he presents. What he brings to the table is how all of the news outlets failed the American public at a time when we needed them the most. There is no one person/company/station to blame, which makes the content even more disturbing. All of the news outlets lacked the balls to question and investigate, and instead gave us the filtered version, and often times the outright misleading version of the stories they were expected to tell. When Hollywood producers and major non-news related companies have a hand in the content and the method in which it is delivered, when journalists are no longer expected or even encouraged to actually investigate, when delving deeper into the stories than you are told to sidestep could have devastating effects on your career and the future of the station in which you work for, the American public only stands to lose. Regardless of your political affiliation, regardless of your agreement or disagreement of the war in Iraq, each of us must take action to ensure that the very journalists and stations that we expect to bring us the truth remain separate from the government otherwise the humor of “Wag the Dog” could become a sad blueprint for our future.


16 out of 21 people found this review helpful.
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JD 84383
49%
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15 minutes into the movie, I concluded that this movie is trying to sell that the anti-war media is actually pro-war. As a soldier, who has earned a combat infantry badge, I am disgusted to see the way the media handles the war, and even more disgusted that this movie seems to think that reporters have some sort of right to broadcast my comrads in arms as they are dying. This movie is a weapon of mass deception, and I would be surprised if Al Queda funded it's creation.


2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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LT 962481
46%
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The incredible importance to the general public of the underlying message compels a high rating. The filmmaker is known not for his newscasting but for his news dissecting, a skill that all media viewers could bear increasing. Schechter has a passioned task to bring public awareness to the power of the media and consequent propaganda that we are subjected to daily. If you consider what could mean the difference between war and peace, his use of WMD's as a subject to demonstrate this power is successful. If one is unable or unwilling to separate their politics from facts and from wanting to better understand media manipulation, then it's doubtful they will harness any media analysis capability that this film aptly demonstrates the public's need for in our society.


3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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JP 968469
35%
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why does this reporter or preducer fail tomention any error by jimmy carter or bill clinton administration? i can only come to the conclution that he or she is an extreme leftist and i dont trust extreme leftist or extreme right because neither has a broad perspective and they both only criticize the other. whatever good point this documentary makes gets lost and its own political agenda. i give a A+ in trying to get their message but a F- in delivering an objective opinion.


6 out of 20 people found this review helpful.
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Answer 1

no doubt

"April 8, 2003, 4:35 pm EDT
THREE JOURNALISTS KILLED IN BAGHDAD

Three journalists were killed in military operations in Baghdad Tuesday, including an incident in which a U.S. tank fired at a hotel housing hundreds of international reporters.

Central Command spokesman Capt. Frank Thorp in Doha, Qatar expressed regret for the loss of life, but said coalition forces would continue to strike at Iraqi resistance.

"We don't target journalists. But we will continue to target Iraqi military forces," Capt. Frank Thorp, a Central Command spokesman in Doha, Qatar, said on Tuesday.
In one incident, two journalists were killed and at least six others were injured after a U.S. tank opened fire on Baghdad's Palestine hotel, the home base for several hundred international reporters covering the Iraq war.
Reuters television cameraman Taras Protsyuk, 35, was killed in the blast, the news agency confirmed in a statement Tuesday. An experienced war journalist, Protsyuk covered conflicts in Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan and Kosovo. Protsyuk, a Ukrainian national, had worked for Reuters for ten years.
"We are devastated by the death of Taras, who had distinguished himself with his highly professional coverage in of some of the most violent conflicts of the past decade," Reuters Editor-in-Chief Geert Linnebank said in a statement.
Cameraman Jose Couso, 37, from the Spanish television network Telecinco died after surgery for injuries to his leg and jaw, the Spanish network confirmed.
"Clearly the war, and all its confusion, has come to the heart of Baghdad," Linnebank said.
"But the incident nonetheless raises questions about the judgment of the advancing U.S. troops who have known all along that this hotel is the main base for almost all foreign journalists in Baghdad," Linnebank told the Associated Press.
Reuters said three other staffers were injured in the blast: Paul Pasquale, a British television satellite dish coordinator; Lebanese national Samia Nakhoul, who was the Reuters bureau chief in the Persian Gulf; and photographer Faleh Kheiber, an Iraqi national. Doctors treating them said their wounds were not life threatening.
Journalists inside the hotel reported they saw a tank aiming up at the 18-story building just before the blast. The U.S. tank apparently fired one shell, which struck the balconies on the 14th and 15th floors of the Palestine Hotel. Journalists also said they never heard any other firing from inside the hotel
"I never heard a single shot coming from any of the area around here, certainly not from the hotel," British Sky television correspondent David Chater told Reuters.
U.S. Army Col. David Perkins, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade stationed near the hotel, said Iraqis launched rocket-propelled grenades at coalition tanks from the front of the hotel, upon which one of his tanks returned fire. Several unidentified U.S. troops told the AP that they saw binoculars fixed on them from an upper floor of the hotel and, suspecting there was a "spotter," or sniper, on the hotel's rooftop, the tank opened fire on the hotel.
Perkins expressed regret for the incident, but blamed the Iraqi government for endangering the lives of civilians, including the journalists.
"By militarizing these areas, [Iraqi president Saddam Hussein] is putting these people at risk," Perkins told the AP. "The soldier's primary responsibility is to protect himself and his crew."
In a separate incident occurring less than a mile away, correspondent Tareq Ayyoub died from serious wounds sustained after Al Jazeera's office was struck in an earlier U.S. bombing mission, officials from the Qatari-based satellite channel said. A cameraman was also injured, though his wounds were not severe. An Abu Dhabi television office in the area was also damaged, though it remains unclear if anyone was injured.
Al Jazeera officials described Ayyoub, a Jordanian national, as a "martyr of duty" and a "dear and loyal colleague."
U.S. State Department spokesman Nabil Khoury in Doha, Qatar called the bombing "a grave mistake."
But, Al Jazeera chief editor Ibrahim Hilal accused the U.S. military of targeting Al Jazeera's offices.
Local residents "saw the plane fly over twice before dropping the bombs. Our office is in a residential area and even the Pentagon knows its location," Hilal told the AP from the channel's headquarters in Doha, Qatar.
Al Jazeera's Baghdad office, a two-story house in a residential area, is located on a road which connects the Information Ministry with the old presidential palace compound, Al Jazeera officials told the AP.
"We are witnesses to what is happening. We are not a party..The killing of colleague Tareq Ayyoub and the bombardment of the Al Jazeera office is to cover up the great crime which the Iraqi people are subjected to at the hands of the United States," Al Jazeera correspondent Majed Abdul-Hadi said from Baghdad.
Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who later held a press conference in front of the Palestine Hotel, the primary site for official Iraqi briefings, said coalition forces were targeting civilian areas.
"They bombed residential areas. They bombed Al Jazeera. They are in a state of hysteria and haste. They imagine that by killing civilians, they'll win," he said. "These villains will not win."

Answer 2

"Why do you think Israel prevented the foreign journalists from entering Gaza before and through the war ?" To prevent tactical information from being passed to the enemy. To prevent journalists from getting underfoot. To control adverse propaganda. And let's remember this has been very much a war of propaganda. "Is this a freedom press in your opinion ?" Yes. The press is still free to print anything it wants to. "It is frankly disgraceful for any democracy to prevent us from entering an area to report." Name a war, any war, where the press is given free license to wander about in a war zone. "If Israel is saying that Hamas fired rockets from inside a school complex then let us in to verify that." The press does not have the qualifications to verify anything. Israel (or any other credible intelligence service) does not rely on the press for tactical assessments either. Never forget that the mission of the press is to make money by selling advertising.

Answer 3

Uh no....the media has know about the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden for a long time...but due to their "professional integrity" they won't give him up. In the meantime people are dieing every day.

Answer 4

If you are getting your "news" from David Letterman or Jon Stewart - try FOXNEWS for "fair and balanced" - then you figure it out.

Answer 5

killing journalists in friendly fire "accidents" happens over and over
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/05/03/0026239
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0311-06.htm

Answer 6

No.