World Association for Christian Communication - Statement on Iran Tuesday 06 March 2007
WACC 308 Main Street Toronto Ontario M4C 4X7 Canada Tel: +1 416-691-1999 Fax: +1 416-691-1997
In recent weeks there has been sporadic media coverage of the Bush Administration's alleged preparations to attack Iran. It seems that the U.S. may be intent on invading a second Middle Eastern nation under a camouflage of disinformation and WMD "weapons of mass deception" to use independent journalist Danny Schechter's vivid description of media manipulation before the current disastrous war on Iraq.
Leading media outlets have been reporting these covert preparations and some are beginning to question the evidence. Others are not. "War Drums on Iran", an editorial in The Nation (February 15, 2007) laments that:
"Day after day, major media repeat pronouncements from the White House or unsourced leaks from the field with only the barest hint of scepticism. As one example, the New York Times's nearly 2,000-word lead story on February 10 on Iran's alleged support of Shiite militias contained the sole caveat that US officials "acknowledge that the picture is not entirely complete." Scepticism, when it is voiced, comes only later, after the headlines and television news stories have had their impact, and usually only because someone of national standing has spoken up. It is as if journalists had learned nothing over the past six years about the dangers of relying on official sources and of failing to question and challenge a spin-driven Administration."
WACC believes that the media have a crucial role to play in issues of political, economic, social and cultural justice. If the mass media do not publicly monitor, question, and call to account the actions of governments and corporate interests, they become complicit in a conspiracy of silence that serves to undermine democracy and peaceful coexistence.
By monitoring, questioning and confronting, by presenting alternative opinions and balanced evidence, the media become impartial advocates of the truth and enable people to act and speak as better informed citizens. The best journalism does not just repeat what is seen, heard or told by official sources. It digs beneath the surface. It strives to get the other side or sides of the story and relies on diverse sources.
WACC urges mass and community media to question and challenge the pronounce-ments and actions of the Bush Administration with regard to Iran. By doing so, they will help avoid the deliberate confusions that led to the present war. Only by doing so is there a chance of averting the possibility of a catastrophe for the people of Iran and their neighbours.