War Documentary

I have started to follow the documentary by journalist Kevin Sites on the website Hot Zone. The first two chapters of the documentary are up on the site already. I encourage you to watch at least the first chapter. He says something about blogs that I thought was interesting. Go to this link if you are interested.

World at War

I’ve never used a gun before. I’ve seen them but never used one. I saw a bullet this weekend. This little tiny piece of metal, and it got me thinking about how something so tiny -in the wrong hands- can cause so much pain.

Very little is known about conflicts around the world. I am a firm believer that we should be more aware about what is going on, about the suffering of others. At the same time I wonder what good is that going to do.

A documentary by Kevin Sites is coming out. I have no doubt it will be very informative. So far, his coverage on conflict zones has been what I call the real face of war, without the mask. That is how it should be.

When my country was at war, journalists (local or international) were literally told to shut up. For years, no one said anything, the price? Thousands of people dead, for what? Some things were accomplished but not everything. All because of greed and thirst for power.

For what I read the documentary will be available on the website to watch it. I encourage you to take a look at it and get an idea of what those poor victims are facing. Also, if you have not seen the movie Blood Diamond you should.

What is the Media Doing?

I was browsing through one of my favorite websites Kevin Sites Hot Zone I like this website because it is not what a regular newscast would show on TV. I’ve seen newscast give more coverage to elephants being born at the local zoo and make contests to pick the name for it than showing news that matter. At Kevin Sites’ page I looked at an interview. He interviewed a man named Josh Rushing a former marine captain who is now a correspondent for Al Jazeera International. Al Jazeera is a news channel headquartered in Doha, Qatar. The interview was about how Rushing got a whole new perspective on the war in Iraq (and Arab culture) through his living there experience. His misconception was probably due to the misinformation given by the American media about what truly happens in other parts of the world. I thought this would be a perfect example of why I chose to write about things that happen in other parts of the world; and at the same time it worries me that the journalists out there are not doing their part to inform the truth. Rushing talked about how he heard Donald Rumsfeld say that Al Jazeera showed beheadings and that this network was a terrorist TV and connected to al-Qaida.

“…It was completely wrong the way they’re portrayed by the U.S. government. And I’m not sure why they portray it that way. When (former Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld would go out in the press and say they show beheadings, I’m not sure if he was misinformed or he was lying…”

That is what he knew about this news organization, what he had heard from the American media. Is American media focusing on the wrong issues or people? Or is it focusing too much on itself? Have we created a tinted bubble where we cannot look outside but everyone else sees right through us? The media seems to be accustoming audiences to meaningless issues. I’m sure we know more about Britney Spears’ performance fiasco instead of knowing details about the war, or even what countries actually form the continent of America.