Middle East Scholar Speaks at GVSU
On Tuesday September 22, Middle East expert Rashid Khalidi, addressed a large crowd at Grand Valley State University as part of its Fall Arts Celebration 2009. His presentation, “The Great Powers and the Middle East: Yesterday and Today,” was based on his newest book, Sowing Crisis: American Hegemony and the Cold War in the Middle East (2009).
Khalidi opened with a brief history of the region, noting that its location and seaways have had strategic significance since the times of the Pharaohs. In modern times, the Middle East served as an important arena of confrontation during both World Wars I & II. That significance remained throughout the Cold War years (post WW II through 1990), with the United States and Russia (USSR) staging various proxy wars in the region, sometimes as foes and sometimes as allies. “For all of their severity, the conflicts around the Arab and Israeli wars were self-contained in some measure . . . defined by the Cold War system,” Khalidi stated.
According to Khalidi, when the USSR fell apart, the US was left as the sole superpower. This propelled conflicts previously contained within the region into crises with global consequence. Other factors Khalidi cited for this global overspill were: (1) the Iranian revolution; (2) The Afghanistan wars, 1979-1988; (3) Iraq’s disastrous invasion of Kuwait; and (4) the failures of Madrid peace talks (between Israel and Palestine).
Because of these factors, lasting and close connections developed between Afghanistan, Pakistan and the rest of the Middle East, whereas previously, the latter two were not even considered a part of the Middle East.
Meanwhile back on the Ranch
After the 9-11 attacks, President Bush decided to launch the “Global War on Terror,” a misnomer from the get-go as this “war” was not global—it only targeted countries with Muslim populations. “Not to minimize 9-11, but terrorists don’t pose an existential danger to this republic (the US) . . . Terrorists do different things in different places for different reasons. They are not all plotting day and night to blow up Americans,” Khalidi said. “But they (the Bush administration) launched us on something that was a real war. So far, we have spent $600 billion, lost 800 soldiers in Afghanistan, 3,000 in Iraq and how many civilians.”
This real war has destroyed the Iraqi state, leaving a power vacuum in the region and a surge of sectarian violence. The same is happening in Afghanistan. The US trained and equipped the radical extremists so they could overcome their Russian invaders. These same extremists took brutal control of Afghanistan, giving rise to the Taliban and its harsh rule. Today, the US says we are fighting a “good”’ war that will free Afghani women all the while supporting its hand picked Karzai government that recently legalized rape.
“We can’t be the world’s godfather.”
Khalidi said that during the Cold War, the US was, at least, a respected power in the Middle East. However now, its standing is declined as has its influence. “What more can we say? The new regional configuration poses different dangers. There are no clear rules of the game. (During the Cold War) we felt like adults were in charge. Today, we face shadowy, non-state actors in a world without rules.”
Khalidi stated that the “framework has been degraded” by the Bush administration and that the current administration is continuing the course. This course promulgates Arab states that are no longer the subjects, but rather the objects, of their own history. The US must figure out that it cannot carry out political change and democratization by force and occupation. “Events do not stand still. Crises will emanate, wars, terrorism. It may take such a crisis to get the US and other powers to act differently . . . Democracy does not grow out of the barrel of a gun.”
Obama, the UN and Climate Change
On Monday, President Barack Obama addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations. In his speech he addressed the issue of global climate change by saying, “Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it – boldly, swiftly, and together – we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe.”
For many these were encouraging words, but they are still just words. President Obama offered no concrete solutions or commitment from the United States to actually work towards a significant reduction in greenhouse gases.
Something else that was missing from much of the US media coverage was other perspectives on the issue of climate change. The international women’s organization MADRE said this is response to Obama’s remarks;
“You correctly identified climate change as a key issue of our time. Yet, missing from your comments were concrete solutions and the recognition that rural women hold key solutions to climate change. Women are the traditional managers of rural communities’ food, water and other environmental resources. Women farmers in Nicaragua who have led the way in sustainable, organic agriculture; women in Kenya who have brought wells for clean water to their communities; women in Panama who have preserved biodiversity by protecting seed banks—these are the on-the-ground experts to whom we should be turning for models of sustainable resource management.”
Unless you read the independent news media you would not come across the perspective of people like Constance Okollet, a farmer from Uganda, who has suffered from tremendous drought conditions brought about by climate change.
The international environmental group Friends of the Earth issued a statement on Wednesday to US President Barack Obama demanding that the US do what they claim they will in being a leader on climate change.
“The U.S. Congress is dragging its heels on climate legislation in the lead up to Copenhagen in December, where key international climate negotiations will take place. The Obama administration must make good on its pledge that the United States will be a global ally in the fight against climate change.”
Copenhagen is the site of the first international conference on climate change since Kyoto that involved the world’s leaders. According to Indian activist Vandana Shiva the US has done very little to address the carbon emissions it has produced as a nation, despite the promises that came out of Kyoto.
“The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in December 1997, set binding targets for these countries to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions by 5 per cent on average against 1990 levels by 2012. But by 2007, America’s greenhouse-gas levels were 16 per cent higher than 1990 levels. The American Clean Energy and Security Act, which was passed in June, commits the US to reduce emissions to 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020, yet this is just 4 per cent below 1990 levels.”
Shiva believes that one of the biggest obstacles to achieving significant reductions in carbon emissions is the market-based plan that the rich nations of the world have adopted, what is called “carbon trading.” Carbon trading essentially allows rich countries of the world the ability to continue to pollute at unsustainable levels and at the same time use the resources and people of poorer nations as offsets.
For more information about what grassroots people are doing about climate change check out Beyond Talk and 350.org.
Media Bites – Burger King & NASCAR
This week’s Media Bites takes a look at a new Burger King commercial that features NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. Stewart has his own endorsement school and tries to teach other celebrities on how to properly endorse products. The spot is a standard way to brand a company’s product by using a cultural icon and manipulate the public into thinking that if a celebrity uses the product it must be good.
Interview with Rashid Khalidi
Professor Rashid Khalidi, author and distinguished lecturer on the Middle East, was in Grand Rapids to give a talk at Grand Valley State University. We had a chance to interview Professor Khalidi and talk about his most recent book, Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East.
VNRs – The Use of Video News Releases on Broadcast TV News
In recent years it has become common practice for TV news agencies to use what are known as Video News Releases (VNR). A VNR is a “news” story that is created by an advertising agency or public relations firm that essentially promotes a product or company.
TV stations will sometime use a VNR that are sent to them or they will use parts of the VNR and edit in their own take on the story with a local focus. An example of the use of a VNR on local TV news in the West Michigan market is this story that WZZM 13 recently aired about what to think about when buying a cell phone for your children before they go back to school. While channel 13 did interview some of the people in the story, they clearly used VNR provided footage on the use of cell phones, particularly for text messaging. The only sources used in this story are spokespersons from Sprint, Verizon and AT&T, which essentially make this story a commercial for these phone companies.
Some of the best documentation on the use of VNRs in the US has been done by the Center for Media & Democracy. They provide good research and lots of resources, along with examples of recent VNR use around the country.
GRIID has dissected locally used VNRs over the years and even created this satirical video that is selling what we call the VNR Detector.
New GRIID Study on the GR Press Coverage of the Af-Pak War
Today, we have posted our new 100-day study of the Grand Rapids Press coverage of the US occupation of Afghanistan. The study began in late May of 2009 and was concluded on September 2.
We looked at all stories published related to what the Pentagon now calls the Af-Pak War, since it includes US military operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. There were a total of 24 stories during this 100-day period, 18 were national media sources and Press reporters wrote six stories.
A summary of our findings are:
- The Majority of the sources used in the stories were US Military or Government officials.
- Articles that focused on Afghanistan society or the Taliban insurgents were overwhelmingly negative.
- US soldier deaths received significant attention, but Afghan civilian deaths were rarely mentioned.
- Independent perspectives or Afghani voices were virtually non-existent.
- The August Afghan Presidential Election was only mentioned once in the entire 100-day period.
- The bulk of the articles published were framed in such a way as to accept, and in some cases, even endorse the Pentagon rationale for the US military mission in Afghanistan.
This new GRIID study is timely for many reasons. First, the Obama administration is now discussing whether or not to increase US troop levels in Afghanistan. Secondly, the Press editorial for Sunday, September 20th essentially advocated an increase in US troop levels for Afghanistan. The editorial states, “Now isn’t the time to draw back from a war that is crucial to American security and has helped keep Islamic extremists off balance and on the run.” Like much of the coverage during the 100-day period, the editorial did not verify or substantiate their claims that the US occupation of Afghanistan in making US citizens any safer.
We are encouraging our readers to look at the report and then communicate with the Grand Rapids Press. Since the Press is the only local daily newspaper in circulation in Grand Rapids, it is important that they consider what impact their coverage has on critical issues like the war in Afghanistan.
We think it is important that Press consider using national and international news sources other than the ones they currently rely on. There needs to be more Afghan perspectives and independent, non-partisan sources used when reporting on a war that is both costly in terms of tax-payer dollars and human life.
Contact the Editor of the Grand Rapids Press Paul Keep at pkeep@grpress.com or (616) 222-5506. We encourage readers to send us any responses you might get and will post them in order to generate more dialogue on this important issue.
Reporting on and Promoting ArtPrize
We are just days away from the official opening of the voting for ArtPrize, but to any reasonable observer it is clear that the local media coverage has already drawn a conclusion on the success or failure of the endeavor initiated by Rick DeVos.
While there have been a few stories that look into some of the challenges of ArtPrize, both logistical and the difficulties in voting process, the coverage has been overwhelmingly positive. Both WOOD TV 8 and WXMI 17 have online sections devoted to ArtPrize. WOOD radio provides a “how to guide” for those interested in ArtPrize, but the absolute winner in terms of adver-news for ArtPrize goes to the Grand Rapids Press. Not only do they have a major online section for the contest, they have been running a front-page feature on the days leading up to the opening.
Not to be outdone, the local blog-o-sphere has also been providing substantial coverage of this downtown art event. Rapid Growth Media is even providing space for Rick DeVos to blog this week so we can all learn more about his brainchild and even the new “citizen journalism” site, The Rapidian, seems to be flush with stories on ArtPrize.
However, some of the most honest reporting we have seen so far on ArtPrize , has been done by the Grand Rapids Business Journal. In a front-page story in their September 17 – 23 edition they discuss the economic promise of ArtPrize.
Reporter Mark Sanchez spoke with downtown business leaders to get their take on what the long term impact ArtPrize could have on Grand Rapids. The president of the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention Center & Visitor’s Bureau was quoted as saying, “The positive buzz and the energy that is being created around ArtPrize is going to do things that traditional advertising could never do for me….I’m appreciative of the short-term economic push, because we all could dearly use it. I’m more excited about the viral effect and what it could do for our destination appeal.”
Jeff Ott with the law firm of Warner, Norcross & Judd talked about ArtPrize being a tool to recruit potential lawyers to this community, lawyers his law firm is seeking. “For us to attract these people, it is very important for us to sell our firm, but we also have to sell the cities where these people are going to live and work. ArtPrize is part of the total package. It helps us sell the city.”
Maybe the most revealing comment is from local property owner and managing partner of CWD Real Estate Sam Cummings. Cummings said, “Our long-term goal is really to import capital – intellectual capital, and ultimately real capital. And this (ArtPrize) is certainly an extraordinary tool.”
This is exactly the point I was making in my initial critique of ArtPrize, that it makes perfect business sense since it will bring more people downtown to spend money and to possibly invest in the ongoing gentrification that will benefit a small sector of the community.
Green Shoots: The GR Press and the Economy
In recent weeks there has been a great deal of news coverage, both local and national that keeps announcing this idea that the economy is turning around, or in their words there are “Green Shoots” showing in the economy.
Anytime there is an announcement that “new” jobs are coming to West Michigan it is framed as a celebration, even though rarely does this news coverage talk about what kind of jobs are being created. Are these jobs fulltime, do they pay a livable wage, do they have benefits, and what sorts of economic subsidies (read: corporate welfare) are offered to these companies from the State or local municipalities.
Juxtaposed with the Green Shoots in the economy coverage are articles like the ones that appeared in the GR Press today. There were two front-page stories, an Associated Press story on state-by-state unemployment numbers and an article on the looming loss of unemployment benefits for thousands.
The AP article mentions that Michigan lost 42,900 jobs and is expected to maintain a jobless rate of 15.8% through 2010. The article cites government representatives from Colorado and New Jersey to put a regional spin on the numbers. The only other sources cited in the article were Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke and a staff person with IHS Global Insight, a corporate run financial analysis group.
The GR Press article on the looming loss of unemployment benefits is good in the sense that it provides readers with some hard data on how many people will have no income coming in over the next few months. The story also puts a human face on this problem by talking to two people who will soon lose their unemployment benefits. The Press reporter also talked to Congressmen Hoekstra & Ehlers, as well as the head of a local food bank and the President of the Michigan League for Human Services. However, all of these comments are centered around the need to provide some federal assistance or social service relief for people.
What is missing from the story in an analysis of the economy, particularly since it is one year after the Wall Street Bailout. Robert Weissman, writing for Counterpunch.org, said that according to;
“The Special Inspector General set up to oversee the bailout estimates that government agencies, including the Federal Reserve, will ultimately put out more than $23 trillion in various programs and supports related to the financial crisis. This total is almost three times what was spent on World War II, in adjusted dollars.”
Public Citizen also just published a report on the Wall Street Bailout 1 year later and note that the financial sector has already spent $200 million on lobbying Washington on order to continue to guarantee that they will not have to pay back the taxpayer-funded bailout and that there will be little if no accountability in how they operate in the future.
It’s too bad that the GR Press writers and editors cannot or refuse to make the link between local unemployment, increasing financial hardships for working people and the national economy. In the end we are left with just feeling bad for those who are jobless.
GRIID Indy Media Event this Monday
Just a reminder that this coming Monday, September 21 will be our GRIID Media Party/Indy Media event. A chance to hear what we have been up to, but more importantly your chance to get involved in making media. We are looking for people who want to do research, media literacy, news analysis, documentaries and independent news. There will be refreshments and new GRIID T-Shirts for sale.
Monday, September 21
5 – 7pm
314 Straight Ave SW Door M (Tanglefoot Building)
New GRIID Video Archives Added
We’ve been going through our video archives and decided to start posting some of our previous work. We plan on posting archival material during the weeks ahead, but we wanted to let you know about some of the items already at the Video Archive section.
There are three videos from a 2002 movie study, one that looks at Product Placement in Films, one that looks at Hyper-Sexual Content in Films and a third video that deals with Tobacco Use in Hollywood Films. We also have some youth produced counter-marketing ads that take on Big Tobacco.
The two videos that are highlighted here deal with the focus of much of GRIID’s work over the years. The first video is a piece we created based on a local TV story about cows that were roaming around in rural Kent County. It must have been a slow news day because all three of the GR-based TV stations covered it. The other featured video is the GRIID News Team talking about being addicted to watching local TV News.
