(Seizure; 03-03; p.3)

Media and the power of interpretation

Not committing the mistake to over-emphasise the effective power of the media, one may nevertheless assume that they are a factor in opinion-forming and so in decision-finding.
If one observes the German quality papers that are not limited in writing about the USA by contract and public as well as the TV-stations of the Bertelsmann company, one finds in general more critical subtones. Non-Springer company press and ARD, ZDF as public German television and RTL and VOX of the Bertelsmann company also do not present hurray-patriotism; there are indeed reflections about or hints on the limitations of perceptions and the danger of being used by the war-waging parties.

One may sum up therefore that the mentioned German media-makers as well as politicians move within the traditional framework of a civil society but do point to the fragility of it in times of war.

It is an obvious different story for the media of the war-waging parties: CNN programmes in Germany were in the beginning mainly "impressions from the merry-go-round" reports. They consisted of movement-blurred images combined with sound-bites of the pattern "we don't know, where we are, but the advance is fast".
Besides, one may as Roger Willemsen, a former German interviewer, indicated get the impression that this war is more like a steeple chase with target shooting.

The programmes of BBC World on the contrary are of the usual quality: it is worth remembering that to judge on military facts respected knowledge of institutes like the Royal United Services Institute, the Royal Institute of International Affairs or Jane's Defence is brought in.
Remarkable as well is the sigh of one correspondent at the American-British press centre in ad-Dowhah, Qatar: "If you want some information, this is not the place to be." (read on here)