Monday, September 16, 2013

Media Critique

Is Syria Moving Chemical Weapons into Iraq and Lebanon?


The situation in Syria has been making the front page for a while now, talking about the chemical attacks on civilians. The most recent story has been discussing Russia and America’s attempt to compromise a deal on whether or not to take military action. On Saturday September 14 the tabloids exploded with the news of a compromise between the two nations. CNN, The Aljazeera and The New York Times reported very similar stories except for one key aspect, whether or not Syria was moving chemical weapons into Iraq and Lebanon. The Aljazeera and CNN both reported that Syria had indeed been moving weapons into these countries. While the New York Times said they had no indication of this.

An anonymous American official reported to The New York Times “There was no indication that any of Syria’s chemical stocks had been moved to Iraq or Lebanon… We believe they are under regime control.”
Whereas “the Syrian Military Council claimed that Assad’s forces have been moving their chemical weapons arsenal to Lebanon and Iraq over the past few days” this was reported on by the Aljazeera.

The General Salim Idriss told reporters in Istanbul “We have information that the regime began to move chemical materials and chemical weapons to Lebanon and to Iraq.” This was reported to by CNN.  


            CNN later said that they couldn’t verify the sources that they had cited in the article but were trying to. The New York Times has a history of not having very reliable sources. The NY Times did try to get some verification of their sources in the article. The Aljazeera though has done nothing to try and verify its sources. This breaking the principle of journalism that talks about making sure sources are verifiable. This is an issue because now the public is trying to figure out what is true and what isn't.     

Sources


“US and Russia Form A Plan On Syrias Chemical Weapons.” Chappell, Bill. National Public Radio. September 14, 2012. Article. September 14, 2013.  http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/14/222397967/u-s-and-russia-form-a-plan-on-syrias-chemical-weapons


“John Kerry: US, Russia Reach Deal On Syrian Chemical Weapons.” Heilprin, John. Lee, Matthews. The Huffington Post. September 14, 2013. Article. September 14,2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/14/us-russia-agree-deal-o_n_3925636.html?view=print&comm_ref=false


“US, Russia agree to framework on Syria chemical weapons.”  Smith-Spark, Laura and Cohen, Tom. CNN. September 14, 2013. Article. September 14, 2013. http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/14/politics/us-syria/index.html?hpt=hp_t2


“US and Russia Reach Deal to Destroy Syrias Chemical Arms.” Gordon, Micheal. The New York Times.” September 14, 2013. Article. September 14, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/world/middleeast/syria-talks.html?hp&_r=0&pagewanted=print


“US Russia reach agreement on seizure of Syrian chemical weapons arsenal.” Gearan, Anne and Wilson, Scott. The Washington Post. September 14, 2013. Article. September 14, 2013. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-russia-reach-agreement-on-seizure-of-syrian-chemical-weapons-arsenal/2013/09/14/69e39b5c-1d36-11e3-8685-5021e0c41964_print.html


“US and Russia agree on ‘framework’ to remove Syrain chemical weapons.“  The Aljazeera. September 14, 2013. Article. September 14,2013.http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/14/us-and-russia-seeplanforremovingsyrianchemicalweapons.html


“Rebel Leader: Syria moving its chemical weapons into Iraq, Lebanon.” Krever, Mick. CNN. September 13, 2013. Article. September 16, 2013. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/12/world/meast/syria-rebel-leader-accusation/  



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