How do we get the picture?

'I wrote recently that Baghdad, while dangerous and mind-bogglingly dysfunctional, isn’t as bad as it looks on TV. Almost everywhere I have been in the Middle East is more “normal” than it appears in the media. Nowhere is this more true than in Beirut, but it is true to a lesser extent in Baghdad as well. Baghdad isn’t a normal city, but it appears normal in most places most of the time. Ramadi, in my experience, is the great exception. Ramadi was worse than it appeared in the media. '
http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001514.html

As someone who works in the 'media', it is a perennial concern of mine that the news which gets to the consumer is such a poor replica of the world as it is constituted. Given the amazing tools at our disposal, isn't it time that we gave people all the information, rather than just tiny, hugely pre-digested nuggets? Nuggets which together form an idiotic whole. A 'whole' which not only distorts the world, but carries with it a heavy cargo of ideological content.

As the war between western propaganda and Wahhabist propaganda hots up, a massive gap in the market is becoming apparent- for a comprehensive, trustworthy, well-resourced news provider. Not a provider with the appearance of being one of those- we already have CNN, the BBC, FOX and quite a lot more. On my recent trip to the Netherlands, I had a chance to watch BBC World. Because it is not available in the UK, I don't get to see it much. Zienab Badawi, who seems to be permanently glued to the presenters chair at BBC World, is very much in the mainstream of lefty, UN-loving, America-hating, John Bolton-loathing BBC presenters. Speaking of whom, I was privileged to fly home with the latter today from Amsterdam. God Bless him, and keep his tongue as sharp as ever, and his brain as fast.

It may come as some surprise to my reader that I include FOX in my list of baddies, it being right-wing and all. Well, I may be partisan, but I'm not stupid. Sound journalism and accurate, honest, comprehensive reporting need to always come before propaganda-generation. Not that the latter isn't necessary, just much less important. What has happened at the BBC in particular is that agitation for the lefty-greeny world-view has gradually supplanted the primary task of getting the facts out for public viewing. The world, especially the lazy, rich western world, needs a trustworthy bearer of the facts. At the moment, we don't really have an excellent example of that.