A photo too good to miss

by Bob Boynton
The United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon went to Iraq — unannounced, of course. Unannounced is the way all foreign dignitaries visit Iraq these days.
This is what he was told by prime minister Maliki
“We consider it [the visit] a positive message to world in which you [Ban] confirm that Baghdad has returned to [...]

This is 50

by Bob Boynton
This is it — number 50.

When I started I did not know how far it would go. It has gotten to 50. This is the 50th blog entry at Globalizing News.
It has been going for 15 weeks. That is an average of 3.3 entries per week. Since I was on holiday at Christmas [...]

Slipped in and slipped out again

by Bob Boynton
Al-Zawahiri was back just in time for valentine day [February 14].

This time it was an audio tape so they had to use a photo they already had on hand. Apparently photos of al-Zawahiri are in short supply since this is the same photo they used only a few days earlier. See When Al-Zawahiri [...]

One photographer is enough

by Bob Boynton
Two of Saddam’s men followed him to the gallows. These are the photos used in reporting the news.
Perhaps one photographer is enough.
Aljazeera [Arabic]

Aljazeera [English]

CNN World

BBC World

Interpretation
Who knows? This is carrying similarity to the extreme.
News Reports
Aljazeera [Arabic]
http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E7DBFC45-790A-48E3-AC16-9012517D43B9.htm
Aljzaeera [English]
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/55ABE840-AC30-41D2-BDC9-06BBE2A36665.htm
CNN World
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/
BBC World
http://www.bbcworld.com/content/template_newsheadlines.asp?pageid=71

The last word

by Bob Boynton
The president spoke and in the ‘instant communication’ of the contemporary world Aljazeera [English], BBC World, and CNN World reported within an hour. Of course, they, and everyone else in the know, knew what he was going to say. They could have written the reports in advance and made them public upon his [...]

Without a plan

by Bob Boynton
What was it everyone thought they learned from the ‘last’ war? Vietnam, the war that ended as unsuccessfully as Mr. Bush’s Iraq war has played itself out, ended with a unanimous chant?
For twenty-five years all one heard was: no military adventure without “a well developed exit strategy.”
This is a man without an exit [...]

Aljazeera — The struggle for soul #2

by Bob Boynton
The exact quotation is:
Riz Kahn says the principal U.S. objection to al-Jazeera is that it has been too frank in its reporting on American military power, but he contends that holding the powerful to account is nothing to be ashamed of. American news channels tend to “show the missiles taking off,” Kahn says. [...]

When a photograph does most of the work

by Bob Boynton
US death toll reaches 3,000 in Iraq, Aljazeera [English]
Mr. Bush’s war reached a milestone that was recognized by Aljazeera [English], BBC World, CNN World, and many other news organizations as well as by many, many people.
The report of Aljazeera [English] was brief and very similar to the report of BBC World [see [...]

A magic number: 3,000

by Bob Boynton
US death toll reaches 3,000 in Iraq, Aljazeera [English]
US Iraq death toll ‘hits 3,000′, BBC World
U.S. troop deaths reach 3,000, CNN World
Journalists are ‘believers’ in magic numbers — numbers that are striking, numbers that make us take notice, numbers that a wide audience will find meaningful.
3,000 is such a magic number. All three [...]

The view from . . .

by Bob Boynton
“Iraqi and Iranian authorities slammed the United States on Monday for having arrested several Iranians who were visiting Iraq. [CNN World, December 25, 2006]
CNN World began their report on the arrest with this strong first sentence. The US was slammed.
Aljazeera [English] began their report on the same event with a rather more measured [...]