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| American's celebrating at Ground Zero upon hearing the news that Osama Bin Laden was killed in a U.S. Navy lead raid in Pakistan. source: Bryan Pace for News from NyDailyNews.com |
“The news touched off an extraordinary outpouring of emotion as the crowds gathered outside the White House, in Times Square and at the ground zero site, waving American flags, cheering, shouting, laughing and chanting, “U.S.A., U.S.A.!,” said a New York Times article published the day of Osama Bin Laden’s death. Across the board, western news outlets released article after article glorifying the news, making sure to include American’s nationalism within the first 3-5 paragraphs of their articles. Most articles published from American media organizations took the stance of extreme pride, glory, and fulfillment but at the same time expressed the warning that this is only the beginning of the end. In an Associated Press article, CIA Director Leon Panetta congratulated the [CIA] for its work however cautioned, “Bin Laden is dead. Al-Qaeda is not.” This was a reflection of what multiple American media outlets published, to contrast the positivity and to take a politically correct approach to the situation. Media outlets across the globe took varied approaches in the ways that they chose to cover Osama Bin Laden’s death, some were just as enthralled as the United States, others were impartial and many were critical, revealing a broad spectrum of reporting in a diverse world.
El Universal, a Mexican news organization published an article that was extremely positive and appeared to be dipping in the dangerous waters of propaganda. In article discussing the “world’s most wanted terrorist”, they stated, “This death and the leadership shown by the president in his extraordinary speech announcing the death of Osama, Obama will probably be re-elected in the United States.” This article is not listed as an opinion column and reflects how closely opinion is intertwined with the news in other countries. Mexican media took a very positive approach to the famous death and even published articles for example, from the outlet The News, solely devoted to the concept of how this will have a positive effect on the economy. The positive response to Bin Laden’s death was not only seen in regions geographically close to the United States, but around the world as well.
Thai news media outlet, the Bangkok Post, released an article in response to the terrorist’s death stating, “The killing of Osama bin Laden by an elite US military team is a singular achievement in the long fight against terrorism that affects the world. His death could help bring justice to thousands and closure to millions.” The article even goes on to refer to Bin Laden’s followers as “evil associates.” This language reveals how supportive the region is of the operation and puts the United States military on a pedestal. However, Thailand’s news coverage differed from Mexico’s because they also had many articles focusing on Thailand’s internal security and safety. The Bangkok Post published several articles with headlines such as “No Bin Laden Backlash Here” or “City Hall Refines Anti-Terrorist Plan” demonstrating how strong internal efforts were to instill calm on the Thai people and to promote an overall positive and controlled situation. Thailand was not the only country to focus on the internal effects of the death, it was seen in numerous reports within the international community.
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| United States military helicopter that crashed during the Osama Bin Laden raid. This represents the first contact that American's had on Pakistan soil. source: Feratri |
Pakistani media approached the event with a very critical standpoint, starting with their own country. In an article in the Pakistani newspaper The Frontier Post, stated, “The killing of Osama Bin Laden inside Pakistan has brought to fore some stark realities. First the invasion of airspace, then the landing of American boots on Pakistan soil, any doubts about the role that Pakistan has in its relationship with its favorite ally have been removed.” This response parallels the reaction of the Pakistani people and government upon hearing the news with the rest of the world. Their coverage was very different than other media outlets in the international community due to the fact that the American operation took place on Pakistani soil and this opened up a new conversation. In other regions, many media outlets did not report on why Pakistan’s government was not involved and did not bring up the core issues that make up the “why” and “how” elements of the event. Although Pakistani media took a more analytical approach, other countries left any sense of being “unbiased” out the window and charged right into attacking the United States’ actions as a result of Osama Bin Laden’s death.
The Iranian news outlet IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency), published a report that claimed to represent all American viewpoints but stands extremely inaccurate and misrepresented. They interviewed 75 Americans at the Manhattan World Trade Center site when the news of Bin Laden’s death came out and reported that Obama was more focused on finding Osama Bin Laden than jobs or the economy. It said that they people believed that their welfare was not a priority before the capture of Osama Bin Laden was complete. These results were published as an attempt to depict the president in a bad light and represent the bias that media outlets can get away with due to the politics and government in the region.
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| Moroccans protesting against Osama Bin Laden's Death. These people claim that he is their hero and martyr. source: Al Arabiya Article |
Moroccan news coverage of the much-publicized death was very critical of the United States and featured much speculation. An article from Al Arabiya News, a Moroccan news source states, “If Al-Qaeda suffered a major loss with the death of Osama Bin Laden, so did its nemesis: the vast governmental anti-terrorism bureaucracies and the sprawling private sector that has mushroomed around it.” This article is not listed under opinion, but clearly reveals the opinion of the author in the piece. Al Arabiya’s approach to Osama Bin Laden’s death was unique in the sense that it offered a very different and critical perspective that is not seen in any of the news across the world in the reporting of this event.
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| Osama Bin Laden taking a moment of silence at the memorial honoring 9-11 victims. Many countries are not happy with President Obama and the fact that they killed Osama Bin Laden. source: USA TODAY article |
A South African news source, IOL News quoted the secretary of the Young Communist League in an article titled Osama’s Death Exposes U.S. Brutality stating, “The killing of Bin Laden was an eye-opener to the brutality of the United States.” In addition the secretary went on to say “[the U.S.] is nothing but invaders and their anti-terrorism campaign is the greatest cover-up of their own terrorism.” Due to the fact that the publication even published these quotes and wrote the headline in the way that they did reveals the high skepticism and criticism South African media has in regards to the United State’s Osama Bin Laden kill. This was one of the most biased publications that I came across and exemplifies how easily one event can be manipulated and reported on to produce any type of biased content you wish to feed to the public.
It is evident that news can be easily manipulated, tossed around, and funneled into an entirely different story. Each country has their own perspective and way of reporting to get the message that they see out to the public through their own cognitive lens. Comparing and contrasting all of the countries and then coming full circle and looking at our own it is hard not to ignore the bias. To our media, Osama Bin Laden’s death was a victorious triumph and a glorious celebration, whereas to other countries, it was a major security threat or trespass of human rights. It was interesting to see how easily we can absorb all of the information in our news without thinking twice about it. This exercise clearly shows how diverse our world is and how something that seems like straightforward news can be broken into bits and pieces and analyzed from multiple angles.
