I recently posted something about a documentary film made in Iraq last year. The novel idea was to distribute 150 digital video cameras to ordinary Iraqi citizens and let them shoot whatever they want, then pass the cameras along to someone else, after which the producers would compile the footage. The result was “Voices of Iraq”.
[…] In one scene from “Voices of Iraq,” a family celebrates a child’s birthday party. In another, students at Baghdad University rush off to classes. … “That’s what it’s really like in Iraq,” says [co-producer Archie] Drury, 32, who attended UC Berkeley after getting out of the Marines. “In concentrated areas, of course, you’re going to have more negativity, like in Fallujah. But if you take the mass of the country, it’s a different view. And for whatever reason, the media is just concentrating on the negative stories. So (Americans) get the idea that it’s worse than it really is. Overall, I don’t think the media has told the story fairly. There are a lot of positive things going on.”
…Which sounds very familliar to those who read my January 18 post called Iraq soldier writes: “Media’s coverage has distorted world’s view of Iraqi reality”. In it, I quoted a currently serving soldier in Iraq who wrote:
The inaccurate picture they paint has distorted the world view of the daily realities in Iraq. The result is a further erosion of international support for the United States’ efforts there, and a strengthening of the insurgents’ resolve and recruiting efforts while weakening our own. Through their incomplete, uninformed and unbalanced reporting, many members of the media covering the war in Iraq are aiding and abetting the enemy.
The fact is the Coalition is making steady progress in Iraq, but not without ups and downs. So why is it that no matter what events unfold, good or bad, the media highlights mostly the negative aspects of the event? The journalistic adage, “If it bleeds, it leads,” still applies in Iraq, but why only when it’s American blood?
Archie Drury says the producers of Voices of Iraq are working on a distribution deal that could put their documentary on DVD in video stores this summer.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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