There is not doubt that the media plays a big role in shaping the character's of public figures, and influencing people's perception of them. Princess Diana and Adolph Hitler can be used as good examples of how the media portrays the good and the bad. Diana was a loved public figure, and the media kept emphasizing all of her good deeds and her humane nature for the world to see. After her death, when all the affair scandals were rising, there was no great emphasis on them, and her image now is barely tainted, taking her down in history as the people's princess. Hitler on the other hand gained a lot of his legitimacy in World War l by his charismatic nature back then, but nowadays when we watch movies and read articles on him, the emphasis is on his evil nature and all the wrong-doings he commited. We can clearly see how the media aids in our perception that he was an evil person, and I'm sure most of us agree with this point of view.
Saddam Hussein is not any different. No matter what he did, the media played a big role in making him out to be as a hero or a villain. When he first started ruling Iraq, he kind of maintained the countries stability and put a leash on internal conflicts between groups like Shiaa's and Sunnis. How he did so (by means of force or brutality or whatnot) is irrelevant here, it's the perception people had of him that is the issue. The media did not scrutinize him much until the Iran-Iraq wars and the Gulf War. After those wars, Saddam's image wasn't the best, and as a media personality, he was anything but loved amongst the majority.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq by the US did not help things. All the news channels were flooded with the now infamous footage of Iraqis pulling down the big statue of Saddam Hussein, making him out to be a villain, and losing his political legitimacy amongst the people for the world to see. And then came the footage of the Iraqi soldiers capturing him while he was in hiding, making him a joke in front of the world. The following trials weren't any better. His constant ridiculous behavior in the courtroom did not help with his image in the least.
Then came the turning point: the execution. Iraqis, Muslims, and Arabs woke up on Eid morning only to be surprised by the shocking news and footage of the execution of Saddam Hussein. The video sparked controversy. It was an "alleged" leak from someones mobile phone which found its way into the press. Suddenly, everyone was sorry for Saddam and coming to his defense. His death was being called "tragic". People started acting like he was such a hero, and he did not deserve to be condemned for his acts after watching him being executed. I don't think the media intended for the video to have a positive impact on Saddam's image at all, but regardless, that is kind of what happened.
To this day, I don't get it. You have a powerful leader who commited many crimes against humanity in his lifetime, and people hate him for these crimes, and then you kill him, and he is loved and admired. I think it's difficult to form a real opinion on Saddam, or any other public or political figure, because most of our perceptions about them are based on what the media caters to us, and what the media caters is very limited, and they cater what they want to cater according to whatever agenda they have. At the end of the day, the media is a tool, and people use it to do many things, including shaping public opinions on specific people.
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3 comments:
I do not believe that the footage of Saddam Hussein’s execution was really leaked. For it seems to me all of this is nothing but a plan that was strategically calculated from all angles. People started questioning the fact that Saddam’s execution took place in Ead which went to his defense by gaining the sympathy of people; however, I believe that the United States wanted to communicate the message that they have “helped” us Muslims by taking him out of the regime and have executed him in a holy day for us as a way of celebration to get rid of a demeaning animal. Don’t mistake me for a supporter to the U.S. vicious acts all I am saying is that they are trying to manipulate us through their media to believe that they are on our side which is nothing but a lie that served against them by generating hatred toward the power that they were representing; however, I do not understand how some people will give their sympathy and regrets to such an oppressor.
I absolutely agree with you Hoor, as this is the case with every news that is shown on channels such as CNN and Al Jazzera. They each give us one side of a story in order to gain their support on an issue or to be able to brainwash us with that news! When, for example, Al Jazzera would show how the American treated the Iraqi civilians like animals and CNN would show how Arabs were animals and how they would treat the Americans fighting in Iraq! If one was to just watch Al Jazzera, they wouldn’t see the other side and this is the case with many other news stories, especially those shown on these two new channels which are very contrasting!
This is Wissam Hassan's comment:
The way the media has portrayed his execution has left people around the world in shock, even to the extent of feeling sympathy with him. So, the result proved to be exactly the opposite of what some American Congressmen wanted. The party of Bush even lost because of how the media has reported his judgment and death sentence. Sure, if we had left the audience to judge him from the very beginning, there would have been more fairness and better critical judgment.
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