Critical consumption - Saddam

Saddam Hussein: Yes its true he is a media personality now, after all the hype about his death and all the footage and the "hidden video" on his execution. No matter what happens, no matter how bad a person is, they do not deserve a death that becomes a public display or matter of dicussion. "After several months of hiding, he was captured by U.S forces and in 2006 the Iraqi High Tribunal sentenced him to death for crimes against humanity. Days after an Iraqi court upheld his sentence in December 2006, Saddam was executed. This certainly did become a big issue and if it wasnt for CNN or Al-Jazeera then, instead of everyone being dependant on Television for information, people would read more news and consume critical information. A "hero" for some and a "devil" for few. Two extremes that too, portrayed and created by the media. Everyone who has stereotype, prejudice against him are just curious and want to know or rather see, Saddam hussein and thus, out of frustration just control their emotions and make him the decision maker - The leader.

Saddam Hussein

I wouldn't say that Saddam is a hero, but I understand that there are a lot of people who would. However, no one can deny the great things that he’s done, they weren’t necessarily good but they were still great all the same. A lot of people would agree that he's a tyrant and he deserved to die, but in his defense, he killed a lot of people for the sake of his country, Iraq. He certainly did take zthe 'All for one and one for all' theory to heart. I was only a couple of years old when he invaded Iran, Kuwait and bombed Israel so I can't really speak of it. But I can speak of the years that followed Saddam's invasions. To this day, a lot of Kuwaitis and Iranians would judge an Iraqi person based on Saddam's doings. There is always a sense of awkwardness, some may even try to be civil but by the end of the day a lot of people don't get along because of what Saddam has done.

Another ongoing conflict would be the killings between the Sunni and the Shiites. "We are all Muslims" they say "we all believe in one God". Or so they claim. The Shiites claim that Allah is asking us to unite and not divide, despite the existence of different sects. The Sunni's argument, on the other hand, states that there shouldn't be different sects to start with, they didn't exist in the Prophet's (pbuh) time, why should they exist now?

Even after he has gone, Saddam is still an active part of the media today. He may not directly affect the media as other characters, but he’s still being mentioned in TV shows, movies, magazines and most importantly, as I’ve mentioned earlier in class, books. Saddam is not only making profit for the media, he is also attracting customers. People are buying magazines and books because Saddam is on the cover. Saddam himself is a controversial topic, the reason behind most debates that are going on today. Children are now interested in politics because of his either just or unfair trial. In my opinion, if just one form of media focuses on Saddam I’m pretty sure they would have the most of their audiences’ attention.

Saddam Hussein

I wouldn't say that Saddam is a hero, but I understand that there are a lot of people who would. However, no one can deny the great things that he’s done, they weren’t necessarily good but they were still great all the same. A lot of people would agree that he's a tyrant and he deserved to die, but in his defense, he killed a lot of people for the sake of his country, Iraq. He certainly did take zthe 'All for one and one for all' theory to heart. I was only a couple of years old when he invaded Iran, Kuwait and bombed Israel so I can't really speak of it. But I can speak of the years that followed Saddam's invasions. To this day, a lot of Kuwaitis and Iranians would judge an Iraqi person based on Saddam's doings. There is always a sense of awkwardness, some may even try to be civil but by the end of the day a lot of people don't get along because of what Saddam has done.

Another ongoing conflict would be the killings between the Sunni and the Shiites. "We are all Muslims" they say "we all believe in one God". Or so they claim. The Shiites claim that Allah is asking us to unite and not divide, despite the existence of different sects. The Sunni's argument, on the other hand, states that there shouldn't be different sects to start with, they didn't exist in the Prophet's (pbuh) time, why should they exist now?

Even after he has gone, Saddam is still an active part of the media today. He may not directly affect the media as other characters, but he’s still being mentioned in TV shows, movies, magazines and most importantly, as I’ve mentioned earlier in class, books. Saddam is not only making profit for the media, he is also attracting customers. People are buying magazines and books because Saddam is on the cover. Saddam himself is a controversial topic, the reason behind most debates that are going on today. Children are now interested in politics because of his either just or unfair trial. In my opinion, if just one form of media focuses on Saddam I’m pretty sure they would have the most of their audiences’ attention.

Saddam Husein: The Hero, The murderer, and the president

When i think of Saddam Husein, I can not stop myself from thinking of blood, evil, and dark ages. Since I am an Iraqi-Kurd, I developed my opinion by experience my parents and myself had in Saddam's presidency. First of all, I know as Iraqis our right of having freedom of speech and acts in our own country was taken from us by an unfair person. Apart from what the media says, as a personal experience, uninfluenced by media, Saddam was a murderer and dictator who was unfair and brutal to his own people. Although Saddam did bomb Israel in 1991 and despite the doubts about his intentions behind such an act, it was to a certain extent a heroic thing to do, but it would have been much more heroic if he tried to help his own people in other ways that would make them happier to live in their country rather than finding a chance to leave it. Moreover, as a president, Saddam did manage to raise the economic level in the country, and he also did manage to keep things under control. Now the media did change our perception of things Saddam did in his life, the reason behind that was, in my opinion, a competition between a multiple of networks that were competing to deliver and make people believe their message. Usually, people who watch Al-Jazeera frequently, are usually the Saddam or even anti-US extremists, so when this network say something good about the US, the viewers would get disappointed and maybe this would drop the level of audience the network has. On the other hand, CNN audience are usually more liberal and do not support Saddam and usually do support the US, so when such a network say something good about Saddam Husein, this would maybe offend some people and disappoint them and this would also drop the level of audience this network has. So, in my opinion, its all about number of viewers=income. Recently, media is being used to decrease the number of extremists and terrorists in our territory, something not being used on networks like Al-Jazeera, which creates many doubts about its intentions; however it is being used on more liberal and open networks like Al-Arabia, which is a network that is more moderist and liberal rather than extremist and closed. Media, did change some people's ideas and opinion about Saddam Husein, but in the end, just like any other person, Saddam has the bad and the good side, andd he chose to give the bad to his people and the bad to his outside countries. In addition to that, Saddam's execution was definetly a media attraction because it was a turning point in the Iraqi history, where many people were trying to show other Iraqis that the dark ages of our country is over and new era is going to begin, which as Iraqis, we haven't seen yet...

The Execution of Saddam

I am not interested in politics. But talking about saddam, it’s a special case. It’s so sad that you see a big figure in the Arab world get humiliated and degraded in this way. Saddam may have done some bad actions and activities but that don’t give them the right to lower him in front the public, nation and his people. In saddam’s execution period, all media contents were about saddam’s case; they showed saddam as a weak person that don’t belong to a nation; execute him in a day that Muslims suppose to be happy and live peacefully in that day. Media were unfair with saddam, I wished that they didn’t show the pictures and videos of his execution specially in that day because I consider it insulting to all Muslims, no matter what have he done they where not suppose to show his execution in a day that all Muslim celebrate; in a period of time media made saddam a hero but later on he became a zero. Media played a big role in saddam’s reputation where all of us were confused of what to believe. In my opinion, I think that saddam is a hero because that what westerns want us not to believe, and most of Arab people will think like this .This example “the execution of saddam” is one of the examples that show how powerful is media in our world, it’s a field were companies of media get competed with each other to get the latest news no matter what and in some cases some companies don’t care if the news that they’re publishing where from reality or not. So, we’ve better trust and believe a news source that have a well reputation in the world, because not all of what we hear is correct and true.

Saddam

I get directly influenced by the mass media channels and messages. I’m not even interested in politics so when I hear a news through a news channel, I don’t ask myself if it’s true or not. Unfortunately it has reached a point that I don’t trust news channels and I don’t even bother to double check on them. I hear a message from a channel about an issue, few moments later I change the channel and I get a message contradicting the last one!
Saddam Hussein’s case should be similar to what I said previously. It is the news channel that decides if he is a hero or a villain not me. However, There are different alternative ways to solve the problem. Considering the wars occurring between Iran and Iraq, Iraq and Kuwait and United States and Iraq, It’s easy to know who is guilty or not. Some one who always gets into trouble more than once and twice is not accidental. Saddam deserved much worse than just death. Fortunately, everyone is better off now.

Saddam Hussein

This is Wissam Hassan's Post:

No doubt that the media plays a major role in restructuring the image of any significant character in the world. Is it considered the only mean of communication and without it we would never know what is happing in the outer world therefore, we are greatly influenced by the ways a message is delivered to us and our perception is reshaped constantly as the message changes.

Saddam had a great significance not only to Iraqi people but also the rest of the world. But if I would portray him in terms of the media, I would say that he was just a tool or a toy in the hands of a bigger power and his case opened our eyes to the power of media which took place in three different phases:

In 1980, Iraq concurred Iran in an unfortunate massacre that led to the death of thousands of Kurds. Yet the western and the Arabic Media portrayed him as a hero who is defending his country and standing against the enemy. He was also defined as the defender of not only the Arab world but also the Muslim World when he stood against Israel. People forgot about the fact that he was responsible for the Sunni-Shiites conflict and the murder of many of his people due to his autocratic way of ruling. We also should not forget the effect of American and the Western media. The American forces supplied Saddam with all kind of weapons to defeat Iran.

After that comes the Iraqi-American war and according to Bush, Saddam and the Iraqi militants possessed weapons of mass-destruction and as a result of these accusations, Saddam was portrayed by the western media as a terrorist. Therefore suddenly his image shifted from being a defender of a nation to a monster swallowing his victims. His people turned against him, which was very clearly demonstrated after the American victory when the Iraqi citizens destroyed his statue.

To be honest, I am not trying to say that I am with or against Saddam, but it is very disappointing to know a fact that no matter how a powerful a figure can be, our perception to this character can be easily changed or manipulated depending on the event or what the media decides to spoon-feed us today. If CNN or AL-jazzira did not exist or didn’t have the power, Saddam would have not stayed longer in power and probably we as Arabs would have preceded the facts differently.

Saddam Hussain- hero or murderer?

As an Iraqi myself, I feel that it wouldn’t matter what positive aspect or image of Saddam Hussain Al Jazzera or even CNN would show, it wouldn’t change my mine and perhaps many others, about being against his regime, even if the world was free from CNN or Al Jazzera.

As I mentioned in my reply to Hoors post, 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 in their views! Saddam Hussain is known as a hero or a murderer depending on where you are from and your political stand. What is shown by these contrasting channels just puts emphasis on how most already view Saddam with what they’ve experienced or heard; a murderer or a hero.

It is true that Saddam Hussain has been under the intensive news reports and has been under the light in the cases of the incidents with the Kurds, Iranians, and the Gulf and US-Iraq War and finally his execution and that has given a great “media effect” and changed his image upon the world from what was viewed in these cases, yet I feel that those people that have experienced or have seen his action, would not have a change of perception upon him even after seeing the different views of him from CNN or Al Jazzera.
On the other hand, I do agree that others seeing one of these channels would have a one sided impression of him but many do or should have an open mind and think outside the box when seeing such news.

There are still a large number of audiences for both CNN and Al Jazzera, who still get a one-sided story of the news even after Saddam Hussains execution although I feel more people are more critical on what they take from each of the sources.

Saddam Hussein

Media is our means of communication and there is no denial in its enormous function in manipulating the facts and representing them as a reality to people who in turn get affected by it. Peoples perspectives and beliefs about politics in general and public figures in specific are changed, modified and altered in accordance to what is being represented in the media.

If we take Saddam Hussein as a public figure and investigate how the media affected his image it is only fair to not generalize because it all depends on your position from all of the events that were taking place. For somebody who is living in the area and very close to Iraq, we know the facts before they were even represented by CNN and Al-Jazzera because we lived it and were physically and mentally part of it. The acts that Saddam preformed on his people whether in Al Dujail or in the south was brutal and inhumane. He ruled by a regime that was worst than the military regime on its own. People despised his torturing strategies; however, once Iraq went to the war with Iran, media represented Saddam in a different manner to the point that his own people who were tortured by him completely changed their perspective about that domineering, arbitrary leader to perceive him as a hero and a protector as well as classifying him as a “Sword of the Arabs” and “ Guardian of the Eastern Gate”. The Western media or Eastern media, not to forget that it is under the influence of the west, was hiding Saddam’s government fear of the Shiites coming from Iran to empower its own Shiite. Not to forget that the United States and its powerful media played a big role during the war with Iran. The U.S. provided Saddam with the weapons and training that was necessary for him to go through this war and then the facts were twisted through media and represented to people differently. Saddam is the owner of the weapons of mass destruction. One day the media is with Saddam providing him with support and the other day they are against him.

All of these were facts whether they were true or false and regardless of what the media said, we as people living in the east of Saudi Arabia and from Iraqi descends were not affected by the media. The fact that we believed in is that almost all means of media serve certain people and certain politics. I am not disregarding the influence of media. Yes media definitely effect and change peoples perspective in how they perceive a specific figure for those who are unaware of the facts and unaware of media’s propaganda. Because media now and has been all about political strategies to manipulate those who don’t investigate for themselves.

I have to admit that I was always pretty neutral when the topic of Saddam was being addressed.
First of all, I was never at all into politics, and secondly, I'm not an Arab. However from what I've heard about him from most people, and the way that he was portrayed in the Western media, it didn't take me very long to figure out that he was seen as a villain by many people. I am not really sure how accurate this image is as there are still some people out there who regard him as their hero, but invariably the media was trying to show him in a very negative way.

His execution was a media event too, and that is where I think the line was crossed.
I'm not saying this because I think it was bad for the kids (there's so much of violence shown on Tv these days that I think one execution couldn't have had as devastating an effect as some people made it out to be).
However personally, putting someone's death on display to millions of people (consindering the fact that it was real) is just not very ethical in my opinion.
It is almost as if they were trying to prove to people, that they really killed him sending out a future warning to others.

This obviously had varying effects on people too - some were rejoicing, others saw it as a loss of their beloved leader... others still believed it to be a mere hoax.

To me, no matter how "evil" Saddam might have been, I still don't think it was right to execute him in front of all these cameras and play it on Tv. One could argue that he too, executed so many people so it was a righteous way of punishing and humiliating him but personally watching an execution is not something that I'd be terribly fond of, hence I didn't even watch it.

sadam hussein

As a non Iraqi or Kuwaiti, I was never influenced negatively or positively by Sadam’s ruling of Iraq. However, I believe that he had committed many criminal acts that are worth punishments. I am completely against his method of dealing with his country's issues. In addition, from my point of view, he was a butcher rather than a president. However, none of us can deny the fact that he was the only person who was able to put the country together and not to cause civil wars as the case is right now. Moreover, I strongly believe that the Iraqis only have the right to punish him or have a rebellion against him. As most people I think that I have created this opinion about Sadam with no influences enforced on me. However, I don’t think this is the case anymore. Everyday CNN, AL Jazeera etc broadcast different portrays about Sadam. One day they portray him as the hero that had always stood up for the Arabs dignity infornt of the western, and the other day they portray him as the heartless monster that had killed many children and citizens with no right. What really helped changing people’s opinion about sadam and making him more of a hero in their eyes is the appearance of a more hated enemy to the Arab world which is the US. Regardless my opinion, the mass media has a strong and direct effect on its audiences, since it is the main source of knowledge for most of us. How will I know what is happening in Iraq nowadays, the only possible answer is through the news. The media can easily control its audiences feelings, whether transforming them to anger enthusiasm or happiness or whatsoever, for example, the incident of Sadam’s assassination on the first day of eid, the media really affected peoples feelings, it was more of a media effect than an assassination of a president’s event in which it is prohibited by religion to kill anyone on that holy day. However, I think they have chosen this day purposely in order to serve the propaganda that they are creating. What most people ignore is that the media channels don’t represent the truth as it is exactly. They have an agenda that they have to fulfill.

sadam hussein

As a non Iraqi or Kuwaiti, I was never influenced negatively or positively by Sadam’s ruling of Iraq. However, I believe that he had committed many criminal acts that are worth punishments. I completely against his method of dealing with his countries issue. In addition, from my point of view, he was a butcher rather than a president. However, none of us can deny the fact that he was the only person who was able to put the country together and not to cause civil wars as what is happening right now. Moreover, I strongly believe that the Iraqis only have the right to punish him or have a rebellion against him. As most people I think that I have created this opinion about Sadam with no influences enforced on me. However, I don’t think this is the case anymore. Everyday CNN, AL Jazeera etc broadcast different portrays about Sadam. One day they portray him as the hero that had always stood up for the Arabs dignity infornt of the western, and the other day they portray him as the heartless monster that had killed many children and citizens with no right. What really helped changing people’s opinion about sadam and making him more of a hero in their eyes is the appearance of a more hated enemy to the Arab world which is the US. Regardless my opinion, the mass media has a strong and direct effect on its audiences, since it is the main source of knowledge for most of us. How will I know what is happening in Iraq nowadays, the only possible answer is through the news. The media can easily control its audiences feelings, whether transforming them to anger enthusiasm or happiness or whatsoever, for example, the incident of Sadam’s assassination on the first day of eid, the media really affected peoples feelings, it was more of a media effect than an assassination of a president’s event in which it is prohibited by religion to kill anyone on that holy day. However, I think they have chosen this day purposely in order to serve the propaganda that they are creating. What most people ignore is that the media channels don’t represent the truth as it is exactly. They have an agenda that they have to fulfill.

Sadam Hussein

Sadam Hussein was a hero in my opinion. No matter what the media said about him, he will stay a hero. Because he didn’t just surrender for the enemy. He fought, and stood up right there. No one of us can talk about the reasons of his defeat. The media effect on his image was unbelievable. For a very long time the media was concerned about Sadam and what do people think about him. It influenced people view of his personality in two ways. People who didn’t know much about Sadam agreed that he is an evil. They thought like this because the media and the Americans were trying to make him look like that. But the media and Americans didn’t show and tell people about things he did for his country and Arabs. In the other hand, people who know about Sadam and his achievements didn’t care about what the media said. They knew who Sadam is, and they were against the media sayings about him. If he wasn’t a hero, Americans wouldn’t pay that much attention to him. In fact, people believe are different but if some one changed his/her believe because of what said in the media. Then this person didn’t believe anything before. Of course all the news channels showed Sadam as “the bad person” because as I said they didn’t show anything good abut him, while there were a lot of good things he did. If the news channels reports were really honest and clean, people would have seen the truth and no one would’ve been against Sadam.

Saddam Hussein

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.

Saddam & the Media

No matter of what we think of Saddam Husein, he is a media personality. He was under the intensive news media reports and documentaries for decades. these reports and programmes have influenced our views and perception of Saddam Husein and his legacy. many observers believe that his execution was a media event in itself. On the one hand is has been reported and described as "evil" for not only what he did for his people, but also for disturbing the international stability. on the other hand he was viewed and presented as " a hero" for bombing Israel in 1991 and then for defying the number one global super power the Us administration and their "imperialist forces".
It is interesting to look at the "media effect" on his image and on his legacy. And what would be his image if the world was free from the CNN and Al jazzera as well as other international news channels or if they were more critical and professional in their news reports.
do you think that his case would encourage more critical consumption/ reading of the news from the audience side?

Music Videos Nowadays,

Hi everyone,

When we talk about music, we should talk about something fancy and superior, something that reflects our culture and community. Nowadays, when we open our TV, most of the music videos that we watch are against our religion and culture. And in a pathetic way most of the Arab singers have gone away from their traditions were their main idea and purpose is to grab peoples attention by many stupid unpromising ideas and by showing unmoral materials that people can hardly watch with their kids, no matter what even if they didn’t have the gift and the talent of singing; the most important thing is to spread out their product without caring about their audience. Music is a tool that is suppose to reflect a countries culture not to make fun and a joke of the country it self. We all should keep in mind that there are kids also are watching TV not just adults; the governments as will should really take a good care of this issue because it’s like a deasiese that kills slowly, it spoils our kids mind. Our kids are our future; we should feed their brains with something useful and beneficial so that they can be good citizens in their bright future.

music industry

1-Does the media (music industry in this case) lead or follow society?
It depends on the society we are discussing, for a person that was born and lived in the UAE the society its different, I lived in a Muslim society where women are covered and its unethical for them to do such thing, such as go on television half naked and appearing with men in a very sexual way.
And at the same time, I think its not much of a society as much as it’s an act that is unethical because they portray women in a way where they are dolls played with and dressed up, if they barley are wearing anything. Women to them are like objects that are there for sexual needs or just body images not as intelligent people.

2-Opinion on how far do you think the music industry in its present shape does influence our cultural values? Consider this with special regard to youth, relationships and physical intimacy.
In my opinion I think that the music industry and what it has become has influenced young teenagers in a very negative way, teenagers are very influenced by the media and the media doesn’t portray ethical values, teenagers nowadays are dressing up like women on TV, makeup and having relationships with the other gender with is not part of their social values. In a way it also influences relationships because on of them may start to expect more from the significant other which is not part of their values.


3-Would you agree that they have a political agenda?
Somehow it does have a political agenda for the reason that this country is starting to be more westernized by the minute, they are copying how people act when it comes to issues such as drinking alcohol, pre marital sex and, their dress codes. Women on tv on Arabic music channels are acting the same way, maybe it got to an extreme where the singers don’t have good voices, they are putting themselves out on tv for a show by the way they sing, dress, or act

4-Do you agree that the music industry can be a useful tool in increasing people's awareness of their social problems, with especial regard to the developing countries? How?
It is supposed to increase awareness and to show people that what is happening is wrong but instead they are encouraging it and they are not acting upon it and a way to show that is that there is a new “singer” coming out everyday with new moves and new way of look.