Interesting Video - Can the Media Be Trusted?

A friend brought this video to my attention, and I thought it might be worthy of discussion. For those who choose not to watch it (you probably should if you're able), it presents numerous examples that the authors (of the video) believe demonstrate that the news media have doctored photos of the destruction in Lebanon in order to create more sympathy for the Lebanese, and less for the Israelis. Aish.com is a Jewish website, but I'm not sure who produced the video itself.

First, I think that if these examples are true, they are undoubtedly problematic. I would probably quibble with a couple examples - most notably the woman decrying the destruction of her home. Just because one photo came out several weeks after the first does not necessarily indicate an attempt to mislead - for whatever reason, it was simply published later than the other. However, I have no trouble believing that some of these photos were indeed staged, which certainly highlights the fact that some reporters are not honest in the way they report the news, and it is always good to think critically about what we are told.

However, I cannot help but think that the same should apply to watching this video. While I don't doubt that some of what it says is true, I do think that we should think critically when viewing this "expose" just as we should when dealing with any other piece of reporting. The video is obviously put together by someone who supports Israel's current actions against Hezbollah in Lebanon. While this is not necessarily problematic, it is nonetheless true that this report is every bit as informed by the author's agenda as any other report. I guess I'm just a little troubled because I see political conservatives talk about the left's "agenda" quite a bit, and I think we need to remember that both sides have an agenda, and both sides are full of rhetoric. Legitimate complaints have been advanced against the so-called "liberal" media (and I view this video as one of those complaints), but there are also legitimate complaints against news sources like Fox News, which in my estimation is also far from an impartial news source.

The question remains - should this video have some impact upon those who believe that Israel has acted inappropriately in the current conflict? The authors of the video clearly believe it does - the entire video seems to argue that the fact that these photos are doctored indicates that what is going on in Lebanon is not as bad as has been reported, and that the damage is being exaggerated to turn people against Israel. The response the authors of the video seem to desire is for people to accept that news reports have been falsified, and to support Israel's actions based upon this information.

I'm not sure, however, that the video accomplishes this purpose - at least it didn't in my case. While it is certainly an indictment of some of the techniques used to "report" the news, it had little impact on my thinking regarding the current conflict - mainly because my reasons for thinking that Israel has gone too far are based upon accounts from multiple news sources (including those favorable towards Israel's actions like Fox News), not upon pictures from the media. The possibility that some of the pictures taken in Lebanon are doctored really does not affect the validity or non-validity of the arguments against (or for) Israel's actions in the current conflict.