TV's patriot games encourage hate, violence

BY JOSH DRIMMER

SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES

But unlike most of that 80 percent, my roommates and I laughed at quite a lot of what we saw, and believe it or not, we actually aren't insensitive bastards. Tuesday's tragedy was the sort of event that could easily crush anyone's sense of humor, and considering the almost joke-free editions of Letterman and Leno that have already aired, and the postponed return of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, our national sense of humor hasn't recovered yet. Nevertheless, if you were sitting on our couch as a Fox News commentator made one of the most obvious statements of all time—"The key is to prevent American terrorist attacks so that American citizens don't die"—you would have laughed too. Loudly.

TV coverage of the events wasn't too bad overall; I have a new respect for CNN's ubiquitous iron man, Aaron Brown—the Cal Ripken, Jr. of television media—and television was unquestionably the best place to get minute-by-minute updates, particularly when Internet sites were overloaded with millions of hits. Other than the tendency of a few networks to continually replay footage of people jumping from the crumbling Twin Towers, almost to the leapers' point of impact, the brutality of the attack was shown with appropriate distance from the bloody streets, so that victims' families didn't have to see the few remains of their loved ones on live TV. But the media played a lot of patriot games with troubling holes in its coverage and a few outright lies, and I'm not even referring to CNN's odd (though amusing) choice to bring the author of Patriot Games, Tom Clancy, as an expert commentator on the very day of the attacks.

First, there were the continual shots of Palestinian children celebrating in the streets, eating candy, delighted to see Americans die. These images incensed many Americans far more than the bombing itself. After watching this celebration, one friend of mine told me, "We should be carpet bombing them right now. Right there." The video's authenticity has come under question: a University of Iowa professor claims the footage is remarkably similar to footage of Palestinian celebration shown during the Gulf War, while other sources note that the children's indulging of candy is a ritual common to the end of Ramadan, so the celebration may well have been taken out of context. However, even assuming that the children truly were celebrating our loss, the sheer number of times many networks showed the video was excessive, almost to the point of hate-baiting.

Second, later in the week, while the names of the passengers of the four planes and headlines such as "Flag sales up 75 percent at Wal-Mart" blinked by, there was remarkably little coverage of the ugly anti-Arab backlash mixed in with video of prayer vigils, senators singing "God Bless America," and other content designed to induce weeping and increased flag sales. Sikhs, whose turbans remind many Americans of Osama bin Laden, have been in particular danger, but ignorant, angry people have even incited violence against Indians, such as a recent attack against an Indian restaurant in Port Washington, N.Y.

You wouldn't know much about this large, disgusting wave of violence and hatred from most TV and several print sources, however. If this is the first you've heard about it, I recommend starting with Kareem Fahim's excellent article in this week's Village Voice. Even President George W. Bush, DC '68, didn't speak out against the violence until Mon., Sept. 17, and this was after proclaiming earlier, like a sheriff from a bad western, that bin Laden would be found "dead or alive." Now I know the president didn't tell us to grab our six guns and find some Arabs when he said that, but forgive me if I don't believe the American people need to think like John Wayne right about now.

Violence, simply put, brings out the best and the worst in people. D-day, remember, was a part of the same war as Japanese internment camps and Hiroshima. As an impartial observer, the media must not only work to show America at its best and its worst; it must also be responsible for not intentionally inducing our worst. Patriotism and hatred are rising right now with or without TV playing patriot games on our minds. Turn the camera back on us, and maybe we might be able to think again before we act.

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