(By Ray D.)
Over the last two years, we at Davids Medienkritik have attempted to recognize and identify patterns in the German media that contribute to the deterioration of transatlantic relations. One of the most obvious and harmful patterns is the way in which interviews are conducted. Although we have no studies to refer to, it is clear that interviews with Bush opponents dramatically outnumber those with Bush supporters. These interviews often serve to reinforce negative stereotypes about Bush, conservatives and America in general. Interviews with Bush supporters that might add balance are extremely rare and often conducted in a highly critical tone (if they appear at all.) Additionally, interviews with outspoken Bush opponents are often prominently placed and frequently make the front-pages.
Katja Gloger: Never Met a Bush Opponent She Didn't Interview...
An excellent recent example: A front-page interview at stern.de entitled "We are Injuring the Ideals of America," with David Rothkopf. David who? Never heard of him? Doesn't matter...he's an outspoken opponent of the Bush administration. More importantly, Katja Gloger, Stern magazine's all-star "Amerika Korrespondent" wanted to interview him.
In case you don't already know her, Katja Gloger has already written a couple of real whoppers. In a news article published just after the 2004 US elections, Ms. Gloger labeled Bush supporters "radical activists of the right" and called the Iraq war a disaster - 3 times. One has to wonder what she would have called World War II? A mega-macro-giga disaster? After all, ten times more American soldiers died in the Battle of the Bulge alone than have fallen thus far in Iraq. Does that make the Battle of the Bulge a disaster times ten?
In another article on Condoleeza Rice entitled "The Voice of Her Master," published on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Ms. Gloger condescendingly implied that George W. Bush is the "master" of the first black woman ever to hold the office of US Secretary of State. Gloger portrayed Rice as a loyal, obedient Bush underling. To make her point unmistakably clear, the Stern correspondent used an unbelievably demeaning photo that portrays Rice next to Barney the dog. The title of the article is also a reference to a dog. (Read more here.)
But let's get back to the Rothkopf interview, because it has all of the essential elements of a Gloger masterpiece: Bush opponents (the only sort of people Ms. Gloger interviews) are never asked tough, critical questions. Those with strong anti-Bush opinions go unchallenged and are even encouraged to deride the President. The Iraq war is described as a disaster and failure as often as possible. Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib are held up as proof that America is a nation of hypocrites. Bush and his supporters are repeatedly portrayed as ideologically-driven, fanatic religious zealots who believe God has ordained them to rule. And on and on...
Here is the introductory paragraph from the Rothkopf interview:
"The victory of the US in the "war on terror" seems to be further away than ever. The Washingtonian political insider and author David Rothkopf spoke in a stern.de interview about the mistakes of the Bush government and the most powerful committee in world history."
A perfect intro: Start by declaring the "war on terror" an unwinnable quagmire (why didn't she mention Vietnam though?) Then proceed to introduce the latest resident expert on the mistakes of the Bush administration. The interview begins as follows:
"Question: Mr. Rothkopf, why should people in Germany be interested in the National Security Council in the USA?"
Rothkopf: "The Security Council is the most powerful committee in world history. The President, the Vice President, the Defense Minister, the Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor belong to it. It is a very small group and most of them have known each other for many years. Additionally, there are 200 employees on staff, experts for every nation in the world. And factually, the National Security Council rules the world. Its decisions influence the lives of billions of people. This small committee can decide to topple a government on the other side of the world. Or to send an aircraft carrier somewhere. Or to impose economic sanctions. No one can stop it. Neither the UN nor allies."
Exactly...this is what the German media has been trying to warn us of all along...a small, scheming cabal of radicals are, in fact, running the world. Mr. Rothkopf's statements are undeniable proof of that. And the scary part? The neocons have their fingers on the trigger and no one can stop them...
Wait a minute...is this all sounding slightly paranoid yet? Even Jacques Chirac has the power "to send an aircraft carrier somewhere" or "impose economic sanctions." So what?
And what about the claim that the President and his neocon committee run the world unchecked by anyone? Has Mr. Rothkopf ever heard of the United States Congress? Right now, the supposedly omnipotent George Dubya can't even get Social Security reform passed or his nominees to the UN and federal courts approved without a struggle of epic proportions. So much for being all-powerful...
A later segment reads:
"Question: Can the war against terrorism be won through the export of democracy?"
Rothkopf: First off: Terror is a tactic - terror is no enemy. Yes, we can topple a dictator like Saddam Hussein. But we can't force our system on a country. Democracy must grow on its own. Afghanistan is a different example: The land is factually an American protectorate and at the same time the largest producer of heroin in the world! We are protecting a land that produces heroin. What does that have to do with the war on terror?"
Of course. What nuance! "Terror is a tactic, not an enemy." It all goes back to "root-causes" and "cycles of violence." How could we possibly morally judge someone who blows away innocent civilians without first understanding his or her pain? How about a little empathy for Osama? And perhaps if the Jews had just understood why the Nazis were so angry and could have avoided the gas chambers. Can't we all just get along...?
And how about that heroin gaffe. Afghanistan was a large producer of heroin well before the US ever toppled the Taliban. Mr. Rothkopf makes it sound as if the US is supporting or defending the production of heroin through its presence in Afghanistan. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the US government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually ($780 million this year according to the Christian Science Monitor) to fight the drug trade in Afghanistan.
A further passage reads:
"Question: However, even internally criticism is growing loud - obviously to the dislike of President Bush. Does the USA need a new strategy?
Rothkopf: "Bush has indeed summarized his strategy in one sentence: "With us or against us." With that he is ignoring a lesson of history. Because if we continue on so, we will never win back the trust of other states and people. Secretary of State Rice can travel around the world as much as she likes, Laura Bush can jet off to crisis areas - it will always be clear: We are cooperative and friendly as long as you share our opinion. Otherwise not. We have allies, but they change according to our mission. That is pragmatic and extremely dangerous at the same time.
Mr. Rothkopf would have us believe that President Bush is ignoring an important lesson of history. But in fact, he himself is forgetting history altogether by reinforcing a favorite pet-belief of the German left: Namely, that George W. Bush said that you "are either with us or against us" in an historic vacuum with no context or background. In fact, Mr. Bush made the "with us or against us" statement immediately following the September 11 terror attacks and was saying that you are either on America's side or on Osama bin Laden's side. Of course that context is something that Bush opponents all too gladly ignore and forget because it neutralizes their criticism of Bush as a mind-numbed, black-and-white-thinking automaton.
Oh and by the way: The last time we checked, the US still considers Germany to be a partner and ally despite its opposition to the Iraq war. And as far as dangerous pragmatism goes, perhaps Mr. Rothkopf has already forgotten how his former boss, Bill Clinton, formed his own coalition of the willing without UN approval to go into the Balkans. And guess what? The current Schroeder government also completely backed that action, without a UN mandate! (Of course Mr. Rothkopf was far less critical of the entire approach back then.)
The interview's conclusion is a true highlight:
"Rothkopf: (...) We are so two-faced. We talk about justice and allow Guantanamo. And even in one hundred years people in Arab countries will hold up the pictures of abused Iraqis in Abu Ghraib prison when they talk about the USA. This mistrust will not subside."
Question: How can the lost credibility be successfully won back?
Rothkopf: We need new legitimacy. Our first President George Washington once said: America should be a land that pays respect to the rest of the world. Because we can't rule the world, we should lead it. For that we must ourselves be an example. We can encourage others to change. We can support that, together with others, but we cannot force it. Otherwise someone will soon appear somewhere in the world who can propagate a real alternative to our system. As once Karl Marx did, that man from the German province."
Fabulous Karl Marx reference. Indeed. We cannot force democracy on other nations. Just look at history: Nazi Germany and Japan would have become democratic if we had just supported them a little more in the 1930s and not resorted to barbaric violence. We should have simply tried to understand why the Fascists hated Jews, Slavs, Americans and pretty much everyone else and empathized with them...oh yeah...where's the love?
And let's not forget that during World War II, America forced its democracy on other nations while it interned innocent Japanese-American citizens without so much as a trial. How unforgivably hypocritical... And today after sixty years, all we remember are the internment camps and no one cares about democracy or freedom...right? And the worst part of it all...American troops are still in Germany and Japan...it's a never ending quagmire...how right Mr. Rothkopf is. Why won't Bush just listen?
America Invincible or Collapsing: So What is it for the Angry Left?
This single interview illustrates an interesting point: The entire picture of the United States government delivered by the German media is remarkably inconsistent. One day the US is the supreme unilateral giant capable of toppling anyone anytime. The next day the US economy is in serious trouble and the military is demoralized, degraded and so short on recruits that it supposedly can't engage in another campaign even if it needed to.
The confusion about America in Germany is due in large part to the fact that the German media is totally failing to provide Germans with balanced coverage of the United States. Conservatives, as we see in Ms. Gloger's work, are regularly written-off and smeared as "radicals, religious nuts, gun nuts, reactionaries, right-wing extremists, etc. Conversely, the loudest, most prominent Bush opponents are frequently interviewed, often in a very uncritical way. These Bush critics are almost always presented as mainstream, middle-of-the-road, knowledgeable and moderate experts.
Again, the number of interviews done with Bush skeptics and the time allotted to their points of view also dramatically outweighs that given to Bush supporters. This imbalance is in part the result of a vicious cycle: Unfortunately, anti-Americanism and anti-American stereotypes sell well in Germany. Furthermore, many in the German media are already ideologically inclined against the Bush administration and have a financial incentive to offer readers media that confirm stereotypes and reinforce bias. Only a few lonely voices dare to speak-out against the majority view, Broder, Doepfner and Malzahn come to mind...but they are little more than shouters in the desert.
The bottom line is this: Until Germans hear the other side of the story in a fair and balanced way, until they understand why over 60 million Americans, (most of whom are moderate, everyday people) voted for Bush, the deterioration of transatlantic relations will only worsen. And we have biased, ideologue journalists like Katja Gloger to thank for that.
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