SUDAN AND THE MEDIA
SENSATIONALIST AND SHALLOW: BBC COVERAGE OF DARFUR

On 14 November 2004, the BBC screened a Panorama programme on Darfur entitled "The New Killing Fields". Made by American journalist Hilary Andersson, and ostensibly examining whether or not genocide was happening in the first century of the 21st century, the report was both sensationalistic and shallow in the serious assertions it made. It also shamelessly echoed questionable claims made by the Bush Administration.

IMAGES OF SUDAN
CASE STUDIES IN PROPOGANDA AND MISREPRESENTATION

A civil war has been fought in Sudan, off and on since 1955, This war has been between the Sudanese government and various rebel groups in southern Sudan. Since 1983 the war in the South has been fought against the Government of Sudan by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

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POOR JOURNALISM AND DISINFORMATION:THE 'TELEGRAPH' GROUP AND SUDAN

The new and significant moves towards a peaceful resolution of the Sudanese civil war (1), as outlined in the July 2002 Machakos peace protocol, must go hand in hand with a concerted attempt to stem some of the media mis-reporting that, together with deliberate propaganda and disinformation, has artificially prolonged the conflict.

ANOTHER CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY WORLDWIDE SUDAN FIASCO

In September 2000, 'The Sunday Telegraph' newspaper in Britain published an article written by Christian Lamb alleging that Mr Abdel Mahmoud al-Koronky, a senior Sudanese diplomat who had served as Sudan's Charge d'Affaires in London between September 1998 and April 2000, had kept a "slave girl" in his house

THE OSAMA FILES ( © VANITY FAIR )

September 11 might have been prevented if the U.S. had accepted Sudan's offers to share intelligence files on Osama bin Laden and the growing al-Qaeda threat. Recently unearthed docments reveal that the Clinton administration repeatedly rejected the help of a country it unwisely perceived as an enermy.

By David Rose

HINDERING PEACE?:

AFRICA CONFIDENTIAL AND SUDAN

The new and significant moves towards a peaceful resolution of the Sudanese civil war (1), as outlined in the July 2002 Machakos peace protocol, must go hand in hand with a concerted attempt to stem some of the media mis-reporting that, together with deliberate propaganda and disinformation, has artificially prolonged the conflict.

THE MEDIA AND SUDAN:

WHY SUCH POOR JOURNALISM

The Sudanese civil war has been fought off and on since 1955 between the Sudanese government and rebels in southern Sudan. Since 1983 the war in the south has been largely conducted by the Sudan People's Liberation rmy (SPLA) led by John Garang. (1) Media coverage of Sudan, and the Sudanese conflict, beset as most conflicts are by considerable

THE BBC AND SUDAN

A Case Study in Prejudice and Poor Reporting

On 29 January 2001, the British Broadcasting Corporation Television screened Everyman: The Dangerous Adventures of Baroness Cox. This programme followed Baroness Cox, President of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (formerly Christian Solidarity International or CSI), on one of her controversial visits to southern Sudan.

DAMIEN LEWIS, SUDAN AND 'DEATH IN THE AIR':
A Case Study in Irresponsible Television

'Death in the Air' was made in the course of 1999 by British film-maker Damien Lewis. This 27-minute long programme claimed to be an investigation of the use of chemical weapons within Sudan by Government of Sudan Forces. It concluded that it had produced "compelling" evidence or its assertions.
IRRESPONSIBLE, INACCURATE AND INEPT:
The Washington Post and Sudan

The Washington Post has published several articles and editorials regarding Sudan over the past several weeks. Most recently, on 15 October 2000, it published an editorial entitled 'The Sudan Sequel', commenting on the Clinton Administration's frenzied, and ultimately successful, attempts to deny Sudan a United Nations Security Council seat during recent elections to that body.
THE NEW YORK TIMES AND SUDAN:
A Study in Poor Journalism"

On 13 January 2001, the 'New York Times' published an editorial on Sudan entitled 'Oil and War in Sudan'. The editorial sought to link the continuation and escalation of the Sudanese conflict to the advent of "lucrative oil exports".

QUESTIONABLE SOURCES, QUESTIONABLE JOURNALISM:
The Observer and Sudan
In 7 May, The Observer newspaper published a lengthy article by Julie Flint on the Nuba people, an amalgam of black African tribes in central Sudan. Entitled 'Nuba face Destruction' this article was yet one more example of the all too questionable and partisan journalism that has characterised much of the reporting of the Sudanese civil war.
SUDAN AND "SLAVERY":
THE WASHINGTON POST, WILLIAM RASPBERRY,
A Case Study in Poor Journalism


On 2 October 2000, The Washington Post published an article by syndicated columnist William Raspberry, entitled 'Some Things Simply Must Not Stand', alleging the existence of slavery in Sudan.

 
TURNING A BLIND EYE TO WAR CRIMES:
The Globe and Mail's Selective Approach to Human Rights in Sudan
On 17 December 1999, the Globe and Mail published an article entitled 'My Week on the Cusp of War'. The article was written by Globe and Mail feature writer Stephanie Nolen, and appeared following a one-week visit by Ms Nolen to an area within southern Sudan controlled by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a southern Sudanese rebel movement.
IRRESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM:
British Media Reporting of Allegations of Chemical Warfare in Southern Sudan

In August 1999, several British newspapers, and the BBC, published unconfirmed allegations that the Sudanese armed forces had used chemical weapons in attacks on Sudanese rebels in Lainya and Kaya in southern Sudan.
ISLAMOPHOBIA, POOR JOURNALISM OR BAD JUDGEMENT?
The Daily Telegraph and Coverage of Sudan

On 26 May 1998, the Daily Telegraph carried on its front page an article with the heading "Baroness accuses Sudan of genocide".

'TAKING SIDES IN SUDAN':

The Daily Telegraph's support for continuing war and starvation in Sudan

The Daily Telegraph published an editorial on 20 July 1998 entitled 'Taking sides in Sudan'. In this, the newspaper's second foray into Sudanese affairs recently, it came out against the idea of a ceasefire within those areas of Sudan affected by famine,

MISREPORTING SUDAN:
Linda Slobodian, War Criminals and Islamophobes

In March 2000 the Sun Media group of Canadian newspapers published several articles by Linda Slobodian, with titles such as 'Slaughter of the Innocents'. Ms Slobodian has written on Sudanese affairs for several years for the Calgary Sun. misreporting


Espac Published by The European - Sudanese Public Affairs Council Copyright © David Hoile 2005
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