{"id":65020,"date":"2002-01-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2002-01-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/2002\/01\/11\/un-exemple-du-nouveau-traitement-de-linformation-aux-usa-new-york-times-lattaque-us-contre-niazi-kala\/"},"modified":"2002-01-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2002-01-11T00:00:00","slug":"un-exemple-du-nouveau-traitement-de-linformation-aux-usa-new-york-times-lattaque-us-contre-niazi-kala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/2002\/01\/11\/un-exemple-du-nouveau-traitement-de-linformation-aux-usa-new-york-times-lattaque-us-contre-niazi-kala\/","title":{"rendered":"Un exemple du \u00a0\u00bbnouveau\u00a0\u00bb traitement de l’information aux USA (New York Times) : l’attaque US contre Niazi Kala<\/em><\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Un exemple du \u00ab\u00a0nouveau\u00a0\u00bb traitement de l’information aux USA (New York Times<\/em><\/strong>) : l’attaque US contre Niazi Kala <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

\tL’association FAIR-L, — pour Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Media analysis, critiques and news reports, — donne r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement une excellente analyse critique de la nouvelle attitude des m\u00e9dias am\u00e9ricains, notamment en fonction de ce qu’on peut d\u00e9sormais percevoir comme un alignement g\u00e9n\u00e9ral sur la politique gouvernementale. Le cas particulier ici concerne le New York Times<\/em> et son attitude vis-\u00e0-vis de l’attaque am\u00e9ricaine sur le village de Niazi Kala le 30 d\u00e9cembre 2001, attaque qui a fait de nombreux morts civils. L’analyse est faite, principalement, en comparaison (ici utilis\u00e9e en r\u00e9f\u00e9rence) avec le traitement que fait la presse britannique de cette m\u00eame affaire. (On peut lire par ailleurs, dans notre rubrique Journal<\/em> sur ce site, pour la semaine du 29 d\u00e9cembre 2001 au 5 janvier 2002,<\/a> la pr\u00e9sentation que nous faisons de cette question du traitement par la presse occidentale des pertes civiles afghanes dues aux attaques am\u00e9ricaines.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t[Il est remarquable de noter \u00e0 cette occasion, qui est \u00e9videmment une conformation bien plus qu’une exception, la diff\u00e9rence radicale de traitement des informations impliquant les USA et la guerre contre le terrorisme, entre les deux principales presses anglo-saxonnes, la presse britannique et la presse am\u00e9ricaine. Il y a l\u00e0 une diff\u00e9rence qui appara\u00eet de plus en plus comme \u00e9tant bien plus qu’une circonstance. Cette diff\u00e9rence refl\u00e8te l’\u00e9volution divergente des opinions g\u00e9n\u00e9rales de ces deux pays qui sont les deux p\u00f4les anglo-saxons, et une \u00e9volution qui s’inscrit bien plus dans le champ culturel que dans le champ plus anecdotique et plus circonstanciel de la seule information. Litt\u00e9ralement, et certains sites et commentateurs am\u00e9ricains de tendance oppositionnelle ou dissidente l’expriment de cette fa\u00e7on, la presse britannique est devenue, aux USA, pour ces milieux du commentaire politique, une source d’information \u00ab\u00a0libre\u00a0\u00bb dans un monde de l’information am\u00e9ricaine per\u00e7u comme orient\u00e9 et contr\u00f4l\u00e9 de facto<\/em> par les forces du conformisme qui soutiennent le pouvoir.] <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tFAIR-L est connue pour sa rigueur d’analyse du comportement des m\u00e9dias et on celle-ci, dans ce cas, avec toute la pr\u00e9cision voulue. Cela donne un cas techniquement int\u00e9ressant et, pour ceux qui entretiennent la m\u00e9moire des choses de fa\u00e7on plus syst\u00e9matique qu’en r\u00e9ponse aux consignes du conformisme, cela donne aussi un contraste saisissant avec le comportement de cette presse am\u00e9ricaine lors de la guerre du Viet-n\u00e2m. Bien s\u00fbr, l’int\u00e9r\u00eat de l’exemple choisi est que le New York Times<\/em> est un quotidien charg\u00e9 d’une r\u00e9putation formidable, \u00e0 la fois comme exemple de probit\u00e9 professionnelle, \u00e0 la fois comme journal quotidien class\u00e9 lib\u00e9ral, c’est-\u00e0-dire \u00e0 gauche selon les normes am\u00e9ricaines, \u00e0 la fois comme organe de presse d’une rigoureuse ind\u00e9pendance. L’analyse est par cons\u00e9quent particuli\u00e8rement \u00e9clairante et particuli\u00e8rement pr\u00e9occupante pour ce qui concerne ce ph\u00e9nom\u00e8ne de l’\u00e9volution de la presse aux \u00c9tats-unis. <\/p>\n

NYT Buries Story of Airstrikes on Afghan Civilians<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

\tFAIR-L, January 9, 2002 — On December 30, U.S. airstrikes hit the village of Niazi Kala (also called Qalaye Niaze) in eastern Afghanistan, killing dozens of civilians. The attack was major news in several U.K. newspapers, with the Guardian and the Independent running front-page stories. The headlines were straightforward: \u00a0\u00bbU.S. Accused of Killing Over 100 Villagers in Airstrike\u00a0\u00bb (Guardian, 1\/1\/02); \u00a0\u00bbU.S. Accused of Killing 100 Civilians in Afghan Bombing Raid\u00a0\u00bb (Independent, 1\/1\/02); \u00a0\u00bb’100 Villagers Killed’ in U.S. Airstrike\u00a0\u00bb (London Times, 1\/1\/02).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tIn contrast, the New York Times first reported the civilian deaths at Niazi Kala under the headline \u00a0\u00bbAfghan Leader Warily Backs U.S. Bombing\u00a0\u00bb (1\/2\/02).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tThe U.N. estimated that 52 civilians were killed by the U.S. attack, including 25 children, and disputed Pentagon claims that those killed were linked to Al Qaeda. According to the U.N., \u00a0\u00bbunarmed women and children\u00a0\u00bb were \u00a0\u00bbchased and killed by American helicopters,\u00a0\u00bb some \u00a0\u00bbas they fled to shelter\u00a0\u00bb and others \u00a0\u00bbas they tried to rescue survivors\u00a0\u00bb (London Times, 1\/4\/02). Noting that \u00a0\u00bbinnumeracy, rapid burial, damage to bodies, propaganda\u00a0\u00bb and \u00a0\u00bbremoteness\u00a0\u00bb make it difficult to reach a precise count of any of the civilian deaths in Afghanistan, the Guardian reported that surviving villagers estimated anywhere between 32 and 107 dead, with the higher number coming from staff at the local hospital (1\/7\/02).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tThe Pentagon contends that the village was a legitimate military target because it sheltered Taliban leaders, Al Qaeda fighters and an ammunition dump, and reporters who toured the destruction saw evidence of a substantial weapons cache. But local residents denied links to the Taliban or Al Qaeda,<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tand said that in fact many of those killed were guests in town for a wedding. As the Los Angeles Times has pointed out (1\/8\/02), the attack \u00a0\u00bbraises difficult questions about the accuracy of the local information the United States is getting about the whereabouts of remaining Al Qaeda fighters.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tDescriptions of the destruction in Niazi Kala from reporters on the scene have been shocking. Guardian correspondent Rory Carroll (1\/7\/02) reported seeing \u00a0\u00bbbloodied children’s shoes and skirts, bloodied school books, the scalp of a woman with braided grey hair, butter toffees in red wrappers, wedding decorations.\u00a0\u00bb Similarly, the Los Angeles Times’ Alissa J. Rubin reported \u00a0\u00bbfragments of skull with black braided hair decorated with silver thread– an accessory common among women in this region,\u00a0\u00bb a child’s \u00a0\u00bbsevered<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tshoe\u00a0\u00bb and other evidence that \u00a0\u00bbmakes clear that women and children were killed by the U.S. bombing\u00a0\u00bb (1\/8\/02).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tThe New York Times, however, has shied away from such graphic accounts. In its January 2 article, the Times treated reports that \u00a0\u00bbup to 100 villagers in Paktia Province had been killed\u00a0\u00bb not so much as a story in its own right, but as background to the issue of whether Hamid Karzai, head of the interim Afghan government, was holding firm in \u00a0\u00bbhis support for the war against terrorism.\u00a0\u00bb Further details on the killings at Niazi Kala were scarce, but Times readers did learn that \u00a0\u00bbpart way through the interview, an aide<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tentered carrying two scones\u00a0\u00bb sent by Karzai’s sister-in-law in Baltimore. The Times apparently included this information to support Karzai’s contention that \u00a0\u00bbthings now seemed quite organized and civilized\u00a0\u00bb in<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tAfghanistan.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tThe following day, the New York Times provided more information about Niazi Kala, but once again nestled the story within an article on a related topic, this one about accusations that warlord Pacha Khan Zadran has provided false information to the U.S., leading to the airstrikes that last month struck a<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tconvoy of tribal leaders (1\/3\/02). The attack on Niazi Kala– which some have suggested was also targeted on Zadran’s recommendation (Independent, 1\/4\/02)– came up when the Times reported Zadran’s \u00a0\u00bbassessment\u00a0\u00bb that the villagers had been linked to the Taliban and therefore legitimate targets. Commendably, the Times did contrast Zadran’s version on the story with the U.N.’s \u00a0\u00bbfar more chilling account of the human cost of destroying the weapons stash,\u00a0\u00bb quoting the report at some length. Unfortunately, these important details were buried in the middle of the page A15 story, reflected neither in its headline nor its lead.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tIn response to international pressure, including a British Member of Parliament’s formal demands for an inquiry, the Pentagon has agreed to investigate the attack on Niazi Kala (Guardian, 1\/4\/02, 1\/7\/02). So far, the New York Times has not reported this fact.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tThe Times’ poor reporting of this story comes in the midst of a general failure of the mainstream U.S. press to seriously investigate the extent of civilian casualties in Afghanistan and the legality of the U.S. attacks.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\tLe site de FAIR-L est <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Un exemple du \u00ab\u00a0nouveau\u00a0\u00bb traitement de l’information aux USA (New York Times) : l’attaque US contre Niazi Kala L’association FAIR-L, — pour Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Media analysis, critiques and news reports, — donne r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement une excellente analyse critique de la nouvelle attitude des m\u00e9dias am\u00e9ricains, notamment en fonction de ce qu’on peut d\u00e9sormais… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3236,625,3256,2852,3257],"class_list":["post-65020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-analyse","tag-afghanistan","tag-fair","tag-new","tag-times","tag-york"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65020\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.dedefensa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}