News Report 4/30

Click here for the CNN story. Click here for the Al Jazeera story.

Personal

I chose an article about the U.S. Terror Report for this story. What struck me first about this story was the captions for each photograph that accompanied them. In the CNN story, the word “sympathy” is in quotes. In the Al Jazeera one, “terrorism” is. I feel like the U.S. story is supposed to be mocking the man in the picture, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The Al Jazeera story seems to be mocking us, and the photo shows Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Technical

In the photo of Chavez, he looks stern and angry. There is a high key light on his forehead and it is a tight close up. He is the only thing in the picture in focus, so he hold your attention. His hand looks like he is making a strong point and is creating an index vector towards the viewer. He looks like he is having an intense conversation. He looks like a dictator.

The Al Jazeera photo is less intense. Ahmadinejad looks less stern and scary. It is a waist shot and he is looking back behind himself. His face has a gentle look on his face. His suit is less expensive-looking than a leader’s should be. He is fixing his shirt, and looks like a normal person. He does not look like a dictator. He looks as if he is a regular person and the people that he rules can relate to him.

Historical

In the past, dictators have always had the kind of money to have expensive suits. They speak with their hands in quick movements (think Hitler). Everything about the CNN photo shows Chavez to be a dictator. The picture of Ahmadinejad is the exact opposite. The press is trying to make him look more like an everyday person and less threatening to discredit the U.S. terror report. 

Ethical, Cultural, Critical

Americans would assume that a leader of a country that is on the Terror list would be a dictator. We do not think of them as looking like Ahmadinejad. With the picture, CNN is trying to make the story hold water. By putting the word “sympathy” in quotations, it is as if CNN is mocking Chavez. They want him to seem like a bad guy because this is what we expect. 

Al Jazeera discredits the story by putting the word “terrorism” in quotations. It is as if they think this is a fake word. They want Ahmadinejad to seem like one of them. They are trying to make the U.S. the other while the CNN story makes the countries that made the terror list the other. The CNN story tries to make them seem like something we should be afraid of. Their story explains that the decision makers tried to find reasons to back up the list.

The Al Jazeera story makes it seem as if Iran was put on list because they have stop selling the U.S. oil. They continually use the words “accused” and “claimed.” The entire story tries to make the U.S. report seems utterly rediculous. 

I have a hard time deciding which story I like better. I think that the CNN story demonizes all the countries on the list to scare its readers. They also mention that al Qaeda is on the top of the list. This makes me think that the whole thing is just a tool to get people to back the war.

However, the Al Jazeera story is too hard on the U.S. It makes it seem like the report is crazy and that countries were put on the list for reasons that are not just. Both stories are so critical of the other side, I don’t know which one I pick as better. I don’t particularly like either. They are both petty and should try to be more fair.