Cameras on the road to Damascus

Quote
“Knowledge is power” – attributed to Francis Bacon;

“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing” – attributed to Alexander Pope.

News

The US Ambassador to Syria was pelted with tomatoes and eggs yesterday as he met with an opposition leader in Damascus.  Pro-government supporters expressed anger towards the US Administration for comments which “encouraged armed groups to attack the Syrian security forces”. 

Earlier this week a BBC reporter was one of the few foreign journalists to be allowed into Syria since the protests began 6 months ago.  She has not found any members of the public willing to speak critically of the government on camera.  However, other Syrians are secretly filming incidents and uploading them to the internet.  “Our weapon is the camera” declared a young protester, “Our revolution must be live, on-line.” 

International reaction to the Syrian pro-democracy movement has been relatively muted, in part due to the complexity of Middle East politics.  However, the more that human rights abuses are exposed in Syria, the stronger the moral argument for intervention. 

The question is, how are moral judgments – and therefore relationships – influenced by information?  Control of the media is a vital strategy used by many authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and elsewhere, both to hide injustices and to silence opposition voices.  But that doesn’t mean that all unofficial videos are true and accurate either, for propaganda may be used by both sides; critical awareness is vital.

Moral judgments are easier the more black and white a situation appears, but people in public office must be careful to obtain accurate information before making judgments – even if it complicates the issue – as their decisions can have profound consequences on relationships.  Thus the news media have a tremendous responsibility to be accurate and impartial in their reporting, so people can make right judgments, and leaders conduct international relations with justice.

Read on

A New York Times blog weaves together a variety of national and international news sources, including videos posted on the internet, to provide a more complete picture of what is happening around and behind news stories.  The entry about yesterday’s egg throwing incident can be read here.

Walk the talk

We often make moral judgments based on information from third parties.  Are there any situations where you would be wiser to gather more accurate and impartial information before making a decision, in order to reduce the risk of treating someone unjustly?

The last word
From the Bible, Proverbs 18:17 “The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.”