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The Other Documentary
Jun. 26th, 2004 04:48 pmObviously, Fahrenheit 9/11 is the documentary* that most people will be talking about for the time being. Unfortunately, the media circus surrounding that movie is probably going to eclipse another, potentially more interesting documentary, Control Room.
Control Room is a documentary about Al Jazeera and its coverage of the war on Iraq. It is unabashedly on the side of Al Jazeera, but one of the points that it makes clear early on is that Al Jazeera is on no one else's side. Whether it's footage of Rumsfeld decrying Al Jazeera as anti-US propaganda or Iraqi "Information" Minister Aziz calling Al Jazeera a propaganda tool of the US, it's clear that no one in power really likes Al Jazeera broadcasting the images and news that they're broadcasting. The journalists and editors of Al Jazeera seem remarkably unstressed by all of this, and you get the impression that they really are trying to be solid journalists. When there's something odd about a US press release, they want to sniff it out, and they're not alone; reporters from the BBC, MSNBC, and CNN all seem to be asking the very same questions.
I never had the impression that Al Jazeera was anyone's mouthpiece, but Control Room shows a group of people who are trying their level best to get a balanced story out. That may be pro-Al Jazeera propaganda at work; who knows? The documentary shows very reasonable people reacting to unreasonable circumstances with aplomb and dignity. That's worth watching.
* Well, documentary, as has been noted in several other discussions, may not be the right word, but you get my meaning.
Control Room is a documentary about Al Jazeera and its coverage of the war on Iraq. It is unabashedly on the side of Al Jazeera, but one of the points that it makes clear early on is that Al Jazeera is on no one else's side. Whether it's footage of Rumsfeld decrying Al Jazeera as anti-US propaganda or Iraqi "Information" Minister Aziz calling Al Jazeera a propaganda tool of the US, it's clear that no one in power really likes Al Jazeera broadcasting the images and news that they're broadcasting. The journalists and editors of Al Jazeera seem remarkably unstressed by all of this, and you get the impression that they really are trying to be solid journalists. When there's something odd about a US press release, they want to sniff it out, and they're not alone; reporters from the BBC, MSNBC, and CNN all seem to be asking the very same questions.
I never had the impression that Al Jazeera was anyone's mouthpiece, but Control Room shows a group of people who are trying their level best to get a balanced story out. That may be pro-Al Jazeera propaganda at work; who knows? The documentary shows very reasonable people reacting to unreasonable circumstances with aplomb and dignity. That's worth watching.
* Well, documentary, as has been noted in several other discussions, may not be the right word, but you get my meaning.
