{"id":200,"date":"2011-04-27T11:13:29","date_gmt":"2011-04-27T15:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dinkel.us\/?p=200"},"modified":"2011-04-27T15:15:52","modified_gmt":"2011-04-27T19:15:52","slug":"syrias-crossroads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/?p=200","title":{"rendered":"Syria’s Crossroads"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It has been a week since we returned from Syria and, if the media are to be believed, things are getting much worse in Syria.\u00a0 While we were in Syria, we saw little signs of the unrest that the media has been reporting.\u00a0 That isn’t to say things aren’t happening–I am sure it is.\u00a0 I am even more convinced by listening to the few Syrians that were willing to talk to us about the unrest.\u00a0 Still, I am a bit put off by the way the media has been reporting; particularly the video that almost all media outlets have been showing.\u00a0 Almost all end their reports with the phrase, “we would like you to know that we were unable to verify the authenticity of this video.”\u00a0 My view is, if you can’t verify it, don’t report it.\u00a0 This is simply irresponsible journalism.\u00a0 This is exacerbated by the fact that these videos have a much more visceral impact on the viewer than words or sound-bytes…which can often lead to unsound judgements by the consumer.\u00a0 Yes, I realize that Syrian officials will not allow reporters into the country but that does not mean the media can take license with with every video clip they receive from unverifiable sources.\u00a0 I realize that we are in an age where every news report is “breaking news” and that each media outlet feels the need to out do the other, but there has to be some middle ground in situations as serious as this.\u00a0 The Syrians are well aware that they are in a period of extreme unrest but they are also very much aware of the implications that this type of reporting has on their lives.\u00a0 More than a few pointed out that the reporting was excessive and often erroneous.\u00a0 This type of reporting doesn’t help the Syrians and it doesn’t reflect very well on us–US citizens and the media.\u00a0 In short, nobody wins.\u00a0 I will reiterate, I completely believe that there is a serious crisis in Syria and that it is likely to get worse.\u00a0 Let’s not\u00a0muddy the situation by reporting irresponsibly or worse, by believing everything we see and hear in these media reports.\u00a0 Read plenty, reference multiple sources (including those you would normally not read or agree with), ask questions and then make your opinion.<\/p>\n

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  It has been a week since we returned from Syria and, if the media are to be believed, things are getting much worse in Syria.\u00a0 While we were in Syria, we saw little signs of the unrest that the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east","category-syria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=200"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223,"href":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200\/revisions\/223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}