Lloyd, as always, makes an interesting point, so I’ve decided to quote his comment in full from my last entry:

It’s clear that the end result of CNN’s broadcast has been pro-Hezbollah propaganda. However, the real question in terms of the very serious claim of treason is: did CNN willfully and premeditatedly produce the spot?

If the other media outfits (NBC, CBS, the euros) ended up conveying pretty much the same propaganda, the claim of treason is much less a slam-dunk than you make it out to be.

This is much more directly interpreted as a brilliant piece of media manipulation by Hezbollah than an outright act of treason by a given media outlet.

None of which should surprise you, or anyone else. In the war of ideas, the so-called ‘objective’ media are as much weapons as anything else–wittingly or otherwise.

Has CNN willingly and premeditatedly produced the spot? I don’t think that the CNN, as an organization, told their correspondents to go in and produce Hezbollah propaganda.

Here’s a good piece if you want more information: CNN’s Robertson Now Admits: Hezbollah ‘Had Control’ of His Anti-Israel Piece. (A decidedly biased source, but it has lots of quotes from the primary source.) I think it’s interesting that Hezbollah is providing guided tours of the area and the media is falling for it hook, line, and sinker. Or are they? They can’t be that dumb… I mean, the CNN correspondent did later admit that you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt. Yet, from what I gathered from the piece online, it didn’t seem as if any of that was explicitly communicated to the viewer. Should the benefit of the doubt be given? Are they that stupid, or is something more sinister going on? Or is there something in between? However, even if mere anti-Israel bias is translating into pure Hezbollah propaganda, I think someone should be held accountable. Hezbollah has done almost nothing but lob missiles into civilian areas. My eyes are open for more propaganda.

And here’s some more: Reuters admits altering Beirut photo. A photographer photoshopped an image of Beirut to make it look more damaged. Then, the plot thickens: “Adnan Hajj, the photographer who sent the altered image, was also the Reuters photographer behind many of the images from Qana — which have also been the subject of suspicions for being staged.”

There you go. More Hezbollah propaganda, and there’s no doubt this is just the tip of the iceburg. That photo is why I think that the media is more than unwitting dupes. Is there an anti-Israel bias? Probably. Do they want the state of Israel wiped of the map? Probably not, I hope. But they are directly enabling those who want to murder Israeli civilians until the state of Israel is no more. I’ll back off my claim of treason, but they’re treading dangerous waters.