ALEXANDRA ILIC
<Contributor>
How do you interpret international news that you watch on TV or read in the newspaper?
Yes, of course, you do interpret them, even though it may be unconscious. Even journalists interpret the facts before informing the world about them. Thinking about journalists as independent may be utopic, even though I like to believe that some actually are. One needs to remember most if not all journalists have a boss that gives directives on what to publish or not, what to show or not. Therefore, what you see in the media is suggestive information; it’s only what X or Y wants you to see and they present it as the truth. Is there a truth? If yes, is there only one? It is the job of politicians to make you think that there is only one truth: theirs. When I refer to “politicians”, I mean every person that is related, in some way, to politics. That’s what journalists are as well.
I may blame them now, because it’s easy for me: I’m a law student full of very good intentions and fighting for freedom of thought and expression. However, I understand them as well and will likely understand them even better when I am in the work market. At some point, I guess, unfortunately, you need to balance the importance of your beliefs with earning a living. The choice may be easy when you have a family waiting for you at home.
Nevertheless, we must be careful about how we deal with information. Everyone is biased in some way. But you can choose to open your mind to different versions of the same story. We hear everyday in the news about conflicts and wars and how each party is dealing with them. But who is behind this specific news channel? Who collected the information and who then decided to show those particular facts and not others?
I may sound a bit irritated, and I have my reasons. I am originally from Serbia. However, I was born in Switzerland. Therefore, I may be biased about the Balkan wars, but at the same time I’ve gained some neutrality from my native country as well. Moreover, I studied public international law, which gave me a third version of the whole story. If I tend to defend Serbs, that would be because I’ve heard much more from them than from other sides (Bosnians, Croats, United States). At the same time, I heard, and am still hearing, that we are the “bad” ones. We did everything wrong and we deserve all that happened to us. Where’s the truth? I believe it’s in between, if we can even pretend to reach it. No conflict is as simple as being black or white. We need to think further and deeper than what the media wants us to see. Depending from which point of view you look at a situation, your conclusions may be totally different.
The Syrian conflict reflects this reality as well. You see one version in the media, but if you investigate a bit more, there are tons of controversies about which country is supporting the rebels and which ones are with the government. And yet, the media and the UN say that the international community should intervene in Syria. But we’re already there! We’re just pretending not to be, while actually being behind the scenes. By the way, who’s the international community and who defines it? The UN, with its five Security Council members?
I’m obviously confused and I’m asking myself all the aforementioned questions. I just truly believe that everyone should make their own opinion about what’s happening in our world. Some people don’t care and that’s fine. But even if you don’t, do not make conclusions only from what you’ve seen once on TV about this country bombarding another one and how it must be horrible for the latter.