A Castaway’s Treasure Chest
whole, truth; that is why I write into the image in an attempt to unearth the treasures hidden deep within. Throughout my career, I never lost sight of two key goals: writing to decipher the hidden meanings within an image; and revamping the writing style of TV journalism. It is a formidable task, no doubt; a task that pleased many around me and displeased many more. Despite being deemed an outcast, I held steadfast to my own ‘doctrine,’ which – with humility - has now become an example to follow. What then is the news story? Many of us have seen the notorious images of former Russian president Boris Yeltsin swaying on the red carpet. Was he sick or drunk? Was it he or Russia that was swaying? Was it a sickly president, or an ailing empire? The 2010 World Cup qualification match between Egypt and Algeria was everything but a sporting event, I once wrote. It epitomised the political, social and economic failures of both ruling regimes, who sought credit at the players’ feet. The true story lied far beyond the images of the football pitch. This is television’s biggest trap; as the image does not show the complete reality. Such reality must be dug out by the watchful journalist.
In most cases, news images and stories are meant to shape public opinion. An image can sometimes be misconstrued by the powerful. This happened when US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was asked about looting in Iraq following the fall of Baghdad: “It’s untidy. Freedom is untidy. And free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.” That was an arbitrary misrepresentation of the image. It took a brave journalist to expose the reality; Bob Woodward’s book, ‘State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III’, caused me to pause and think again about what we offer to our viewers as ‘news’ and the ‘arbitrary statements’ made by those at the top to create a false reality. The book was an insight into the state- political underworld dons: their unmasked faces and unethical goals. A journalist’s most difficult task is to construe the image to exhibit the true ideology-free reality and to tell a true story without spin. What a herculean task! In brief, the image shall not reveal its secrets until you gently examine it. This ability to decipher the image must be laced with a linguistic skill. In addition, as every journalist has their own voice, they must have their own writing style. It adds flavour and richness to the images shown on screen.
Language is his ultimate vehicle not only of carrying meanings and feelings, but also of separating the truth from falsehood. I always tell my close friends that the climax of my career was the second 30 seconds in the report produced on Barack Obama’s presidential victory. “A Black man is now the US president,” I wrote. Those images invoked in me hundreds of other reflections, which I inked into the report. The history of African-Americans’ struggle can draw hundreds
of allegories in the Arab world. Sectarian and tribal conflicts are only a few. I first entered Al Jazeera as a castaway, marooned on an island of moving images. Now, after 25 years of perseverance, I have the audacity to claim I have found the hidden treasure of this noble profession. I am sure you have too.
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