Lebanon - Blogging the conflict

Good report by the BBC acknowledging the role bloggers are playing in the conflict. The even note the concerns over Qana.

Reuters acknowledgment of its error came a week after it and two other agencies, AP and AFP, came under attack for their coverage of the air raid in Qana, in which a number of Lebanese civilians died in a collapsed building.

Media under fire

A number of pro-Israel blogs alleged that agency photographs of the recovery of bodies, mainly children, from the bombed building had been staged, under Hezbollah direction. This prompted the Associated Press to issue a report in which representatives of all three organisations strongly rejected these accusations.

However, the fact that the death toll from the attack was later revised down to 28 from over 50 did nothing to allay the suspicions in some quarters that the media were biased and susceptible to manipulation.

The BBC go on to mention CNN's Nic Robertson coming under fire for what looked like an anti-Israeli report. What the BBC doesn't tell you is that Nic and Anderson Cooper (CNN) confirmed, once they were safely out of Lebanon, that their reports were in fact staged by Hezbollah. I'd say there is little doubt that the Qana scenes were staged.

But still, a good report from the BBC for a change.

The only reason the BBC doesn't open up to bloggers more, is that it doesn't fit the BBC's left wing agenda. Lucky for us bloggers are forcing the BBC's hand.
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