Current Political Events - Essay Example

Current Political Events: Benjamin Netanyahu’s Speech at the U.S. Congress On 3 March Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech to the United States Congress on talks about Iran’s nuclear weapon acquisition (BBC). The ambition of Iran to acquire nuclear weapons is a threat to the security of Americans and the world at large. The United States, Russia, Germany, France, UK, and China, are trying to strike an agreement to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for relief from sanctions. They fear Iran is planning to come up with a nuclear bomb. However, Iran denies the allegations and says that it is only exercising its right to peaceful nuclear prowess. Negotiations on the Iran’s nuclear program are approaching a critical late March deadline for meeting an agreement. An elaborate deal by late June will follow the timeline. In his speech, Benjamin Netanyahu depicted Iran as a threat to the whole world. He warned that a deal being discussed Iran’s nuclear program was a bad one; it could only help Tehran move forward in acquiring nuclear weapons rather than blocking it. The speech came just a fortnight before a closely contested election in Israel. Mr. Netanyahu stressed that he was not attempting to meddle in the internal politics of the United States. Earlier before the speech, the White House had faulted his plan to talk to the Congress at the invitation of the Republican. It said the Israeli leader had not consulted the White House, and thus was attempting to increase the US opposition to any deal with Iran. After the speech, the United States President Barrack Obama said that he had not perceived anything new in the speech transcript. He told reporters that Netanyahu did not provide any viable alternatives on the issue of trying to bar Iran from having a nuclear weapon. Several news outlets, both mainstream and smaller outlets, covered the political event. They brought out elements of biases, use of favoritism and critical languages, significance of certain events, and selectivity of information in contemporary media reporting. The CNN covered the political event in over a thousand articles on the period from 3rd to 12th March. The materials are available in the international edition of the news section of the website. The articles are long enough and discuss as many details as possible on the topic. However, there is some bias in the selectivity of the information in the reports. For instance, information portrays that Netanyahu is trying to appeal to the American public to force its government drop the deal. The articles touch nearly every element of the event. They discuss various components such as Obama’s criticisms, those who invited the Israeli’s leader, the purpose of the speech, and the attendees of the speech. They also capture minute details such as a claim that 58 key senators would not attend the speech and the worsening of the not-so-good relationship between the two leaders: Obama and Netanyahu (CNN). The CNN news outlet uses critical language to analyze the gravity of the situation, based on behaviors and talks of the players. It does not appear to favor any side in its reporting. However, the news outlet does not reveal anything about the reaction of the public and Middle East nations. BBC is another mainstream news outlet that compressively covered the events around Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech within a span of eleven days. More than one thousand articles placed in the “All”, “News”, and “Programmes” sections discussed the event under various topics (BBC). They accurately captured the contents of the speech and Obama’s reactions. The articles also touched on the possible effect of the speech on Iran. Furthermore, news outlet indicates that some of the middle-east countries criticize the speech, claiming that it may spark a war. The BBC news outlet does not discuss finer details related to the event, such as a claim by some senators to skip the speech. However, the information selectivity of the articles tends to favor the United States. For example, they show some of the adverse effects of the speech in the Middle East countries. The Fox News also discussed events around Netanyahu speech in not less than one thousand articles. They were in several sections of the medium’s website, such as politics, world, U.S., and opinion. Apart from reporting the details of the event, Fox includes articles that discuss the views and reactions of famous political figures in America, Middle East, and other countries involved in the negotiation. The reporting is unbiased and accurately brings out the situation and various reactions in economized words. Fox also touches on minute details surrounding the event and their effects where applicable. The opinions about the event stress on the criticality of the security matter and appear to support the speech (Schoen). Thus, Fox Media selection of information showed that it agrees with Benjamin Netanyahu. Similarly, Huffington post is another mainstream media that reported Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the U.S. Congress. It dedicated space to as many as three thousand articles covering diverse topics in the event. However, most of the articles are biased, as they have lengthy opinions based on personal judgment. Additionally, the selection of information and use of critical language is biased. Most authors want to drive home their point without considering their effects on people. The Aljazeera news outlet also reported on various elements of the Israeli leader’s speech. There are several articles ranging from five hundred to one thousand about the event. They are in the news and opinions sections of the Aljazeera official website (Aljazeera). The critical language and selection of information clearly shows that the media house does not support Netanyahu. It also favors news that shows deterioration of the relationship between America and Israel. The finer details of the events are missing, as the articles discuss the general points. The Aljazeera reportage does not include the reasons for the speech and its fruitful motives. Aljazeera also leaves out the reactions of the public and Middle East countries. It does not comprehensively cover the effect of the speech on other parties. Similarly, minor news outlets were not left out in the coverage of the events surrounding Netanyahu’s speech. For instance, Infowars covered the several articles on the issue under the sections of “World News” and “World at War” (Infowars). During a period of less than two weeks, the news outlet covered more than 50 articles. One common element about the articles is that they remained objective to the facts surrounding the issue rather than taking sides merely to win over a particular audience like the mainstream sources. Another non-mainstream source that covered the story was USAWatchdog, which covered information that already appeared in other mainstream news sources, but with a twist. The story was covered under the “Political Analysis” for a period of ten days. Like Infowars, this non-mainstream media also gives adequate details surrounding the issue to ensure that the audience have a clear picture of the happenings and draw independent opinion on the topic. The above analysis clearly shows the way the contemporary media deliver political information to the public. News outlets always place breaking news strategically on their websites and other platforms to attract the public. They are careful when it comes to selection of information, length of articles, and critical language. Some media channels use biased information without carrying out full research to ascertain the validity (Sloan and Hoff 121). News outlets may also favor one side by giving more spotlights on the shortcomings of the opposing side. The selection of information and use of critical language in reporting determines the validity and motives of news outlets when it comes to reporting political news. Influential political leaders and organizations from various countries always desire to portray a favorite image of themselves. They thus use media as a natural tool for delivering their agenda among the public. The more space and air given to their opinions and reporting demands, the greater influence they gain in a certain region. Works Cited Aljazeera. News. 12 March, 2015. Web. BBC. "BBC - Search Results for Netanyahu Speech to Congress." BBC - Homepage. N.p., 11 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. . CNN. "Search Videos, Pictures, and News .com." CNN. N.p., 10 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. . Infowars. Infowars News. 12 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. . Metzger, Miriam J., Andrew J. Flanagin, Keren Eyal, Daisy R. Lemus, and Robert M. Mccann. "Credibility for the 21st Century: Integrating Perspectives on Source, Message, and Media Credibility in the Contemporary Media Environment."Communication Yearbook 3.2 (2003): 21-30. Print. Schoen, Douglas E. "Netanyahu Speech: Bibi Delivers Strong Message to Congress About Iran Deal." Fox News. Fox News, 3 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. . Sloan, W D, and Emily E. Hoff. Contemporary Media Issues. Northport: Vision Press, 2001. Print. Read More