Today at work, an Egyptian friend watched aghast throughout
the day, as al-Jazeera provided footage of the military assault on those
protesting the recent coup that removed President Mursi from office. Apparently the station was
reporting two thousand dead, and ten
thousand wounded. That would
be extraordinary, difficult to believe;
so it was eagerly that I turned on NPR at five o’clock, to hear updated
and verified figures.
But the headline didn’t mention any casualties at all,
referring rather to the worldwide “reaction” (a typical media slant these days,
showcasing, not the facts, but various interest groups’ reaction to the facts, how they feel about
the facts, whatever the latter might be) to the “dispersal” of the
demonstrators.
I checked aljazeera.net; they still are showing an allegation of those figures on
their front page.
I checked the website of the Washington Post. As I write (it is just short of six
p.m.), they headline “clashes across the country that leave 149 dead” -- without
saying which camp suffered which losses, but immediately below there is a “Live
Blog” report of “43 police officers killed”, which would leave a toll of at
most 106 dead on the demonstrators’ side (“at most” because some of the
government dead were soldiers rather than cops).
As of this moment (email alert from Le Figaro), AFP reports "au moins 124 personnes sont décédées au Caire lors de ces affrontements."
As of this moment (email alert from Le Figaro), AFP reports "au moins 124 personnes sont décédées au Caire lors de ces affrontements."
[Update 6:30 p.m.] The Egyptian pseudo-independent newspaper (actually
government-controlled) headlines:
Egypt clashes leave 43 security
personnel killed: MOI
Ahram Online
That falls into the genre “Demonstrator’s head inflicts
severe splintering upon officer’s nightstick”.
No political act to grind here, folks; just pointing out that listeners
breathe different air, in different media bubbles: not only as regards the attitude towards the facts, but the
bare numerical facts themselves.
[Update 15 Aug] Medi1 is now reporting 600 killed according to "official" figures (a ludicrous word in the circumstances; also, no distinction between sides), but also mentions the Muslim Brotherhood's upward-revised claim of 3000 (of their own, presumably).
Wa-Allahu a`lamu ...
[Update 16 Aug] NPR's Morning Edition is sticking with "over 200" killed -- roughly the number that die in your typical Asian overfilled-ferry accident.
This whole subject segues into that of victimology porn.
~
For a somewhat similarly themed examination of mutually
exclusive factual worlds, consult
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