MSNBC needs sharper pencil, maps

At the start of the second Intifada MSNBC (cited August 8, 2001) had maps of the Middle East, listing all the Arab capitals, and Tel Aviv listed as Israel's. It took a hue and cry to get it changed. Idiots.

I don't know if it's the urge for drama or just plain stupidity, but they just posted the following headline under a withdrawal article on the web: "Tel Aviv seals borders to civilians; clashes reported near some settlements." That's like saying 'Citizens Fear Washington Fire will Spread to Chicago." (Hint: Gush Katif and Tel Aviv are far apart!) That would be the charitable explanation. The scarier, but I think more accurate explanation would be that, again, MSNBC is playing to their master' strings, and Jerusalem has again been supplanted by Tel Aviv. Proof again that oily Texas, not Washington, D.C. is the capital state of our country.

Americans wonder why we are laughed at by citizens from other countries. It's simple: we generally don't know any language except English (poorly, in large part, at that), our knowledge of geography generally lends itself to knowing where the nearest Wal-Mart is, and not cities and other trivia. Add to that the way our media frames everything in a naive, superficial, 'packaged for maximum impact' way. News needs to be timely and correct.

This is a trivial version of the larger media game, 'paint folks who kill civilians with different brushes.' More on that another time.