I began this assignment with very little knowledge of any events going on in Pakistan, only what I was about to learn from these news stories. I looked to CNN, Al Jazeera, and Fox News to gain an understanding of the charges against the Prime Minister of Pakistan that accuse him of contempt of court. All three news resources reported the facts of the story, but the presentation was quite different.
First, I watched the video that CNN posted. CNN explained that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was indicted for contempt of court because he refused to open up an old corruption case against the current President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari. CNN reported that the Prime Minister drove himself to the courthouse, which expressed that he was just like everyone else, a “normal” person. Gilani was also filmed waving and smiling going into court. CNN reports that he seemingly has no fear of being convicted.
It seemed to me that CNN was expressing that this situation is just another instance of turmoil for Pakistani politics. The comment was made by reporter Reza Sayah that if you look back into Pakistan’s history, you see this type of behavior often. Overall, I came away from the story with the feeling that there is much turmoil going on in Pakistan, and that their government is filled with corruption and lies.
Al Jazeera had an exclusive interview with Gilani which discussed the contempt charges that he faces. I saw consistency to the CNN report in that Gilani was not concerned about being convicted and stands by his position, defending the president.
I thought it was extremely interesting that in the beginning of the interview, they showed images of the poverty-stricken streets of Pakistan and stated that sixty percent of their people are living off less than $2 a day. I also thought it was interesting that they stated that Pakistan has endured “frequent attacks by Americans”, along with image of Pakistan’s “strong” military. This made me feel like I was not watching American news and actually made me feel a little uncomfortable.
The interview with the Gilani goes on to discuss the charges he will face if found guilty, six months in prison and loss of his control as Prime Minister. Gilani does not seem to be worried about being convicted and stands by his position in defending the president.
Fox News did not yet have a video available about the story, but I was able to read a short article. I found it interesting that Fox News used the words “Nuclear-Armed country” to describe Pakistan. That language emphasizes fear as they go on to discuss the fact that the US and Pakistan are not on good terms since a US aircraft killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in early November (perhaps that is the footage I watched in the introduction to the Al Jazeera interview).
The facts of the FOX story seemed to be relatively comparable to that of CNN, also emphasizing the political turmoil of Pakistan. Al Jazeera portrayed Pakistan to be more of a victim than a threat to safety. All the news outlets convey the theme that Gilani has no fear of being convicted for contempt of court, and stands by his position defending President Zardari.
Al Jazeera:
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2012/02/2012210135946240237.html
CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2012/02/13/sayah-pakistan-pm-indicted.cnn
FOX:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/02/10/pakistan-court-rejects-pms-plea-in-contempt-case/
Sorry about the lack of indentation, Dr. Bock. For some reason it would not allow me to indent when typing this from my laptop.
ReplyDeleteDear Bridget -- I understand. This is a well-written and carefully detailed post. Well done! I would encourage you, as you work on formalizing your academic style, to shift your writing voice from first to third person....just for practice, it nothing else. It helps professionalize your style.
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