see hazel7074’s review. i couldn’t have said it any better.

This movie is a must see for any news consumer. It is amazing to see how much (or rather, how little) of what goes into the news is actually information and how much of it is propoganda. We assume that something is true just because it comes from a particular source. But no one is free from bias or politics, not even that source. This documentary really drives that point home.

There’s quite a bit of interesting stuff in this movie, particularly in terms of seeing the opporations of Al-Jazeera in action, understanding where they fit with regards to the culture(s) of the region, and so forth.

What I found most profoundly striking, however, was the depiction of the ugliest sides of war and the way it takes a toll on everyone. As the war goes on and the situation gets more and more complex, you can see both the Al-Jazeera crews and the American military media operations officer starting to crack up. It is also impossible not to be stricken by the attitudes of the American leaders, who seem to occupy a ground that exists purely in the imagination, and are criminally detached from the material side of the war they are fighting.

It was different than what I expected. That was a good thing, otherwise I probably would have been disappointed.

The documentary completely drove home the point that there was more than one POV. In fact, it gave strong hints that there were quite a lot of perspectives on events.

The documentary did not try to show one clear vision or version of the truth. Rather it just showed what some people thought, said, showed, and saw.

Probably it should have been a little longer if it was to give a clear picture of what was going on. However, then it would have been less successful at giving a quick picture of what it was like to be where things were going on.

The backdrop was the war in Iraq. However, it really did seem to be about what it is like to be in the news media. The title of the movie is particularly ironic.

Al Jazeera did not seem to be in control of events at all.