The mainstream media has been very interested in the case of the so-called “American Taleban”, John Walker Lindh. They have seized his story with a particular sort of zeal that begs further examination. In the case of John Walker the media have found their human interest story. A story which can be related to the simple folks at home while intoning a clear, home-spun message of ‘patriotism’. As adept artisans of public opinion the mainstream media operates from many angles. For concerned parents there is the element of ‘could this happen to my son?’. For religious and social conservatives there is this apparent example of ‘liberal parenting’ gone awry, let your children question their own beliefs and they could become bearded religious fanatics! For stalwart establishmentarians there is confirmation for their suspicion of young people. Implicit is the idea that in America people can take advantage of the generous freedoms they are allowed. This contains a tacit justification for any repression under the aegis of ‘security’ or ‘the war on terrorism’. Instead of a news story, one about an American youth who left his country and his culture behind to adopt a new identity in a different culture and who later wound up in an Afghan prison as a prisoner of war, you are given, in nearly every instance, a story devoid of any journalistic integrity or objectivity. A story reduced to comic-book simplicity permeated with moralistic editorializing intent on manipulating the emotions of American news-junkies.
In an earnestly titled story in the New York Times called “One for His Country, and One Against It”, we are treated to a large dose of wishful propaganda masquerading as important front-page news. As the tagline hints, it is essentially a personality piece, a story in contrasts as told by the New York Times. In one corner you have the American traitor and spoiled, religious dabbler John Walker, in the other corner you have the ‘American hero’, CIA agent, and all-around God-loving patriot, Johnny Michael Spann. Spann as painted by the Times is home-town boy made good:
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Mr. Spann grew up foursquare in a four-stoplight Alabama town. Life in Winfield revolved around family, church, duty and high school football, and Mike Spann embraced them all. He took apples to his teacher, played soldier at recess and prayed on Sunday with his family at the Church of Christ. A favorite boyhood picture shows him sitting on the barrel of a tank. At 16, he knew what he wanted. He would be a marine, he told friends, then serve in the F.B.I. or C.I.A.
In contrast is the description of Walker:
Mr. Walker came of age across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco in affluent Marin County, frequently caricatured as a haven for politically correct Californians who drive Porsches and who raise children made muddle-headed by too much freedom.
Like Mr. Spann, Mr. Walker figured out what he wanted to do with his life at 16. Encouraged by his divorcing parents to seek his own spiritual path, he found himself by rejecting teenage culture in the name of Islam. He sold off his hip- hop records, immersed himself in the Koran and started wearing a long white robe.
This statement is particularly irresponsible: “affluent Marin County, frequently caricatured as a haven for politically correct Californians who drive Porsches and who raise children made muddle-headed by too much freedom” Caricatured by whom? Does everyone in Marin County drive a Porsche? By saying it is “frequently caricatured” without explanation as to where, when or who is responsible for the caricature the Times is in effect making this characterization itself. This is bad journalism. It would be the same if they said “Winfield, Alabama, frequently caricatured as the home of rednecks who drive Ford Expeditions and who raise children made thick-headed by too many beatings.”
The rest of the article continues along this predictable vein and ends up sounding like a recruiting advertisement for the CIA. The New York Times article is the most glaring example of this sort of yellow journalism. More similar stories on the ‘American Taleban':
- The Taliban Next Door
- Religious Quest Led American To Taliban Side This article shouldn’t actually be included in this group but is good for comparison.
- Video game explains an American traitor Video games, video poker, the real enemy.
- Treason chic started in the ’60s “Walker is another bored child of privilege who chose the path of revolution….”