Was reporting on the Tibet riots biased?

Media conduct over the last two weeks has come under close scrutiny by both Chinese authorities and ordinary people. Western media, particularly, has come under fire for alleged distortion of facts and the dissemination of incorrect information. Was journalistic ethics compromised?

The point of this article is not to explain what caused the events in Lhasa, but rather to look at how media had reported about them. By playing up or playing down incidents that took place during the incident in Tibet, media has contributed greatly to how the world sees and interprets what happened there.

Impartial or incorrect?

The Chinese website anti-cnn.com claims that some Western media reports were erroneous. The site singles out German media, which broadcast or wrote reports that contained a number of misattributions. The television station N-TV, for example, showed pictures of police officers armed with batons in clashes with monks in connection with a news story on the riots Tibet. The pictures later proved to be from Nepal and the officers in question were Nepalese police. The same station also published another picture taken in Nepal with the caption "New protests in Tibet." The website RTLaktuell.de has apologized for previously publishing pictures unrelated to the events in Tibet.

The same issue is repeated in websites like Bild.de, which published pictures wrongly captioned. The police officers shown escorting protesters away or beating monks are Nepalese, not Chinese. However, we cannot confirm this allegation from anti-cnn.com because of recent updates to the Bild.de site.

Other media might have correctly used footage or pictures from the Lhasa riots, but their reporting took it out of context. The Berliner Morgenpost, for example, had a footage showing a protester being forcefully detained by police. A video clip of the same event in Youtube makes it clear that the scene captured is actually of emergency services personnel escorting a wounded person to safety. The article found on Berliner Morgenpost's website contradicts the allegations, as the caption is correct.

Anti-cnn.com points out some erroneous reports in German media. (Image: Anti-cnn.com)The anti-cnn.com website also points to an image on Radio France Internationale website, saying that police officers were wrongly identified as being Chinese, although in reality they are Nepalese. We were able to find the article in question on RFI's website, but the image associated with it is not the one described by the Chinese website.

If the accusations leveled against Western media by anti-cnn.com are correct, the question remains about motive. What is the point, after all? To create a sensation? To sell newspaper copies? Has economic gain really blinded these media outlets to their social responsibility? Did they really set out to obscure facts and mislead the public? At a time when protesters are taking to the streets in major European cities in protest of the perceived injustices committed in Tibet, won't knowingly publishing pictures labeled incorrectly or taken out of context just add fuel to the fire?

But what is even more serious from a moral point of view is that in some cases, images had been digitally manipulated. Anti-cnn.com claims that the news media it is protesting against, the American-based CNN, published a picture of two people running in front of Chinese military trucks with a text saying the individuals were fleeing from the military. The original photo shows rioters throwing stones at the trucks. Amid the rising controversy over picture manipulation, CNN removed the article (13 days after its publication) without offering any apologies. And although the link to the first paragraph of the article is still online, the link to the rest of the text opens to another article with the original photo and a corrected caption.

The West prides itself on having a free, respectful and, above all, fair, media. That it is as far removed as possible from Chinese media, which it associates with propaganda. But how do you define propaganda? Isn't it when media starts choosing to report only from the angle or the slant of its chosen viewpoint or belief and elects to ignore the truth?

By choosing to abandon an objective standpoint, Western media has short-changed the people, especially those who are living in the areas most affected by these events. Take a moment to consider how a Chinese would relate to seeing these images from Western media. He knows that they are false. The people identified in pictures as Chinese are obviously foreigners. How can he trust something that contradicts the evidence presented by what he knows to be true? Does Western media become more relevant? Or does it lose credibility because of the obvious errors it passes off as truth?

And the Chinese media?

Chinese authorities hold a press briefing after the riots. (Image: China News Service)Chinese media are not exempt from criticism either. It is obvious that censorship is present. The Chinese media are the only ones with access to the events in Lhasa. Have they really tried their best to present a balanced reporting of events? All the reports mention the "Dalai Lama clique" as the instigators of the events, but has there been even one investigative report by a Chinese journalist that seeks to confirm this? Have they given all sides a chance to be heard and have they shared their findings with the rest of the world?

After the March 14 riots, websites criticizing the Western media bias, such as anti-cnn.com began to emerge. But how fair are they? Or are they also, like the media outlets they are finding fault with, only choosing to report their viewpoint?

And the Chinese government...

After initially closing Lhasa to journalists, the Chinese authorities organized a visit to the Tibetan capital. According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang, the visit would help reporters "learn the truth about the riots." Two weeks after the event? At government-organized junkets such as these, is there really room to explore the city? To ask questions from people on the streets? To really know the truth about what happened?

Had the foreign press been allowed to cover the events as they unfolded, the world would have had a clearer view of the situation in Lhasa. It would have shown the world that Beijing, as it promised in its Olympic bid, was open and had nothing to hide. If the world had seen unruly rioters destroying property and hurting civilians and police officers, the world might have reacted differently. Instead of charges of injustice, there might have been understanding for taking control of a rapidly-escalating situation.

Media has a responsibility to report events as they happen -- good or bad. Our goal should be to show people how things are and let them draw conclusions themselves. Media, whether Western or Chinese, shouldn't recourse to manipulation, censorship, or outright misinformation. We are upholders of the truth, and it's a responsibility we shouldn't take lightly.

Edited by: Geni Raitisoja