This article is very pro-Israel and anti-Syria. Research other articles that explain the war from Syria's point of view.
1) Why does the article favor Israel over Syria?
2) Who is the article written for?
3) What is so wrong with Syria?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/syrian-wounded-flee-to-hospitals-in-israel-derek-stoffel-1.2541562
This is my post for the week:
ReplyDeleteIn regards to detecting bias from this article – what immediately jumps out at me isn’t the content of the piece but the source that issued it. The source is CBC – a Canadian broadcasting cooperation. Many would be quick to overlook the bias motivating this article. It may be presented as if it were written from a third party perspective but prior knowledge to the Canadian government’s stance on both countries involved would prove otherwise. The article tends to paint Israel in a fairly heroic light. It proceeds to emphasize how they’ve offered medical treatment to the Syrians that were brutally tainted by war and left in critical condition. This exceeds beyond a simple act of generosity on Israel’s part since Syria and Israel have been rivals in war since 1948. The fact that all patients transferred from Syria to Israel were innocent civilians only further amplifies how charitable the Israeli government is for permitting the wounded to be cared for despite being from their country’s own opposing nation – Syria. Things that should be taken in account that could waver one’s perception on this report would be the fact that Canada obtains a long lasting tie with Israel. Steven Harper himself has promoted his full support towards the Middle-Eastern nation and has gone as far as establishing an official partnership entitled “MOU” alongside Israel’s respected prime minster. With that in mind, it’s safe to say that Canada is tremendously pro-Syria due to their allied relationship. This means that they’re also prone to express disdain towards Syria since it has been in war with Israel for over half a century. That’s exactly why they’ve not only chosen to characterize Israel as the heroes but also Syria as the villains – a prime example of bias in the media.
Here are a few interesting articles that justifies the act of bias that has Canada has over Syria in favor of Israel. The first one covers Steven Harper’s partnership with Israel while the second reports his urge for military action against the country of Syria:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/09/06/stephen_harper_urges_military_action_against_syria.html
http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2014/01/21/canada-and-israel-set-course-stronger-bilateral-relations
It's kind of funny that the country supported by Stephen Harper, our nation's leader, is the "good guy" in this article. I wonder how much this Canadian-Israeli friendship impacts CBC's bias. What would happen if Harper was on Syria's side instead? Or if the article painted Syria in a positive light and portrayed Israel as the bad guys?
DeleteI agree with you Kayla that this article has some true bias. It further shows the favor towards Israel in opposed to Syria when you mention the long tie Steven Harper has had with Israel.
DeleteMy mum lived in Israel for about 1 or 2 years and while she was there she talked to some of the people in the town she was staying at about the war they had with Syria and some of them didn't even know they were at war with them. I'm not sure if it was because they lived in a small town and were unaware of the world around them greatly but they didn't seem to be too concerned about it. Now this was back in the 80's and things may have gotten worse since then but I believe that articles do amp things up greater than they actually are. For example when we read the articles in class about Russia. So maybe this article is creating an illusion of the bias factor of how great Israel is.
This is my post for the week.
ReplyDeleteTo begin, this article is very pro-Israeli because of their generosity and kindness, as well as the fact that there is a seemingly unneeded civil war taking place in Syria. Although Syria and Israel have been foes for a number of years now, the Israeli doctors took the initiative to step in and assist Syrians need that are stranded without proper medical treatment due to the ongoing civil turmoil.
This could be a stepping towards mending ties between the two bordering countries. Syria is in a very bad state right now. It began in 2011 when popular protests that had the hope of ousting the current government spread nationwide. In an attempt to end the protests, the Syrian army was deployed on the protesters. After months of sieges by the Syrian army, the protests began to turn into an armed rebellion. After 3 years, this armed rebellion has formed a civil war that is still taking place today. Russia is in support of the Syrian government while countries with the likes of The United States, Qatar and Saudi Arabia supply weaponry for the rebels. In my opinion, the civil war that is taking place in Syria is obviously due to a power hungry, selfish government. If the Syrian government had the citizens of their country at the top of their priority list, my guess is that widespread protests wouldn't have begun in the first place. With the death toll reaching over 100,000 people, it is also clear that the government-backed army is not taking any extra safety precautions towards general public safety. Also, with almost 4 million people that have fled Syria and become refugees, you would think the Syrian government would make attempts to bring the two sides to an agreement, but that is not the case either. The president of the country is also awaiting punishment for alleged use of chemical weaponry in the civil war that is taking place. Senseless violence that is causing innocent people to be killed all due to a selfish "government" is clearly what is wrong with Syria.
This link is very bible oriented but it gives a look at when The Pope addressed the war in Syria, and how he believes it is due to selfishness.
http://thecatholicspirit.com/featured/praying-for-peace-in-syria-pope-calls-selfishness-the-cause-of-war/