THE RASHOMON EFFECT

I don’t remember when and where I saw Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon. It was probably long after the first screening of the film in 1950. Its plot concerns a murder described in four contradictory ways by four witnesses.  The Rashomon effect, a byproduct of the film is a concept that has been further expanded to explain human behavior in other areas.

By now you have probably guessed why I chose an old black and white Japanese movie to serve as the preamble for this post.

Emily Schrader, CEO of Social Lite Creative LLC wrote in an op-ed for the Jerusalem Post “No matter who shot and killed Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian terrorists or the IDF, it was not a murder nor was it an assassination. Nonetheless, that didn’t stop Al Jazeera from accusing Israel, or Palestinians on social media from reporting that Israel assassinated a journalist.

It’s been a terrible week on social media for Israel and Israel’s institutions, and the police certainly aren’t helping themselves. Incorrect information has taken over the narrative on social media, especially on Twitter, and subsequent events have only intensified the problem. If you ever wanted a case study on how quickly misinformation can spread, the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is a pristine example.

Approximately 75 percent of journalists killed around the world in the last two decades did not step on a landmine, or were shot in the crossfire, or were killed in a suicide bombing attack. They were murdered outright, killed by an assassin escaping on a motorcycle, shot or stabbed to death near their home or office, or found dead after having been abducted and tortured. Few of them received a passing mention in the newsmedia.

The shooting of American journalist Marie Colvin was one notable exception Considered one of the world’s leading war correspondents, she reported from war zones on three continents over the course of her career. Famous for her bravery, she was blinded in one eye by a Sri Lankan army rocket-propelled grenade in 2001 and wore a trademark black eyepatch for the rest of her life. She was killed covering the siege of Homs during the Syrian Civil War in 2012. Her family believes that she was specifically targeted by the Assad regime for her criticism of the Syrian government. Assad has denied any wrongdoing.

The usually reliable German news outlet Deutsche Welle, reported that 22 journalists have been killed in various conflicts so far in 2022. None of them received anything like the newsmedia coverage that Shireen Abu Akleh received.

In the age of digital journalism, most news items have a limited shelf life. There’s every reason to believe that the shooting of Shireen Abu Akleh will be cited time and again by newsmedia Israel bashers.

“Brevity is the soul of wit.” Someone told me quoting Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

A good neighbour and friend also advised me to shorten my posts. So, I’ll add

“To be continued.”

Have a good weekend.

 

Beni,                                                               20^th of May, 2022