Biases In The News: Iran & A Case of the Doctors’ Spat
by Misheel Chuluun
Check out some of the biases I’ve noticed this morning in the US News & WSJ. How they present the info is funny & insidiously biased.
Regarding Iran
Okay, I know the citizens of the “Six Nation Talks” with Iran (US, UK, Germany, Russia, China, & France) don’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon. And pretty much a lot of other people around the world including a few Iranians.
But biased news is good to note, regardless of our preferences. (By the way, when these six nations talk with Iran, shouldn’t it be called SEVEN NATION TALKS?)
- The leader of the Iranian opposition is Mir Hossein Mousavi (not Mir Hussein Mousavi). After seeing a lot of the names of the Iranian opposition with Hossein in their names, I began to wonder if I’m making a faux pas. But no, there’s no phonetic or linguistic differentiation. Just a diversionary Western spelling to differentiate perception. Same with Imam Hossein, Ali Hossein Montazeri, etc. all of whom happened to be fueling the Iranian government opposition side.
- “Iran’s government lashed out at US and Britain” (not “Iran lashed out at US & UK’s governments” which would probably be more accurate since Iranians in general have been protesting US and UK’s involvements in their affairs, and Ahmadinejad is somewhat a mouthpiece)…
- Pro-government demonstrations in Iran are “staged,” as they protest US and UK involvement, and want the foreign-tainted opposition leaders to be killed, displaying“Death to Mousavi” posters
A Doctors’ Spat
Today: “Two top medical journals found weaknesses in how the FDA approves cardiovascular medical devices.” AMA and JAMA articles cited studies looking at 80+ cardiovascular devices approved from 2000 to 2007.
But a few days ago on 12/23/09 in WSJ, it was described under a headline of a “doctors’ spat.” The younger doctor, Nalini Rajamannan, who brought this issue to light, was described as competing against Dr. Patrick McCarthy of the prestigious research hospital at Northwestern University, who invented this cardiovascular device, Myxo ring.
The fact is, he installed this device into people before any government testing or approval. This established, famed doctor claimed, pretty much that all’s well that ends well… since it turned out not to be harmful, and later approved by the FDA, there shouldn’t be any legal trouble. FDA agreed there was no violation.
Perhaps now, since “top medical journals” back the younger doctor now, it is legitimate to report the “FDA loophole” as the primary issue and to bring the problem back to FDA’s procedures.
Can human experimentations be approved post-hoc? Hmmmm… just a two doctors’ spat, huh?
Just sayin’.
-Misheel
misheel
2 months ago
Okay, after learning more of the context of what’s going on in Iran, things are a lot more hairy than my poor understanding reflected. It’s not just bias.
It’s also political maneuvering of multiple levels, from Iran’s Freedom movement, due to multiple Ahmadinejad’s opposition forces, Mousevi’s unwillingness to let go of the contentious election from 6 months ago, the nuclear talks stalling and China & Russia’s flip-flopping positions on Iran’s right to nuclear power, the poor economic conditions due to Ahmadinejad’s government spending in the wrong places and the global economic environment, incidental deaths of other leaders of past movements, AND all of these coinciding at this particular time when the West’s attention is particularly acute on what’s going on in Tehran.
More proof that everyone’s in each other’s business!