Shooting the Messenger III
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross from the CT Blog, who reads this site, took the time to shoot me an email about my two posts regarding Google and al-Manar. I apologize for the time lag, it has been an extraordinarily busy few days. I’ve quoted what is the foundation of his argument (full email below) –
The only intention is to correctly put al-Manar on a separate plane from news sources like CBS, CNN, ABC, and even al-Jazeera.
Denying al Manar the legitimacy (and associated moral high ground) by removing its ability to rank itself among the listed news services is a worthwhile goal – but the results are superfluous.
The key difference between our approaches is our perceptions of al-Manar’s target audience. CTBlog seems to mistakingly assume the mainstream users of Google News are potential al-Manar readers. Such efforts at expanding its target base are doomed because it inherintly appeals to a fringe group (read anti-Israeli extremists ).
As a 4GW network al-Manar seeks to garner the moral highground to gain legitimacy and in turn support among its target populace. Anyone who reads al-Manar will continue to do so or (and those looking for this type of news outlet will seek it out – this is the nature of this new free information world) while anyone who dismisses it for what it is (a terror propaganda network) will remain unaffected.
A secondary point is attempting to distance Google from al-Manar actually serves as a point for gaining/solidifying support by acting as proof that we deny their populace equal rights etc. This actually gives them the moral highground.
Bottom line – It is a non issue being made into one and it will garner very little ROI that may actually dip into the negative. That said Google should remove al-Manar out of common decency, but that is where the argument ends. Removing it will not have any major impact (if any at all) on winning the GWOT.
Email –
Hey:I’m writing about your recent entry “Shooting the Messenger II,” which responds to my Counterterrorism Blog post on al-Manar’s inclusion in Google News. Let me begin by saying that I generally enjoy your blog — otherwise I wouldn’t take the time to write to you. One thing I like about your blog is its effort to build a comprehensive paradigmatic understanding of the future of terrorism. But working from a particular paradigm can be both a blessing and a curse, and in your response to my al-Manar entry, I believe that your paradigmatic commitment to producing a well-informed public is blinding you to the particular argument that I’m making.My argument is quite simple:
- Google believes (and I agree) that selecting a source for Google News confers a degree of prestige upon the source.
- For that reason, Google has established a number of criteria for a source’s inclusion in Google News; one of these criteria is that the source cannot include hate speech.
- Because al-Manar includes hate speech, it violates the rules for inclusion as a Google News source and does not deserve the prestige that comes with such a selection.
I think that the area where you’re missing my argument is step two. In your response to Olivier Guitta (in which you correctly pointed out that Google is not doing business with al-Manar), you wrote, “Google does not do business with any of the news providers on Google News. It searches thousands of news sites and aggregates them in a single location.” But it doesn’t simply search and aggregate thousands of news sites: At the very outset, it has gateway criteria for a site’s selection — and al-Manar violates these criteria.You also state that what this attempt is designed to do is unclear. I don’t think it should be unclear. Regardless of international connectivity, being a Google News source enhances a site’s prestige and legitimacy. Radical Islamist groups are quite interested in finding external validation for their ideas — and when they are able to attain it, that external validation helps them to reach a broader audience and more effectively radicalize others. Here, I’m trying to undercut the external validation that Google News has given them.(Incidentally, this wouldn’t deny Americans information about terrorists. As you pointed out, al-Manar’s website would still exist — and could still be found through a normal Google search. The only intention is to correctly put al-Manar on a separate plane from news sources like CBS, CNN, ABC, and even al-Jazeera.)Feel free to quote from my e-mail on your blog. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.Best, Daveed
-Shlok
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