The focus in the last couple of weeks on the civilian victims of the bombing of Afghanistan has worried the US and British governments. That's understandable: they want public opinion to be behind their "war", and images of its ugly consequences obviously don't help.
It seems one of the world's most influential media organisations shares the worry. Rick Davis, head of standards and practices at CNN, sent a memo to the news station's staff warning them against "reporting uncritically from the perspective or vantage of the Taliban... we must remain careful not to focus excessively on the casualties and hardships in Afghanistan that will inevitably be a part of this war, or to forget that it is the Taliban leadership that is responsible for the situation Afghanistan is now in".
Reports shown on CNN broadcasts in the US must end with the reporter using words like these: "We must keep in mind... that the Taliban regime continues to harbour terrorists who have praised the September 11th attacks..." The reporter might also stress that the US "is trying to minimise civilian casualties". Interestingly, the rule doesn't apply to presenters on CNN International, only in the US. The chairman of CNN said that, with more images coming from Afghanistan, "I want to make sure we're not used as a propaganda platform". He meant Taliban propaganda, but by forcing reporters to do this, he risks CNN being seen as a platform for US propaganda.
