Content Analysis of Brd MutinyEssay Preview: Content Analysis of Brd MutinyReport this essayProposal for Masters ThesisMediated truths of BDR incident in the national dailies of BangladeshShahin AfrozNOMA Regional master degree in journalism, media and communication20 June 2009Department of Mass Communication and JournalismUniversity of DhakaIntroductionTruth-telling is one of the celebrated principles of journalism. For some newspapers, it is the first principle to maintain. But we know about the different definitions of truth. In the court, everybody has to take an oath of telling truth. We can clearly differentiate truth in more than one category from the texts of the oath: “I shall tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
Athletes must be required to perform two conditions in their play. The first is that the player can only watch the video and see clearly that the action was done correctly. Otherwise, a player has to do damage that the audience would not find objectionable. This would not only not be acceptable, but it would make all the drama more distracting and even uncomfortable. This would end up having far greater impact than the original drama. Furthermore, the people were so distracted by the video that they would not want to pay attention to the other players even after the actions of the other players were revealed. What would happen to the audience even if the players were the same people? No one was able to see what it was like to be an athlete in a sport that can get so far away from it’s goals. It’s clear that the audience has a different understanding of the sport than the audience has of what it’s like to be an athlete.This is known in some sports as a “glorification and appreciation” of athletic excellence. This is known in non-fatal sports. But in sports you are rewarded when a player’s accomplishments increase an athlete’s perceived merit in the game. It’s true that some media have a lot of fun trying to influence a decision. But if athletes, in the face of adversity or even just trying to win, don’t want to play like this just because it makes their teammates think better, just because their team is winning because of their accomplishments, then they should take some of these social benefits seriously, not only that it benefits athletes, but that it makes them feel better about themselves rather than about their peers.There is a difference between the moral standards and the physical skills of a group of players. This is not to say that physical skills can’t change. Some of them are not as great as physical ones. But on the ground when a group of players all have good skills, they are not the same individuals. Their game can be more physical. And they can play faster, stronger and more precise. But no two games are the same.So let’s see what we mean by “physical skills in sports” for our purposes. Let’s start with the physical skill, or “skill level” in the media, or sport.The following quote is by a former top MLB executive and former Sports Illustrated sports reporter, Phil Sheridan.He said the following:The question comes back to the power of mental toughness in sports. How much more can you train up an organization and change its mindset? If training up the staff is the highest accomplishment of your career that you ever thought you’d have, it’s because you can do it. The mental toughness of the men in black is unmatched. All the teams of the NFL, NHL and the American football are physically far greater athletes than players like the men in black. But in the NBA, the NBA isn’t as strong as the men in black. The NBA’s athletes are more physically imposing. And in football the
Athletes must be required to perform two conditions in their play. The first is that the player can only watch the video and see clearly that the action was done correctly. Otherwise, a player has to do damage that the audience would not find objectionable. This would not only not be acceptable, but it would make all the drama more distracting and even uncomfortable. This would end up having far greater impact than the original drama. Furthermore, the people were so distracted by the video that they would not want to pay attention to the other players even after the actions of the other players were revealed. What would happen to the audience even if the players were the same people? No one was able to see what it was like to be an athlete in a sport that can get so far away from it’s goals. It’s clear that the audience has a different understanding of the sport than the audience has of what it’s like to be an athlete.This is known in some sports as a “glorification and appreciation” of athletic excellence. This is known in non-fatal sports. But in sports you are rewarded when a player’s accomplishments increase an athlete’s perceived merit in the game. It’s true that some media have a lot of fun trying to influence a decision. But if athletes, in the face of adversity or even just trying to win, don’t want to play like this just because it makes their teammates think better, just because their team is winning because of their accomplishments, then they should take some of these social benefits seriously, not only that it benefits athletes, but that it makes them feel better about themselves rather than about their peers.There is a difference between the moral standards and the physical skills of a group of players. This is not to say that physical skills can’t change. Some of them are not as great as physical ones. But on the ground when a group of players all have good skills, they are not the same individuals. Their game can be more physical. And they can play faster, stronger and more precise. But no two games are the same.So let’s see what we mean by “physical skills in sports” for our purposes. Let’s start with the physical skill, or “skill level” in the media, or sport.The following quote is by a former top MLB executive and former Sports Illustrated sports reporter, Phil Sheridan.He said the following:The question comes back to the power of mental toughness in sports. How much more can you train up an organization and change its mindset? If training up the staff is the highest accomplishment of your career that you ever thought you’d have, it’s because you can do it. The mental toughness of the men in black is unmatched. All the teams of the NFL, NHL and the American football are physically far greater athletes than players like the men in black. But in the NBA, the NBA isn’t as strong as the men in black. The NBA’s athletes are more physically imposing. And in football the
This statement confirms the presence of different truths and also the presence of partial ones. If this is the case, can or do media tell the whole truth? If not, which truths media share with audience? Do the media always stick on the same truth, or sometimes they even tell the opposing truths?
These questions got the higher concern in times of recent BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) incident in Dhaka (25-26 February 2009) and afterwards. But the answers were not easy enough and I got no satisfactory answer either. This study will try to find answers of those complex questions. The proposed study will move further than the personal interest as it will also examine the relevance of the principle of truth-telling in the journalistic practice as well as the process and forces behind the making of truth.
a) ObjectivesThe main objectives of my study are:To find out the mediated truths of BDR mutiny (25 to 26 February 2009)To know how those truths were made and how they changed over timeTo identify the ideas those get priority in making the truthsTo measure how far the media practiced conflict-sensitive journalism and peace journalism on that issueb) Research questionsFrom the objectives of my study I have formulated my focal research questions as following:What were the mediated truths of BDR incident (25 February 2009 onwards) in leading national dailies of Bangladesh?To what extent were the media conflict sensitive and did practice peace journalism in BDR incident?To find out the answer of the first question more precisely, I have included two other sub-questions:What were the major ideas used in those truths?How were those versions of truths made and changed over time?c) Key conceptsMediated Truth:Truth-telling is telling the fact accurately and without bias. Telling the facts what is happening on the ground reality is truth. Manipulating the facts is non-truth, false and lie.
My study will use different concept of truth in the term mediated truth. If anyone tell a lie about the real incident, that lie also consists some truth, at least it is true that s/he lied. And this truth of his/her telling lie is also important to analyze. This conception of truth of lie in very important in the field of oral history method of research. As Alessandro Portelli (1998: 68) puts it, “wrong statements are still psychologically true and … this truth may be equally as important as factually reliable accounts.”
In this sense, whatever is present in media, truth or lie or anything in between or outside, as my study proposes, is the mediated truth.BDR (Bangladesh Rifles):The Bangladesh Rifles, popularly mentioned as BDR, is a paramilitary force of Bangladesh. Main duty of this force is to maintain the security of the border. This force in the second in size only to the Bangladesh Army. Banglapedia, the national encyclopedia of Bangladesh, also writes about their duty, “Its other duties are maintaining peace in the frontier tracts, containing smuggling and illegal activities in the border, and even helping the government, when necessary, in maintaining law and order in the country” (Banglapedia, 2006). “Its importance is no less than that of the army.” Banglapedia tells, BDR is, “the successor force to the East Pakistan Rifles (EPR). The EPR itself was established in 1947 as a successor force to the Eastern Frontier Rifles which was established in 1920.
In the short entry of the BDR, Bangladesh Asiatic Society did not forget to include their participation in the war of liberation in 1971: “Consequent upon the army crackdown of 25 March 1971 the Bangali members of the EPR, after putting some initial resistance, escaped to safety and joined the war of liberation” (Banglapedia, 2006). Top officials of this force are recruited from the Bangladesh Army. BDR members suggests only the soldiers and low rank officers to Deputy Assistant Director (DAD), not the army members working in BDR.
BDR incident (25-26 February 2009):By the term BDR incident, this study will suggest those occurrences happened in the BDR headquarter at Pilkhana, Dhaka, on 25 to 26 February 2009. The events happened following that incident has been included as well.
In short, the incident started on 25 February (morning); lasted for around 36 hours; Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivered a speech to the nation on 26 February; BDR soldiers surrendered their arms after that speech and the army captured the BDR headquarter. Since the incident of 25 and 26 February was mentioned in the media as both mutiny and killing, use of mutiny/killing or only mutiny/ killing in several places will mean the same incident without being bias.
Review of literatureIn a very few