Shooting the Messenger

Media Blamed for the Message

"There is something pitiful about a person of Wolfowitz's stature, experience and power responding to the regular killings of young Americans in Iraq by lashing out against Arab satellite TV channels like Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya."

According to this story, Wolfowitz is accusing the Arab media of "incitement," a category of speech that is typically outside of First Amendment protection in the context of American Constitutional law. In American law, however, it is next to iimpossible for a newspaper, or even a television station, to meet the standard of imminent harm that is required to show incitement. As this article suggests, blaming the media for the resentment that is resulting in the shooting of American soldiers is likely mistaking the symptom for the disease. Shutting down newspapers is consequently an unlikely cure for unrest in Iraq.