Media Studies Friday 8 – It Ain’t What You Say, It’s The Way That You Say It

In a recent BBC World Service Programme called “The Bin Laden Tapes“, the BBC got round to mentioning something that probably a lot of you felt might have been discussed more in recent years.

Specifically, in passing they mentioned that the US government had been funding Bin Laden and the Mujahideen in times gone past. The story goes that this was because his group was being used against the Russians in Afghanistan. None of this is secret anymore.

One thing that struck me as odd about the way the BBC handled the matter in this programme however, is that they described it as “awkward” for one of the sides involved, but not the other.

Skip on to about 9 mins 15 and you can hear it for yourself.

Now why would they describe it in those terms?