Media feeding frenzies are never pretty. Even less so when they are passed off as serious journalism. The coverage following Israel’s September attack on Syria has again highlighted the deficiencies of the Western press in covering the region. Speculation passed off as fact, the use of unnamed sources, a lack of any real evidence, sensationalism and a steadfast refusal to engage in debates that may get in the way of a good story has typified much of the reporting. Whatever we eventually learn about what was bombed, the double standards which the mainstream media operates under when covering countries it deems as being ‘bad’ exposes fatal flaws in the world’s most free media establishments. What we do know is that on September 6, 2007, Israel attacked a military facility in the northern province of Raqqa. News of the strike first emerged via the Syrian Arab News Agency some 12-hours after
