Ed Uyeshima Having just seen Robert Greenwald's "Outfoxed" about the media manipulation we are subjected to by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, specifically the Fox Network, this eye-opening documentary is a fascinating counterpoint from the perspective of the famous and sometimes infamous Middle East news agency, Al-Jazeera. I cannot think of two more diametrically opposite news agencies reporting on the events in Iraq, but the key difference between them is that Al-Jazeera appears to admit to their biases rather than claim to be "fair and balanced". What is more startling is how much more similar they are in operation than they are different in their presentation of political opinion disguised as facts. Obviously filmmaker Jehane Noujaim takes a more sympathetic portrait of Al-Jazeera and does supply clear evidence where Al-Jazeera is right and the American government is wrong on certain Iraqi events. As an overview of the first independent and now most popular news channel in the Middle East, the film takes a hard look at the key milestones from Bush's threat of invasion through the toppling of Saddam Hussein.One would think Michael Moore funded this documentary from the damning evidence presented, but Noujaim is nothing but thorough in illustrating the Bush administration's changing rationales for invading Iraq, the use of fear in the media to manipulate public opinion, the martyrdom of Jessica Lynch, the card deck identifying the most wanted men in Hussein's regime, and the suspiciously coincidental bombing deaths of three different Arab journalists on the same day by American planes. Al-Jazeera's perspective is unsurprisingly countered by Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, who accuses the news agency of faking pictures of civilian deaths. But Noujaim cuts to indisputable pictures of real victims from the American bombing. One of the most revealing moments in the film is the Al-Jazeera team's shocked disbelief witnessing the fall of Hussein's Iraq as they try to make their emotional response correspond to what they must rationally have expected all along. Noujaim spotlights several of Al-Jazeera's personalities, and each provides a unique opinion on both their news coverage as well as that of their American counterparts. Their begrudging respect for the Fox Network, for example, is an intriguing revelation among many presented here. Ultimately though, their disgust over American imperialism is clear, as reporter Hassan Ibrahim, as bitter an idealist as you'll ever see, decries, "Eventually you'll have to find a solution that doesn't involve bombing someone into submission... democratize or I will shoot you." Another eye-opener is how Al-Jazeera does not hesitate to invite Americans to give their point-of-view on the network, which is something the Fox Network purports to do but does so miserably due to the bullying tactics of their own personalities, Sean Hannity and of course, Bill O'Reilly. Those who have grown tired of the spin coming from the Bush administration will find this documentary valuable viewing. Highly recommended.

Laura Simpson Control Room is a documentary on the Arab news network Al Jazeera, and how this network presented the war between Iraq and America to the public. This documentary contains no narration, nor elaborate filming technology; hence, making this movie very simple. Instead of the writer, director, or producer guiding the viewer through this movie, a few screens are displayed throughout the film giving minimal information to make sure the viewer is not lost. These screens, however, do not persuade the audience on what to think, which is what narration usually tends to do. Without narration, the viewer is forced to be engaged in the film and absorb and consider all of what is being said. This documentary is not entertainment, but a well done, thought provoking film on Al Jazeera.Towards the beginning of Control Room, a reporter for Al Jazeera says that the message of their news network is "wake up, there is a war out there and you are still sleeping". This network is trying to educate Arabs on the war that their country is partaking in. Many of the Arab citizens would be completely unaware of the daily events of this war if Al Jazeera did not exist. Besides just informing Arabs of the war, Al Jazeera wants to "gain grief" from the American people by showing pictures of mass dead bodies. Americans were very upset when Al Jazeera released film of American POWs, some alive, but others lying on a concrete floor dead. The grotesque footage that Al Jazeera will put on their news network, American networks would not even consider doing.Another flaw of Al Jazeera that the American soldier speaks of is how this Arab news network shows propaganda over and over. This instills the same image into the mind of the viewers; therefore, making this particular event seem to be more important or have more meaning than others. After a bomb is dropped, the reporters find women and children to pretend they have been hurt this bomb, and then have them talk about it on camera. The views presented by the American soldier and reporters for Al Jazeera are both commendable arguments that give the audience the opportunity to take this information in, and come to their own conclusion. The bombings on Arab news outlets by America are talked about in great detail in Control Room. In one day, three separate attacks were clearly aimed at Al Jazeera, and two other network's outlets. The explanation by America for these bombings was that the networks were distributing terrorist propaganda. Arabs thought the missiles were sent because Al Jazeera would not side one hundred percent against Saddam. This example demonstrates how this film is a documentary in that it leaves the audience with only the information of the event; hence, giving the viewer the opportunity to make of it what they want. Control Room did a wonderful job is showing exactly how Al Jazeera is run, and the people that work for the network. I thought this documentary was very factual, and it left me thinking about the war and American and Arab news networks in a different way. This film seemed to be more of the truth than any of the news that I had seen prior. I would say that Control Room is a unique and informative look in Al Jazeera. It was a better way to see what this network is trying to show without actually watching their show

Quoc Ngo Control Room is an excellent, unbiased documentary about how differently the media portrays the Iraq War depending on which sides they come from. Control Room excellently displays how both the American and the Arab news networks are very different and at the same time, very much alike. Control Room shows the largest and most popular news network in the Arab World, the Al Jazeera Network, in a way not very many Americans have seen before. During the Iraq War, Al Jazeera has been hard at work trying to bring "news" to the rest of the Arab World. Control Room is presented to Americans who have no access to Al Jazeera. The purpose: to inform people the American media censors and filters images to satisfy the patriotic public. Al Jazeera presents news that is contrary to American news. Al Jazeera may present live images of dead American soldiers; Americans may never see as much a coffin. They are two different societies and two very different views on the Iraq War. During the "liberation" of Baghdad American news networks showed a band of liberated Iraqis tearing down Saddam's statue and waving an old Iraqi flag. Al Jazeera claims that his is all staged for the American media to satisfy the American public. Although Al Jazeera and the American news network are contrary to each other, they exist for the sole purpose of satisfying their viewers. Al Jazeera may present dead bodies of American soldiers, but they are only doing it to please their anti-American viewers. Similarly, the American news networks may not show dead American soldiers to please their viewers. Again, during the "liberation" of Baghdad, Americans see Iraqis destroying images of the old regime while Al Jazeera claims that these images were artificial. The media are doing this to please their viewers by showing them what they want to see. The way the author of the documentary chose to present the movie was very unique and ironic. Not a single word was spoken in form of a narrative, but it was a mosaic of interviews and images. It is ironic because Control Room is about the many different perspectives one can have about images, yet the author decided to use images as a narrative. I thought this was a very good use of images because it shows viewers the power of images. Images are so powerful they tell their own story without the need of a traditional narrative. The theme of Control Room ties with David D. Perlmutter's, "Living-Room Wars". Perlmutter's essay is also about the power of images and their effects even on war itself. It can start, stop, or win wars. If Americans were to see the many dead bodies of American soldiers, they would be encouraging their government to stop the war. Using images such as the "liberation" of Baghdad, America can win the support of their people. On the other hand if the Arab World could see the good America is doing, they would not be so anti-American. Overall Control Room is a very informative and entertaining movie. It really does present both sides of the media war well.

Thomas Oldani All too often in today's world, truth is forced to take a back seat to partisanship. To a combatant who has taken up arms in the fight of left-vs.-right and red-vs.-blue, it doesn't make much difference what's true or not. If the other side said it, it's not true, or at the very best it's either a distortion of the truth or part of some insidious scheme to appear legitimate. Truth has been reduced to a weapon in this fight, used to pick apart every statement of the opposing team, and misconstrue it to mean something that wasn't intended at all. All this partisan bickering has led to real truth going largely unnoticed, often to grievous consequences."Control Room" is all about the quest for truth, in this case as it pertains to the Arab news network Al-Jazeera, which is often portrayed by American politicians and news outlets as being fiercely anti-western. In truth, this reputation surrounds them mostly because they report on things that the American government would rather people not see. They've shown the US military bringing people in from elsewhere to stage pro-coalition events, interviews with Iraqis that vehemently hate the coalition, and video footage of civilian victims of American bombings. The American military even bombed an Al-Jazeera base because of this, killing a reporter, because they were defying a ban on media coverage of the war.Although many Arab extremists hate the US without question, this film goes to great lengths to show that these are not the people Al-Jazeera caters to. What really stood out to me was a scene in which one of the reporters arranged a video interview with a correspondent in Washington. The American man was very critical of his country's government and insisted that the war was only about oil, and that the US was only trying to exploit Iraqis. As soon as the interview ended, the reporter immediately berated the man who had arranged it, insisting that this American knew nothing of his government and he had no concept of the truth of the matter.This film is an earnest look into the minds of all involved in the Iraqi War. It paints a much broader picture than any news segment covering this subject ever could. One of their disputes with the coalition occurred on account of the Al-Jazeera coverage of Iraqi civilians that were killed and seriously injured by various US bombings. The American military has been very critical of the news network for showing this footage, claiming that it is slanted and biased against Americans. But this is about something greater than partisan bias, this is about portraying the truth.