One week before Michael Moore's celebrated Fahrenheit 9/11 was released, a more modest documentary, Control Room, began to present perhaps an equally powerful message with a narrower theme--how the American military has shamefully managed news about the Iraq war. The focus is mostly on the Al Jazeera television network, which is beamed to forty-million Arabic-speaking viewers, but also includes footage of the American media and media personnel. Insofar as a documentary seeks success, providing both sides of an argument may be a requirement. Whereas Fahrenheit 9/11 falls short on that test, Control Room succeeds. Perhaps the most startling revelation from Control Room, directed by Jehane Noujaim, is the fact that American bombing unapologetically targeted Al Jazeera filming locations, obviously retaliating against the network's coverage of news that sought to achieve objectivity by balancing the spin placed on news by the American military press office. MH
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