Amanda's video on Fox News

Jason Maloney, for the Pulitzer Center

A Fox News video clip in very heavy circulation in Russia these days, on local television and on video sharing websites, is of an interview done by Fox News’ Shepard Smith of a young Ossetian girl and her aunt.  The girl, Amanda Kokoeva, had been visiting family in South Ossetia when the fighting began, but managed to escape and make it all the way back to Walnut Creek, California, where she lives.  The graphic shown during the segment reads “12-YR-OLD BAY AREA GIRL CAUGHT IN CONFLICT” so it seems clear that the segment was booked as a kind of ‘hometown hero’ feature.  And surely it starts off that way, with Amanda telling Smith where she was when the attacks started and what she did.  But seconds later, it all goes off the rails.

Amanda, at some point in her narrative, stops to make the explicit point that it was the Georgians that were doing the bombing and adds:  “I want to say thank you to the Russian troops that were helping us out.”  Then Kokoeva’s aunt joins in, blaming Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili directly for starting the violence.  Smith awkwardly interrupts her, saying that a commercial break will come in 4 seconds “whether we want to or not” to which the aunt replies “I know that you don’t want to hear that.”  Smith does come back to the pair after the commercial at which point the aunt resumes her description of the situation, but Smith then cuts it short again, claiming the show is ending and saying something about “grey areas” in times of war.

From looking around on the Internet, the video seems to have made the rounds on the usual media watchdog and conspiracy theorist sites in the US but not much more.  But here in Russia, it has been widely seen and commented on.  It’s being held up as clear evidence of the bias of the US media, which Russians appear to almost uniformly believe is staunchly pro US administration (which will come as a surprise to many Americans, who constantly complain the exact opposite is true of the ‘MSM’, although perhaps not Fox itself).  On Russia Today, an English language 24-hour news service, an anchor uses the example of the Fox interview to depict what she calls “deliberate attempts to suppress the range of opinions” by the major international news channels. Russia Today and the Russian language 24–hour news channel Vesti both rushed to California to interview Kokoeva themselves, and the stories they produced include not only her story of survival, but her treatment on Fox.   

Now, I know how live, daily news works.  I’ve done it at CNN.  Getting through an hour is often a rollercoaster experience.  I still have a Pavlovian response of jangled nerves whenever I hear my former show’s theme music.  And I’ve seen countless guests, even very high profile ones, ruthlessly cut off by an anchor using a looming commercial break as a cudgel.  But I will admit that this segment, and the flustered-seeming reaction of Smith, do little to disabuse suspicious viewers (be they Russian, American or any other) of the notion of media bias.   

In the past something like this would have passed away into the ether, leading only to some isolated grumbles by those who happened to catch the last few minutes of Smith’s show.  But in today’s information landscape these things no longer go away.  So Amanda’s interview stays out there for all to watch over and over again.  But here, even the democratic nature of the Internet is being called into question.  On the Wikipedia page that has been quickly assembled about Kokoeva, there is an accusation of YouTube censorship, claiming some comments have been deleted and the viewer counter reset, supposedly to hide how many have watched.   And so the war over the ‘information war’ rages on.

View the video clip on Fox News.

Learn more about the Caucasus Conflicts project and see related reports.

Comments

[Matt]

The fog of war evidently have taken a ride along the technological age.

The conflict in Georgia is certainly a very sad reality for so many people victimized by this latest conflict. What's sadder still is witnessing a 12-year old having to fall short of what was an otherwise ill-intending and trivialized attempt to propagandize this dark and trying time for many Georgian citizens.

But true to her age, she delivered a far more compelling truth, however innocent, in her summation of her experience of the moment when she admitted, "I did not see any bombs but it was the Georgians bombing us."

What happened on her trip back to California by way through Moscow only leaves one to wonder.

[Vern]

Did you also note the older lady saying 2000 people were killed? Yet, present day accounting of the dead were in the mid 40s from the last reporting.

Based on that premise, I don't fault the young girl as I'm sure she equated what she wanted to say based on what little she saw, and what she was coached to say.

The tragedies of war.

[Helen]

"But true to her age, she delivered a far more compelling truth, however innocent, in her summation of her experience of the moment when she admitted, "I did not see any bombs but it was the Georgians bombing us."

If you want to see Georgian bombing you can watch the video from Reuters site. They made a video how Georgian Grad systems shoot Ossetian city in the night. That's actually the moments when the war started.

"Did you also note the older lady saying 2000 people were killed? Yet, present day accounting of the dead were in the mid 40s from the last reporting."

This "last reporting" is probably the number of civilian Georgians killed. Do you know how many civilian Ossetians were killed?

[Helena]

It’s impossible to know about all the victims now, before we haven’t quizzed all the refugee, but Government of the South Ossetia says about 1492 killed ossetians people.

[GIORGi]

HI, i watched that video and i wont to say that that girl is 100% wrong, I'm georgian and My best friends ar fighting i that war! THe soldiers who helped her were Georgians NOT RUSSIANS! RUSSIANS destroyed everything and killed 1000 of inisent people! Download this video and you'll see whats realy is going on in Georgia ! you'll see how many people are ding! the worth is that I found My best friends dead picture in internet! http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2355592/32504302

[GIORGi]

http://www.hostggg.com/download.php?file=91ef00d8c3661f1c19d06ae5b7f58bff download this video and think!

[Andrei Kiryachov]

To GIORGI:
Sure, man, that wasn't Georgians, who destroyed Tskhinvali, bombed it & killed several hundreds Ossetian civilians! Sure, it wasn't Georgians, who started street fighting in Tskhinvali!
Look, I'm not surprise to hear another LIE from obnuctious Georgian! Wake up, you, idiot: there are KNOWING FACTS, who started agression in South Ossetia!
So, get real & find guts to admit that you WERE WRONG! Otherwise, just SHUT UP, JERK!

[Matt]

Helen, yesterday the last count of fatalities in Ossetia is 166 people died. That includes Ossetia's paramilitary. This is so important because the excuse Russia used to invade Georgia was that they were committing genocide against Ossetia. Just like what Putin made them believe when he massacred the people of Chechnya. There's also so many vidoe's out there showing Russian and Ossetians military looting cities of Georgia. Who do you think is the victims in this conflict.

[Alex]

My 14 years of reading "free" "western" press about Russia/USSR shows that this press has only one freedom -to portray Russia as bad and technologically backward, Russians as evil, vicious and drunk barbarians, certainly alien to Western "civilisation" values.And skills in this excersise displayed by eg. the US press are no match to Soviet/Russian propaganda.This video is just one of few exceptions - I am sure the reporter was fired soon after(for the lack of required for brainwashing professionalism).

[Helena]

"People of the world. You deceive! World mass media conduct propagation of a false information. Russia DID NOT ATTACK Georgia! 07.08.2008 at 22:00 Georgia has attacked South Ossetia. At 3:30 08.08.2008 tanks of the Georgian armies have entered into city Tskhinvali. Artillery bombardment all the day long proceeded, fights with use of tanks and heavy combat material, both against ossetic armies, and against peace inhabitants were conducted. 1400 civil people already were lost. The Russian peacemakers have arrived to South Ossetia in the evening 08.08.2008 for settlement of the conflict and prompting of the world in republic and protection of the Russian citizens living on territory of South Ossetia. Georgia has attacked South Ossetia on eve of Olympiad, it is top of cruelty and cynicism."
Do you want know more?
http://southosetia.wordpress.com/

[Waffa]

Well.. just funny to see this propaganda girl... but its not only russians who use these tricks, Hitler first... usa uses also media.. now russia is caching up really fast, its one of the best russian media campaigns i have seen in internet (ofcourse, now they have special "team" of people who "spread the right messages" in internet... but im sore not only soviats use these kind of "teams" :)

[Andrei Kiryachov]

to Waffa & other morons:
You, people, just keep amaze me with your stupidity! You've learned nothing from 9/11! Or was it another "propaganda" issue?
Didn't you still get it? Hundreds of innocent Ossetian civilians WERE KILLED during Georgian assault on Tskhinvali - that's exactly what the girl and her aunt are talking about! Can't you HEAR them? Are you able to THINK or all you can do - just LISTEN to LIES from BIASED US MEDIA?
What DO you KNOW about this conflict, anyway? "Brutal" Russian attack on little, "snow-white" Georgia?! Do you know that it was a RESPONSE of Russia to initial Georgian attack? Was it swift & brutal? You bet! NOBODY will ever KILL Russians without PUNISHMENT - remember it!
I would say, however, it was much more humanist response in comparision with US assault on Afganistan, when hundreds of innocent civilians were killed!!! Afganistan was NOT even involved in 9/11 - you KNOW IT, right? But US STARTED AGRESSION ANYWAY!
So, neither US nor you, people, have a RIGHT to CRITICIZE Russia in the first place! Clear?

[Valeria]

I hope everyone was watching the news for the last few days, the American government announced that in fact for the past few weeks American media has been publicizing false facts.... Georgia attacked first! It's official and yet there are still people out there who continue to argue Georgia's innocence. There is nothing to argue over! Russia did what was necessary and there wasn't one action from the Russians that was un-necessary. Every action takin' by the Russian Military was the right one. No doubt about it.