Published originally on October 22, 2008 - this post still stands on its feet. Names have changed, some of these TV stations no longer exist, but the idea stands. One event, different interpretations, different versions, no truth.... What happened yesterday was interpreted in already several antagonistic ways.
In an recent email I have received, I got different interpretations of the Lebanese media about the same event. The original news is "A Lebanese citizen was killed by the flow of cars on the Beirut - Damascus road"... Now here's the different versions: For Al Manar (Either backed or totally owned by the Hezbollah depending on the different sources) "The martyrdom of a Lebanese in a Mossad attack on the Beirut - Damascus road," Future Television owned by the Hariri Family and holding a major grudge on Syria headlines "The remnants of the security apparatus kills a citizen known for his opposition to the Syrian occupation" (Syrians remained for 15 years in Lebanon after the end of the war, practically having a political "carte blanche" from major superpowers), for the LBC - itself anti-Syrian - it becomes "The death of a citizen supporting the majority under the wheels of a bus with a Syrian license plate" (The majority in this case refers to the current anti-Syrian parliamentary block) for NBN - totally pro-Syrian - the news is best avoided and the news is "The fall of the Berlin wall" then New TV which is heavily flavored with communist ideas "The colonial capitalist American powers kills a Lebanese citizen" and finally for Tele Liban, known to do nothing all day but rerun (its otherwise brilliant) archive... there are no headlines, only the archive.