Selective reading, then writing, is not a momentary flaw in any biased reader. It is an approach in envisioning, understand and judging the world and in coming up with the conclusions that suit the writer, his mood and interests. It is hard to correct or make any clarifications to those who read based on their whims, while their action cannot be described as being wrongful or erroneous. Oftentimes, selective readers and writers know what they are doing, and do it in a premeditated way to generate confusion in the ranks of those whom they are attacking and enhance their positions among their supporters. At this level, the military metaphor is not a coincidence, considering that when it comes to such writers and readers, everything goes back to conflicts featuring attack, defense, retreat and advance. Maneuvering, deceit and lies are part of this writing strategy, considering that the eternal war between good and evil justifies deceit and relative morality. Hence, blatant lies are not immoral as long as they serve us, and clowning and degrading do not mean the decadence of the writer and his work if they aim to ruin the opponent's image. The situation prevailing over the Arab media has surpassed the stage of “Goebbelism" (in reference to Nazi Propaganda Minister Goebbels) by far, in the presence of some who are justifying this mobilization propaganda by attributing it to the requirements of the battle with the other camp, regardless of the standards of credibility, of the lies and objectivity. Consequently, the fabrication of groundless reports, the use of partial quotes and taking statements out of context are widely practiced within many Arab media outlets, from daily incidents pages to opinion pieces whose writers should enjoy a minimum level of intellectual integrity. But there is no integrity at this level, regardless of the educational title enjoyed by the writer, in the presence of piles of articles, analyses and news bulletins featuring nothing but false accusations, lies and a clear intention to mislead the readers and viewers under the pretext of serving the noble goal, i.e. of mobilizing the crowds in a fateful battle against a callous enemy. This phenomenon is not limited to a specific political direction and its media outlets. It is a predicament shared by all the troubled parties. At this level, the Arab revolutions' media is providing plenty of material and fresh examples that could be used to follow the course of the misleading practiced between the conflicting powers, based on their imminent or distant accomplishment of political or military field on the various arenas and battlefields. One must stress in this context that the media row and the use of such intentional slander are not limited to the elite or to journalists and writers who work based on what is dictated by their consciences or those to whom they owe their loyalty. Indeed, such practices are conveying their overall positions towards the world and its unfolding developments. This is not about a lie being promoted by the writer of an article here or an insult issued by a slanderer there. It is about the way the readers are perceived by the liars and the slanderers who think they can dupe them due to their inability to come to terms with their interests. Hence, they must be led to heaven in chains as someone wrote. But what are the causes we should support based on the deceit, the lies and the misleading? What are their moral and humanitarian values if we cannot convince the others they are just without deception and fabrications? It is unfortunate that the most prominent practitioners of methodic deceit in the Arab world are widely appreciated and revered, which renders their criticism a taboo that will backfire on the critic. And now, the less smart and less cunning students of the latter fraudulent individuals are filling the media and cultural arenas with cheap decadence.
