History that’s crying out to be written

It was an abiding moment of the Arab Spring. As Colonel Gaddafi’s mauled corpse was paraded through the streets of Sirte, al-Jazeera cut to what it described as ‘wild street celebrations in Tripoli’. The screen showed a dusty compound, with three blokes lolling around a burned-out car, diffidently firing pistols into the air; a stray dog entered stage right, sloped-off towards the car and then disappeared from view. Chris Morris could not have surpassed the sequence; it was beyond parody.

The memory of this scene re-entered my mind yesterday evening, when I visited Sky News’ ‘A Year on the Frontline’ exhibition at Somerset House. No one would doubt the bravery of the correspondents and their teams; but, as I saw each still photograph and watched each report, I felt that I was being subtly manipulated.