Staging the News

In its presentation on the Syrian government's alleged use of sarin gas to fight anti-government forces, CNN provides a stage that includes a horizontal surface to depict the spread of a gas they have said is invisible and, behind its presenter, a triptych that features Syrian president Bashar al-Assad (left), a packet of gas vials (centre) and, in a shape similar to those vials, five medium-to-long-range missiles (right).