It is with sadness that I read now that the British hostage Ken Bigley has died at the hands of his captors; only those who have experienced loss through violence can really share the grief of his family and friends.

When I saw this tragedy reported on the BBC web-site, I wondered how this single event was reported internationally, for example by CNN.

• The BBC reported this as a death after an 'escape bid' (their parentheses), while CNN reported that the victim "fled"
• The BBC reported the statement of Ken's brother who recalled the UN's declaration that the war on Iraq was "illegal" and without foundation, whereas CNN positioned this within it's "Struggle for Iraq" theme

There are other obvious differences between the two reports.

So to my tongue-in-cheek suggestions about how to limit the impact of positioning statements, I add one serious thought: read from multiple sources because the truth usually is out there, you just need to triangulate on it's position.