Not P but Disinformation ?

[Laura]

Thanks for the info and the links, Thomas. As a denizen of the country with the freest, most democratic press in the world, I naturally hadn't heard about Hersh's latest article. I'm still addled by the chorus of cheers from the Trump-hating establishment when he "finally did the right thing" by blasting Syria. Now if he can only start a sub-nuclear skirmish in Eastern Europe, all will be forgiven!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID

Thomas Eckhardt <thomas.eckhardt at uni-bonn.de> wrote:

>> Furthermore, the idea that "the US media" presents some 
>>kind of monolithic, synchronized "propaganda narrative" is utter 
>>bullshit, which should be obvious to anyone with working eyes, 
>>ears, and a brain.
>
>As far as the geopolitical imperatives of the
>bipartisan war-party (e.g. McCain, Graham, Clinton, the
>Neocons) are concerned, the Western mainstream media indeed present
>an essentially monolithic and synchronized propaganda
>narrative with very few, isolated exceptions. This should
>be obvious to anyone with working eyes, ears, and a brain.
>
>But I prefer to provide at least some arguments along with my 
>opinionating...
>
>So, what is Michael Gordon of the NYT up to
>these days? Not reporting on Syria, I hope?
>
>What is Fred Hiatt of the WP up to these days? Not writing
>editorials in favour of military intervention in Syria, I
>hope?
>
>Fool me once etc.
>
>A few relevant quotes from articles that I find interesting/agree with:
>
>"If you wish to understand the degree to which a
>supposedly free western media are constructing a world of
>half-truths and deceptions to manipulate their audiences,
>keeping us uninformed and pliant, then there could hardly
>be a better case study than their treatment of Pulitzer
>prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.
>
>All of these highly competitive, for-profit, scoop-seeking
>media outlets separately took identical decisions: first
>to reject Hersh’s latest investigative report, and then to
>studiously ignore it once it was published in Germany last
>Sunday. They have continued to maintain an absolute radio
>silence on his revelations, even as over the past few days
>they have given a great deal of attention to two stories
>on the very issue Hersh’s investigation addresses.
>
>(...)
>
>[Hersh's revelations provide] an alternative narrative of
>these events that one might have assumed would be of
>intense interest to the media, given that Donald Trump
>approved a military strike on Syria based on the official
>narrative. Hersh’s version suggests that Trump acted
>against the intelligence advice he received from his own
>officials, in a highly dangerous move that not only
>grossly violated international law but might have dragged
>Assad’s main ally, Russia, into the fray. The Syrian arena
>has the potential to trigger a serious confrontation
>between the world’s two major nuclear powers."
>
>http://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2017-06-30/medias-propaganda-war-on-syria-in-full-flow/
>
>'Mainstream American media outlets have willingly and
>openly embraced a narrative provided by Al Qaeda
>affiliates whose record of using chemical weapons in Syria
>and distorting and manufacturing 'evidence' to promote
>anti-Assad policies in the west, including regime change,
>is well documented.  These outlets have made a deliberate
>decision to endorse the view of Al Qaeda over a narrative
>provided by Russian and Syrian government authorities
>without any effort to fact check either position. These
>actions, however, do not seem to shock the conscience of
>the American public; when it comes to Syria, the
>mainstream American media and its audience has long ago
>ceded the narrative to Al Qaeda and other Islamist
>anti-regime elements.'
>
>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/syria-chemical-attack-al-qaeda-played-donald-trump_us_58ea226fe4b058f0a02fca4d
>
>"All wars always produce phony atrocity stories – along
>with real atrocities. But in the Syrian case fabricated
>news and one-sided reporting have taken over the news
>agenda to a degree probably not seen since the First World
>War."
>
>https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n03/patrick-cockburn/who-supplies-the-news
>
>"Coverage of the Syrian war will be remembered as one of
>the most shameful episodes in the history of the American
>press. Reporting about carnage in the ancient city of
>Aleppo is the latest reason why."
>
>https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/02/18/the-media-are-misleading-public-syria/8YB75otYirPzUCnlwaVtcK/story.html
>
>I am not in a position to know this first-hand but suspect that RT can 
>hardly be worse.
>
>
>-
>Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
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