| ||||||||||||||
Local Stories, Events
Ref. : Civic Events Ref. : Arts & Education Events Ref. : Public Service Notices Books, Films, Arts & Education
Letters
Ref. : Letters to the editor Health Care & Environment
02.14 Exposure to Glyphosate-Based Herbicides and Risk for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Meta-Analysis and Supporting Evidence [If its killing us, make it illegal] 02.14 To avoid environmental catastrophe, everything must change [Consider why this headline is laughable or confusing to many, if not most, Americans...]02.13 Study Shows Toxic Pesticide Levels in Families Dropped by 60% After One-Week Organic Diet [2:10 video; Produce and canned vegetables laced with toxic chemicals—from fertilizers and herbicides, too—must be quickly phased out to use safe organic alternatives] 02.12 Biggest offshore windfarm to start UK supply this week 02.12 Scientists Are Totally Rethinking Animal Cognition 02.12 Politicians are complicit in the killing of our insects – we will be next 02.11 'People Shouldn't Be Going Bankrupt and Dying': Nationwide Week of Action Aims to Build Mass Movement Behind Medicare for All [Corporate control of government and media must be limited to allow efficient programs for the public good] 02.11 Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature' 02.10 The truth about big oil and climate change 02.09 The potato solution: how the Guardian switched to biodegradable packaging [Non-recyclable products should be illegal] 02.08 Stripping Social Programs Leads to Lower Life Expectancy 02.08 UK's Met Office Warns Global Temperature Could Soar Beyond 1.5°C Threshold Within Five Years 02.08 Australia can meet Paris targets if government doesn't hinder progress, report claims News Media Matters
02.15 Samantha Bee: Fox News 'soiling themselves over the Green New Deal' [video clips from Samantha Bee, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert] Daily: FAIR Blog US Politics, Policy & 'Culture'
02.15 Bernie Sanders Wants to Expand Social Security 02.15 Progressives Need to Ignore the Noise and Stay Ambitious 02.15 Jayapal Says Medicare for All Bill Coming in Two Weeks as Expert Calls Plan 'Astonishingly Strong' [Corporate control of government and media must be limited to allow efficient programs for the public good] 02.15 To Be Crystal Clear: 'Medicare for All' Does Not Mean 'Medicare for Some' 02.14 Eugene V. Debs and the Endurance of Socialism [28:59 audio to listen via another window as you browse] 02.14 Pentagon Fears Climate Crisis, w/ Billions in Damage to US Bases & Societal Upheaval [In maniacally twisted capitalist countries inconvenient truths are ignored or harshly ridiculed, and Trump's stupid Wall obsession dominates the news instead.] 02.14 What's more offensive: a racist yearbook photo or structural racism? 02.14 American moms: let's stop feeling guilty and start getting mad 02.13 House Democrats plan vast Russia probe 02.13 'We Will Be That Lantern on the Shore': Ocasio-Cortez, Pressley Rally With TPS Holders Outside Trump White House [Empathy and fairness are scarce when your President is a psychopath] Justice Matters
High Crimes?
Economics & Corrupting-Capitalism
02.13 The Green New Deal offers radical environmental and economic change [For the survival of life on earth, capitalism must be effectively regulated or banned] 02.12 Climate and economic risks 'threaten 2008-style systemic collapse' [Willfull ignorance of Trump, Republicans, corporate-media and corporate-Democrats is steadfast, if not worsening] 02.11 Trump offers socialism for the rich, capitalism for everyone else [and the poor will die out like the insects] 02.10 Green New Deal Targets Link Between Trade Policy and Climate Change International & Futurism
02.15 Who Is Really A Socialist? [Who is really a Republican, etc.?] 02.15 In Germany, the Green New Deal Actually Works 02.14 House passes bill to end US support for Saudi war in Yemen [Congress does something good again!] 02.14 Millions Flowed From Venezuelan Oil Firm to Small Bulgarian Bank [Transactions like Manafort performed for Trump. Which Venezuelan political leader is likely behind this—Maduro or Trump-supported Guaidó?] 02.13 As Macron Prepares New Repressive Measures, Yellow Vests and Red Unions Strike Together 02.13 Harrison Ford: leaders who deny climate change are 'on the wrong side of history' 02.13 Nationalist strongmen are bent on controlling women’s bodies We are a non-profit Internet-only newspaper publication founded in 1973. Your donation is essential to our survival. You can also mail a check to: Baltimore News Network, Inc.
P.O. Box 42581 Baltimore, MD 21284-2581 |
ACCORDING TO MAINSTREAM MEDIA, OTHER COUNTRIES' HUMAN BEINGS DON'T MATTER:The Bad PR of Dead CiviliansAfghan airstrikes and the corporate media11 May 2009
It is difficult to see the corporate media's credulous, cursory coverage of these killings as evidence of a U.S. public relations "disadvantage."
Early reports of a massive U.S. attack on civilians in western Afghanistan last week (5/5/09) hewed to a familiar corporate media formula, stressing official U.S. denials and framing the scores of dead civilians as a PR setback for the White House's war effort. Scanning the headlines gave a sense of the media's view of the tragedy: "Civilian Deaths Imperil Support for Afghan War" (New York Times, 5/7/09), "Claim of Afghan Civilian Deaths Clouds U.S. Talks" (Wall Street Journal, 5/7/09), "Afghan Civilian Deaths Present U.S. With Strategic Problem" (Washington Post, 5/8/09). As is frequently the case with such incidents (Extra! Update, 8/07), the primary fallout would seem to be the damage done to U.S. goals. The New York Times reported that civilian deaths "have been a decisive factor in souring many Afghans on the war." As CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric put it (5/6/09), "Reports of these civilian casualties could not have come at a worse time, as the Obama administration launches its new strategy to eradicate the Taliban and convince the Afghan people to support those efforts." Other outlets used very similar language to explain why the timing was "particularly sensitive" (Washington Post, 5/7/09) or "awkward" (Associated Press, 5/7/09) for the Obama administration. While it is important to be cautious about early reports of such atrocities, many accounts played up U.S. denials. Some anonymous U.S. military officials vigorously denied that they were responsible, instead blaming the deaths on Taliban grenades and use of "human shields." The New York Times reported (5/7/09):
It is troubling to see an anonymous source given so much space to make such an elaborate case, seemingly based on little evidence. By the next day's edition of the Times (5/8/09), military sources appeared to be backtracking: "Initial American military reports that some of the casualties might have been caused by Taliban grenades, not American airstrikes, were 'thinly sourced,' a Pentagon official in Washington said Thursday, indicating that he was uncertain of their accuracy." That "thin" sourcing was good enough for most of the press, though, and similar instances continued. On CNN's American Morning (5/8/09), anchor Kiran Chetry announced, "CNN is learning that the Taliban may have been using women, children and men as human shields during U.S. air strikes earlier this week." That would stretch the meaning of "learning" quite a bit, since CNN's reporter from Afghanistan, Stan Grant, had little to report beyond vague official assertions ("We're still waiting for a formal statement, a formal report to come down from the U.S. military here in Kabul"). CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr had already (5/6/09) floated the "much grimmer scenario" coming from U.S. officials--that the Taliban had killed civilians and then paraded them around the area. On May 8, the Washington Post was stressing the notion that, whatever the truth, Afghans are going to believe what they want: "The truth of what happened in Farah may be less important than what the Afghan people believe took place in the remote western region. [Defense Secretary Robert] Gates said that a cornerstone of the Taliban campaign is to blame civilian deaths on U.S. troops." CBS's Couric (5/6/09) likewise posited to U.S. Army General David McKiernan: "Whatever the outcome, rumors alone that many civilians were killed by U.S. airstrikes--that is very problematic, particularly at this moment in time." Couric closed her report by paraphrasing McKiernan's assessment: "The general added, because it takes time to uncover the truth, the U.S. is at a distinct disadvantage in the propaganda war with the Taliban, who often blame the United States for any civilian deaths." It is difficult to see the corporate media's credulous, cursory coverage of these killings as evidence of a U.S. public relations "disadvantage." Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting is a nonpartisan media watchdog organization. Visit http://fair.org for more information, or share your opinion about this story by writing to fair@fair.org. Republished in the Chronicle with permission from F.A.I.R.
Copyright © 2008 The Baltimore News Network. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Baltimore Chronicle content is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent. Baltimore News Network, Inc., sponsor of this web site, is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed in stories posted on this web site are the authors' own. This story was published on May 12, 2009. |
|