Tag Archives: BBC

All the news fit to be shown to Americans

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Simultaneous editions of NewsweekThis September has been the most fatal month for Canadians in Afghanistan. The number of Canadian soldiers killed peacekeeping for NATO has been accelerating of late and now stands at 37. It would stand to reason that Afghanistan would make the news.
 
Amy Goodman’s Independent Media in a Time of War examined the difference between the Iraq war coverage on CNN versus CNN international. Not the difference between Fox-News and the BBC, just the difference between in-house news departments of the same company.
 
What explains the decision to have a different cover story in this week’s domestic issue of Newsweek? Losing Afghanistan everywhere else, Annie Liebowitz: My Life In Pictures here.
 
The War in Afghanistan has become the forgotten war, due in large part because it is also kept an invisible war.
 
It serves to remember that regardless of the occasional expose, our press is neither unvigilant nor asleep. More precisely, their vigilance attends to guarding we don’t lose our sleep.
 
I have to remind myself, after reading any story critical of the war, that our press is not critical. The Wall Street Journal are terrible Neocon war mongers. The Washington Post, cynical war mongers. The Los Angeles Times, bandwagon war mongers. The New York Times, gatekeeper war mongers. Fox, MSNBC, of course cheerleader war mongers. CBS, ABC, war monger wannabees. Disney, war monger profiteers.
 
Recently fans are rallying around Keith Olbermann and his recent tirades against this administration. I agree we should support his speaking out, but Olbermann’s got a long way to go before he atones for his full throttle support in the lead-in to war.

Over 250,000 Iraqis are dead as a result of our invasion. Afghanistan too continues to suffer terrible civilian casualties. Our press supported both ventures and continues to support them.

Innuendo by inflection

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False modulation. Do you hear it? American news reporters and TV anchors have evolved a certain story-teller’s sing-song as they read the news. It’s happened particularly on mainstream television and radio. Do you recognize what I’m talking about?

Contrast this Barney-speak with news as it’s read on DW or the real BBC. (Not BBC the World which is BBC for US consumption.) Elsewhere in the world newscasters still read the news as if they are speaking to adults, as though they were delivering a lecture with intent to communicate.

American newscasters today read the headlines with random inflection and emphasis, meant to keep our attention, as that of babies, but not necessarily to best communicate the facts.

Here’s an example. “There are problems” is fairly self-explanatory. “There ARE problems” means what? Someone says there aren’t problems? There used not to be problems, now there are? The problems are contrary to what you might otherwise be thinking? Who might be thinking? Why?

Such innuendo by inflection confuses the issue. Remember the issue? Problems.

News notes April 2006

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Who’s paying the bill, who’s tendering the bill?
U. S. gas prices have hit over three dollars per gallon. Let’s see: we have oil men in charge of the country, they conduct secret meetings with energy companies, they convince us to invade Iraq with the world’s second largest oil reserves, the oil companies post record breaking profits, and we’re paying twice as much as we used to for gasoline. Who’s the patsy? Though that word might be a little insulting if you’re the parent of someone killed in this charade.
 
Whose conscience was not bothered by secret prisons?
If CIA officer Mary McCarthy was not the source of the leak about the network of secret prisons to which America is abducting people, the question that comes to mind is not who was, but rather, who else was not? Who among the CIA, government and military administrators knew about the illegal un-American activities and didn’t blow the whistle?
 
Diplomatic immunity for beachheads?
On the subject of flouting international law, it has been revealed that plans for the American embassy in Baghdad include facilities for mounting military operations. Since when has it been permissible to treat embassies as military beachheads? When Iranians stormed the U. S. embassy in Tehran, they claimed that the diplomats held hostage were in reality CIA operatives. Our country vehemently denied these charges, but history has shown the Iranian accusations to have been true.
 
Air quote, Zaqawi, end quote.
A recent Al Zarqawi videotape issues new warnings to Iraq’s occupiers. It renews the defiant posturing and reiterates the link between Iraq and Al Qaeda. When the BBC reported the latest story, they used quotations when refering to “Zarqawi.” Whose quotes might those be? Of what footnote to the Zarqawi story is the BBC reminding us?

CPT captives released

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CPT memorials on postThe three remaining CPT captives, held hostage since Novemember 27 have been freed.
 
On DAY 119 of their captivity, on DAY 106 or so of the vigil which we’ve kept every day at noon, the BBC has just reported that the three CPT hostages, English Norman Kember and Canadians Jim Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, have been freed.

The news so far reports that they were liberated from their captors by a join military mission, the details and repercussions of which remain to be revealed. But it’s a happy day, the three CPT members are safe.

A little over a week ago, we learned that the fourth captive, American Tom Fox, had been killed. This was a fate which seemed improbable considering the mission of the Christian Peacemaker Team. They had been working without protection in Iraq to help families there negotiate for the release of their loved ones detained without due process in American prisons.

The memorial post we had erected for the CPT members will remain to shine the light on persons all over the world who are held in unlawful detainment. The post is still draped in black because of the death of Tom Fox, but soon we will raise another backdrop which will read: HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL CAPTIVES.

The noon vigil has proved itself to be an excellent touch stone for organizing our myriad other actions. It’s been an opportunity to stay apprised of the latest developments and strategies, and we’ve had occasion to be interviewed for three separate documentaries: one about American conscientious objectors who’ve removed themselves to Canada, another about the concept of Constantine’s Sword, and another about grassroots activism.