U.S. Media Misleading
"Misperceptions, The Media and The Iraq War," October 2003 by
University of Maryland Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA)
Research Center Study. Knowledge Networks in Menlo Park, Calif.
conducted a poll of approximately 10,000 people in the U.S. to determine
the frequency of misperceptions concerning the news coverage on the Iraq
War.
Questions focused on whether Iraq was involved with the 9/11
terrorist attacks, whether Iraq was supporting al-Qaeda terrorists,
whether weapons of mass destruction have been found, and whether world
opinion was for or against the U.S. invading Iraq. The reality is that
no links between the Iraqi government and al-Qaeda terrorists have ever
surfaced and no weapons of mass destruction have been found. In general,
world opinion about the U.S. invasion of Iraq is overwhelmingly negative
or non-supportive.
The study found that nearly two-thirds of Americans had vast
misperceptions about the war. For example, in one poll, 68% said they
believed that Iraq played an instrumental role in 9/11. "In the run-up
to the war with Iraq and in the postwar period, a significant portion of
the American public has held a number of misperceptions that have played
a key role in generating and maintaining approval for the decision to go
to war," stated the study.
The study also noted that "the extent of Americans' misperceptions
vary significantly depending on their source of news:
In 2002 a study of 116 mainstream US papers by Jim A. Kuypers titled
"Press Bias and Politics: How the Media Frame Controversial Issues",
Kuypers demonstrated that those who expressed points of view further to
the left of editors were generally ignored, whereas those who expressed
moderate or conservative points of view were often actively denigrated
or labeled as holding a minority point of view. Kuypers study
showed that when political leaders, regardless of party, spoke within
the press-supported range of acceptable discourse, they would receive
positive press coverage. If a politician, again regardless of party,
were to speak outside of this range, they would receive negative press
or be ignored. Naturally, editors are hand picked by the owners of
the media outlet: According to former Fox News producer, Charlie Reina,
"The roots of Fox News Channel's day-to-day on-air bias are actual and
direct. They come in the form of an executive memo distributed
electronically each morning, addressing what stories will be covered
and, often, suggesting how they should be covered." “An internal memo
from ABC Radio Networks to its affiliates reveals scores of powerful
sponsors have a standing order that their commercials never be placed on
syndicated Air America programming that airs on ABC affiliates…. The
list, totaling 90 advertisers, includes some of largest and most
well-known corporations advertising in the U.S.: Wal-Mart, GE, Exxon
Mobil, Microsoft, Bank of America, Fed-Ex, Visa, Allstate, McDonald's,
Sony and Johnson & Johnson. The U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Navy
are also listed as advertisers who don't want their commercials to air
on Air America.” (http://www.fair.org/images/ABCmemo.pdf) Control of
the media ultimately falls where the money lies. There is no
greater control of money than the control of the money supply, which in
the U.S. and many other nations, falls in the hands of the owners of the
privately held Federal
Reserve Bank. Furthermore it can be demonstrated that the
Federal Reserve Bank has employed it's influence to
crash the market
allowing insiders to buy up the crashed stocks of corporations. George
Orwell originally wrote a preface for his book “Animal Farm”, which
focuses on British self censorship. "The sinister fact about literary
censorship in England is that it is largely voluntary. ... [Things are]
kept right out of the British press, not because the Government
intervened but because of a general tacit agreement that ‘it wouldn’t
do’ to mention that particular fact." As if to prove the point, the
preface itself was censored and is not published with most copies of the
book. "In journalistic circles it is a pleasing custom to speak of the
Press as a ‘Great Power’ within the State. As a matter of fact its
importance is immense. One cannot easily overestimate it, for the Press
continues the work of education even in adult life. Generally, readers
of the Press can be classified into three groups: First, those who
believe everything they read; Second, those who no longer believe
anything; Third, those who critically examine what they read and form
their judgments accordingly. Nowadays when the voting papers of the
masses are the deciding factor; the decision lies in the hands of the
numerically strongest group; that is to say the first group, the crowd
of simpletons and the credulous. … With ruthless determination the State
must keep control of this instrument of popular education and place it
at the service of the State and the Nation." Adolf Hitler's MEIN KAMPF
See also Worldwide Press Freedom Index
See also Blair Calls For Chinese Style Net Controls In the UK
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2007/120607Blair_media.htm
Declares war on "pernicious conspiracy theory" media coverage
Steve Watson
Prison Planet
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair has savaged online media
today in a speech in which he declared war on the free press by hinting
at new restrictions on internet journalism and suggested that the media
should be brought more into line with the government.
Blair complained that the media was too "feral" (i.e. not tamed by
the government) and referring to online journalism stated:
"In fact, the new forms can be even more pernicious, less balanced,
more intent on the latest conspiracy theory multiplied by five."
This is an outright call for a crackdown on the free press. Blair is
out in the open here saying the media is too independent of the
government, he is admitting that the freedom with which the media,
especially online, is now operating is hurting his government and its
agenda.
continued at
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2007/120607Blair_media.htm |
