Media lying in Iraq -- InterPress Service

[emcguffie]

The media have been lying about the election Iraq, and to cover up what is going on. There's a great article in InterPress Service. I also posted this in the Media forum, but I think people here will appreciate it. Of course, the moderators may disagree.

www.ipsnews.net/new_nota.asp?idnews=27429

By Dahr Jamail

ROME, Feb 14 (IPS) - A peoples tribunal has held much of Western media guilty of inciting violence and deceiving people in its reporting of Iraq. The World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI), an international peoples initiative seeking the truth about the war and occupation in Iraq, made its pronouncement after a three-day meeting here. The tribunal heard testimony from independent journalists, media professors, activists, and member of the European Parliament Michele Santoro.

The Rome session of the WTI followed Western Media Guilty of Deception in Iraq others in Brussels, London, Mumbai, New York, Hiroshima-Tokyo, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Lisbon. The Rome meeting focused on the media role. Its pronouncement came as the Independent Commission for Elections in Iraq announced a 47.6 percent voter turnout, against claims in western mainstream media that the figure would be above 60 percent. The informal panel of WTI judges accused the United States and the British governments of impeding journalists in performing their task, and intentionally producing lies and....

<snip>

Several experts gave strong testimony. Dr. Peter Philips, director of 'Project Censured' at Sonoma State University in California where he teaches media censorship provided taped testimony. He said that at no time since the 1930s has the United States been so close to institutionalised totalitarianism, and added: ''U.S. society has become the least informed, best entertained society in the world''. The WTI Rome session also heard testimony from Dr. David Miller from Scotland, author of 'Tell Me Lies: Propaganda and Media Distortion in the Attack on Iraq'.

''This is about condemning journalistic complicity of war crimes'', said Dr. Miller, who is also co-editor of Spinwatch, a group that monitors public relations and propaganda....
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[dzika]

1. If you needed a wake up call about the media....

"at no time since the 1930s has the United States been so close to institutionalized totalitarianism, and added: ''U.S. society has become the least informed, best entertained society in the world''"

These types of media tactics may be as responsible for the 2004 election results as much as suppression and fraud. In fact, one could make the argument that media manipulation is fraud.

If this problem is not fixed, verified voting and all of the other election reforms you can imagine won't matter. The neo-cons will continue to win elections based on the manipulation of public opinion shaped by continual lies that are reinforced by the media.

Perception = reality.

[pauldp]

2. The MSM is the enemy. No question. n/t