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Features: The Irony of Propaganda: A Response
Posted by Robert Heverly on Thursday, February 27 @ 11:53:49 EST Telecommunications

Paul and Nimrod tell a tale of U.S. initiated disinformation overseas leading to disinformation here in the U.S. I don't exactly share their concerns, and here's why.

First, if U.S. reporters "faithfully relay summaries" of the forged broadcasts to U.S. readers, they are not doing their jobs. Every reporter knows that broadcasts in Iraq are a function of the Iraqi government. There is no free press in Iraq. Thus, if broadcasts are anti-Iraq, or in any way questioning the Iraqi leader, the reporter had better be looking for an alternative explanation. There are some Kurdish and Communist opposition media outlets, primarily in the north of Iraq, and the United States has supported these efforts, including providing funding. Thus, words of opposition in Iraq are most likely to be viewed--even by U.S. media representatives--as the words of the United States.

Second, it seems that U.S. reporters and news publications are happy to buy disinformation when it comes directly from the horse's mouth. Remember Gulf War I and the wonderful accuracy of U.S. weapons? Remember how few Iraqi's--especially innocent ones--died? Let's not forget coverage of Gulf War I, where reporters were shepherded around by U.S. military personnel and whose reports were checked by military censors before they were filed? Is this somehow more of a danger than such direct censorship or media "buy-in" to U.S. propaganda efforts? Probably not.



Third, this kind of disinformation is nothing new. It happened in Vietnam (other interesting stuff here); we did it in WWII, too, both at home and abroad, and in Gulf War I. In most cases, our journalistic brothers in the "traditional" press have been able to keep government propaganda spread to foreign people separate from true representations of the atmosphere in a country with which we are at war. Why should we expect something different here? We probably should not expect anything different from what has happened in the past, unless we're worried about media complicity (which is something to worry about as I've argued above, but is not particularly exacerbated by the allegations regarding U.S. hijacking of radio frequencies in Iraq).

My point is this: disinformation is going to happen, on both sides. In Afghanistan, the U.S. dropped leaflets making the case in the native tongue that Osama had abandoned and betrayed the Afghan people, as well as other arguments. Did anyone report that these leaflets were printed by Afghans? Not that I saw . . .

In conclusion, let me say that we should be careful in crafting criticisms of the current bullying administration. Stretching facts beyond their logical conclusions and making radical claims are techniques that are likely to lend credence to the administration's charges that nothing it does is going to be approved by anti-war sectors in the academy and the general public. We should keep our arguments focused on true dangers, here and abroad.

We have plenty to complain about in relation to the media, the Bush administration, and Iraq; we don't need to yell wolf when everyone already knows the wolf is there.

 
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The Irony of Propaganda

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Re: The Irony of Propaganda: A Response (Score: 1)
by karld on Saturday, March 01 @ 02:56:23 EST
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i agree 99% with what you are saying. you are correct that this story is very minor compared with the really important issues that exist surrounding our government and the media. however, i think that there is a point to exposing any sneaky, illegal, or immoral act that our government perpetrates here and around the world. it can't hurt. especially in a place like lawmeme where the # of comments and activity surrounding a story can help filter the more important from the less. also, for very critical analysis of bias, deception, and just plain old laziness in the media, have a look at fair.


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