Almost on queue, the mainstream press coverage of the passing of Hugo Chavez followed a predictable pattern. The underlying agenda is that any leader who seriously challenges US hegemony will receive abuse from less than independent thinking journalists and commentators. Medialens examines the record: Following the death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez on March 5,…
Showing all posts tagged Britain
BBC happy to promote deluded British narrative of spreading democracy
Typically savvy writing by Medialens: This ideological function was clear in the BBC Newsnight ‘special’ edition on February 26, 2013, titled… ‘Iraq: 10 Years On’. One of the guests on the platform in front of an invited audience was the grandly titled ‘World Affairs Editor’, John Simpson. The veteran journalist has an air of avuncular gravitas,…
10 years on, Iraq is broken
Patrick Cockburn, one of the finest mainstream journalists around, writes for the UK Independent… from Iraq about the state of the nation we invaded and occupied in 2003: Iraq is disintegrating as a… country under the pressure of a mounting political, social and economic crisis, say Iraqi leaders. They add that 10 years after the US…
Britain finds novel way to strip citizens of rights before America drones them
Disturbing evidence in the Independent that reveals yet another way Western states find ways to capitulate to unaccountable American demands in the “war on terror”: The Government has secretly ramped up a controversial programme that strips people of their British citizenship on national security grounds – with two of the men subsequently killed by American…
How Britain sells weapons to the world and still claims to be responsible nation
Penetrating story by Andy Beckett in the Guardian: In the town centre of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, between McDonald’s and Carphone Warehouse, there is an unusual statue. Four firm-jawed figures in factory clothes stand back-to-back. One wears a flat cap, one wields a sledgehammer, one has a welder’s visor. All of them are in purposeful poses,…
Setting the right priorities over Wikileaks support
As a long-time supporter of Wikileaks, since its inception in 2006, its importance is often overlooked by the personal issues surrounding its founder Julian Assange. It’s a complex legal and ethical battle and his fear of US arrest and imprisonment is real and justified. Trusting any authorities is unwise considering the record of governments and…
Mali shows that West understands little about failures of “war on terror”
History repeats. Leaders learn nothing or don’t want to. Countless media hacks repeat the talking points about fighting “terrorism” and ask few questions. The “war on terror” has been a catastrophic debacle from day one. If you ask the civilians who suffer under its wrath, which most reporters don’t, you’ll know that. Seumas Milne in…
Far too many journalists worthy of a Shammy award
John Pilger on a new much-needed new media award: There are awards for everyone. There are the Logies, the Commies, the Tonys, the Theas, the Millies (“They cried with pride”) and now the Shammies. The Shammies celebrate the finest sham media. “Competition for the 2013 Gold Shammy,” said the panel of judges, “has been cutthroat.”…
Tasteless tourism should be avoided in Sri Lanka
Following the recent ethical tourism campaign for Sri Lanka launched by Britain’s Sri Lanka Campaign, this story shouldn’t surprise anybody; Colombo is proud of committing war crimes against Tamils and would like to make some money from it (via the UK Telegraph): A campaign group for human rights has criticised “tasteless” holiday accommodation built on…
Charlie Brooker’s 2012 Wipe
The kind of 2012 round-up that beautifully skewers the leeches who often inhabit the news media and public life: