MORE TROOPS FOR IRAQ

MEDIA SHAKEDOWN/BREAKDOWN

WMD OPENS FRIDAY IN THREE CITIES

How many times have you heard about how we are winning the war in Iraq? During the campaign the President in addition to telling us that his job was “hard work” repeated the ‘we are winning’ mantra. Today it appears as if we were winning until we weren’t. CNN last night was reporting that the number of American soldiers is ESCALATING … as “Extended stays for 10,000 raises total to all-time high of 150,000.” The spin from Washington is that this is all election related, or perhaps just another “electile dysfunction” as the mess in OHIO is being called.

“WASHINGTON (CNN) — The United States is dispatching an additional 1,500 troops to Iraq and extending the stays of more than 10,000 others to bolster security ahead of January’s scheduled elections, the Pentagon said Wednesday.”

The stated reason — get this: “to take advantage of momentum gained by recent U.S.-led offensives against an insurgency that has killed hundreds of American troops over the past 18 months.” Run that by me again. We have so much momentum in Iraq that we need more troops. Makes sense.

CONTROLLING “THE INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT”

Apparently, the Pentagon is debating the use of misleading information as a military tool. The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday on how psychological operations and PR are being used to sell the war back home. This is a point that I make in my film WMD. Let me quote at length from this important story because these techniques often mould/frame/shape the news turning our TV channels into a Pentagon News Network (PNN):

“The Pentagon in 2002 was forced to shutter its controversial Office of Strategic Influence (OSI), which was opened shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, after reports that the office intended to plant false news stories in the international media. But officials say that much of OSI’s mission — using information as a tool of war — has been assumed by other offices throughout the U.S. government.

“Although most of the work remains classified, officials say that some of the ongoing efforts include having U.S. military spokesmen play a greater role in psychological operations in Iraq, as well as planting information with sources used by Arabic TV channels such as Al Jazeera to help influence the portrayal of the United States.

Other specific examples were not known, although U.S. national security officials said an emphasis had been placed on influencing how foreign media depict the United States.

“These efforts have set off a fight inside the Pentagon over the proper use of information in wartime. Several top officials see a danger of blurring what are supposed to be well-defined lines between the stated mission of military public affairs — disseminating truthful, accurate information to the media and the American public — and psychological and information operations, the use of often-misleading information and propaganda to influence the outcome of a campaign or battle.

Several of those officials who oppose the use of misleading information spoke out against the practice on the condition of anonymity.

“The movement of information has gone from the public affairs world to the psychological operations world,” one senior defense official said. “What’s at stake is the credibility of people in uniform.”

http://tinyurl.com/6epds

PRISONER ENTERS RACE FOR PRESIDENT

BBC reports that Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has been entered for next month’s presidential election in Palestine. (Al Jazeera spells his name Marwan al-Barghuthi.) “His wife filed official papers on Wednesday, only hours before the deadline for registration expired. The decision throws the election to replace the late Yasser Arafat wide open. It had looked as if interim leader Mahmoud Abbas would win easily.”

CRACKS IN THE EMPIRE

The New York Times reports:

“Gunfire erupted outside the National Palace on Wednesday morning as Secretary of State Colin L. Powell met inside with Haitian politicians.”

New Standard reports:

“Saying they had exhausted all other options, four Iraqis and a human rights organization filed a request with German authorities yesterday in an attempt to initiate an investigation and prosecution of top US officials including Donald Rumsfeld for their connection to torture and abuse of detainees in Iraq.”

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

“The Republican-controlled Congress has stepped up its campaign to curtail the power of the International Criminal Court, threatening to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in economic aid to governments that refuse to sign immunity accords shielding U.S. personnel from being surrendered to the tribunal.”…Amnesty International is asking the Defense Department whether the military used Taser electric stun guns on prisoners in Iraq or Afghanistan, saying it is uneasy about reports of mistreatment and abuse. The human rights group said it made the request under the Freedom of Information Act after interviewing dozens of prisoners formerly held by U.S. forces.

ANCHORS AWAY

NBC anchor Tom Brokaw said bye bye last night after being with the peacock network since 1966 and spending 23 years as an anchor.

As he stepped down to be replaced by Brian Williams, he said “Thanks for all that I have learned from you …That’s been my richest reward. Whatever the story, I had only one objective: to get it right,” he said, adding he was “always mindful that your patience and attention didn’t come with a lifetime.” Brokaw, by the way, will not be leaving — only giving up the daily grind while still covering politics and doing documentaries.

Dan Rather’s retirement was discussed on CNN’’s Reliable Sources. Here’s what former NBC correspondent Marvin Kalb says about Rather:

“He is the kind of guy who simply cannot give up if he is — if he feels he’s in the middle of a story, and his whole life he feels he’s in the middle of a story, he’s always in the middle of a story. And when you ask the question, why is he a target of conservatives? Because, because he is the kind of person that he is. It is almost impossible for Rather to duck a challenge. He takes on challenges.

The Republicans didn’t like the idea that Rather was the White House correspondent at a time — Bob’s point is so right — at a time when CBS was at the very top. Everyone was looking towards CBS and Rather was the White House correspondent. He’s the kind of tough guy, so he asked tough questions of the president.”

It doesn’t sound like he is really stepping down either.

NASCAR NATION?

As for Williams, the Elmira New York native is positioning himself as a journalist from outside the New York Washington axis as Frank Rich of the Times explains:

“We need honest information to help us navigate, not bunkum skewed to flatter one segment of the country, whatever that segment might be. Yet here’s how Jeff Zucker, the NBC president, summed up the attributes of Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw’s successor, to Peter Johnson of USA Today: “No one understands this Nascar nation more than Brian.” Mr. Zucker was in sync with his boss, Bob Wright, the NBC Universal chairman, who described America as a “red state world” on the eve of Mr. Brokaw’s retirement. Though it may come as news to those running NBC, we actually live in a red-and-blue-state country, in a world that increasingly hates all our states without regard to our provincial obsession with their hues.”

Maureen Dowd says “It’s still a man’s world on the idiot box.”

Quote: “one tall and handsome white male anchor with bespoke clothes will replace another tall and handsome white male anchor with bespoke clothes … Even Tom Brokaw is a little surprised that he has been succeeded by someone who looks like the love child he and Peter Jennings never had.

“I honestly thought, eight or nine years ago, that when we left,” Mr. Brokaw said, referring to himself, Peter and Dan Rather, “that it would be the end of white male anchor time.”

“Nah. Those guys are hard to kill off. Indeed, white men are ascendant in Red State America.”

THE MEDIA BREAKDOWN

Even as the press waxes with nostalgia about the GREAT MEN who are leaving their anchor chairs and sets, there are deeper problems here as your News Dissector and MediaChannel have been discussing daily: a massive media failure. Writing in Mother Jones, Todd Gitlin says the media is broken and that its failures are institutional:

“Yet even now, the news industry remains unwilling or unable to come to grips with the full scope and system of its failures, and the narrowness of the media’s self-criticism does not inspire confidence that they will refuse to swallow government propaganda the next time. (Television news bigwigs, for one, have yet to admit any responsibility for having escorted the nation into a calamitous war.) In fact, the malfunctions extend far beyond the question of WMD, beyond even the routine deceptions of George W. Bush. The machinery of truth-telling has broken down.

“THE MACHINERY was creaky already. In truth, journalism’s golden age of Vietnam and Watergate exposes was not so golden. It took years to undo the lies about “progress” in Vietnam, and for many months, most news organizations missed the magnitude of the criminal operations running out of the Nixon White House.

“Much of the time since then, the Fourth Estate has remained distracted. The Iran-Contra scandal lay scattered about in plain view until the dots were connected by a Beirut magazine. In the 1990s, any sense of proportion went missing: As murderous Islamism oozed out of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Osama bin Laden fine-tuned his massacre machine, O.J. beckoned… and Whitewater… and Princess Diana. In 1998 and 1999, when Al Qaeda was gathering force and bombing embassies, the obsession of America’s media was…Monica Lewinsky (and Clinton was accused of only seeking to distract us when he bombed bin Laden’s camp).

“Journalists have missed many a boat. But the problem of the past few years is that the media have taken to escorting the boat — amplifying disingenuous claims, downplaying doubts, belittling dissent. As it thrashed about in a state of emergency, America needed solid reporting — and solid skepticism — more than ever. Instead, large numbers of people were left believing that some of the September 11 hijackers were Iraqis, that Saddam Hussein was implicated in the terror attacks, and that the United States had actually found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

“IT IS NOT TOO MUCH TO SAY that the press has let the public down on every one of the big life-and-death stories of our time …”

http://tinyurl.com/5cepu

CENSORSHIP WATCH

The Benton Foundation reports:

“CBS and NBC are refusing to air an ad produced by the United Church of Christ (UCC) because it advocates religious inclusion. The ad shows bouncers turning away a variety of people at the door of a church — including ethnic minorities and two men who may be a homosexual couple. The announcer says, “Jesus doesn’t turn people away. Neither do we. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey you are welcome here.” )

“In a letter to the UCC, CBS is refusing to air the advertisement because the commercial “touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations.” Also, CBS found the ad “unacceptable” because “the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.” NBC similarly declared the ad “too controversial.” The ad has been accepted and will air on a number of networks, including ABC Family, AMC, BET, Discovery, Fox, Hallmark, History, Nick@Nite, TBS, TNT, Travel and TV Land. Email CBS and NBC and tell them to air the advertisement because everyone in this country – not just the Bush administration – should be able to freely express their opinions.”

GIVE KWEISI A BREAK

Kweisi Mfume, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said in a surprise announcement on Tuesday that he was stepping down because he wanted a “break” from the job he has held for nine years. “I just need a break,” Mr. Mfume said. “I need a vacation.”

FORZA ITALIA

“Millions of Italians stopped work yesterday in protest at the economic policies of Silvio Berlusconi’s government.

“A nationwide half-day stoppage crippled public transport and shut factories and banks. Alitalia cancelled more than 100 flights. Government departments and post offices were shut all day. Doctors and nurse also staged an eight-hour strike, though emergency services were maintained.”

WORLD AIDS DAY PLUS ONE

“NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (IPS) - As India moves to meet a New Year’s Day deadline to comply with the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) regime of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) the cheap, generic anti-AIDS drugs that this country is famed for could be a thing of the past.”

WHO’S THE VICTOR?

Negotiations are underway to settle the conflict in the Ukraine. Chris Cooke writes from Canada:

“In clinical psychology, ‘projection’ refers to the act of attributing to others one’s own faults. Our less than diligent fourth estate seems content to fiddle the Ukraine story into a simpleminded passion play, ignoring its authors, their aims, and the implications of its possible outcomes:”

“The unmitigated outrage of the American media is finding focus in the Ukrainian election stand-off. Whether saccharine homilies to the inviolate virtue of Democracy, or cartoonish attacks against the Snidely Whiplash’s that would dare sully that beloved Icon’s shroud of purity, headlines in the U.S.( and lesser Canada) are preaching in unison for a single side of the issue. Absent however from the sermons of the self-anointed media arbiters of democracy are both the context and facts underlying Ukraine’s “Crisis of Democracy.”

“Who’s the Viktor?

“Both Viktor Yanukovych and “wronged party,” Victor Yushcenko have served as Prime Minister to outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma. Both are deeply embedded with the corporate globalizers whom Kuchma, as the Ukraine’s successor to the break-up of the former Soviet Union, used along with his contacts in the communist security bureaucracy, to position himself to profit immensely from the myriad post-Soviet privatization schemes that swept eastern Europe in the 1990’s.

“As proteges of Kuchma, Viktor/Victor were in the thick of the purge of state-owned business monopolies in agriculture, industry, and natural resources. This divestment splurge is no case of people power; no working-class hero saga. What’s really unfolding here is a full-on power grab, right in the heart of Russia. Standing a little further back from television’s narrowscope presentation of the struggle, it’s still possible to gain a wider perspective.

YOUR LETTERS

Sally Vitamvas writes from Iowa:

“I’m glad you’re back. There is precious little real news to be found anywhere, aside from your blog and Democracy Now!, which are my daily connections to reality.

“A few days ago, your column asked “Where are the Democrats?” in reference to the Ohio vote count. I’ve been wondering that very thing for quite awhile now, partly based on my own recent experience as a candidate.

“This cycle, I ran for a state legislative seat in a mostly Republican district, even though I knew demographics were heavily against me. (I did, in fact, lose, although I did better than anybody expected I would.) (Why run? I was asked by the county Dems to fill a slot on the ballot, and, because of my state’s dismal political situation, I didn’t think I could ethically refuse.) Early on, I was warned by a previous candidate, “Don’t trust the Democrats!” and I naively assumed that bitterness over his earlier loss of a hard-run race had skewed his perceptions.

“However, I discovered over the course of the process that not only did the state party refuse me assistance and funds I had been led to expect, it actively put roadblocks in my way. They (I mostly much later discovered) (1) told potential contributors not to give money, (2) advised locally active party members to avoid helping me and all other “untargeted” races (3) assigned me a “mentor” who returned not a single phone call or email, (Again, this reflected my untargeted status. A “targeted” campaign in a neighboring district got a lot of help from that same, experienced, mentor) (4) informed my campaign organizer that my race could be measured as having about 1/15th the intrinsic worth of a targeted race, (5) informed me that the campaign headquarters staff was not to be “bothered” by my campaign (That was prompted by a request for a single address at the local campaign HQ.) (6) charged a $500 “donation” fee for access to a necessary Democratic database expressly designed to assist state candidates, and perhaps worst of all, (7) kept all except the targeted races out of the loop about important events sponsored by the party…press events, party get-togethers, dinners, visits by dignitaries, etc. Although I can offer no logical reason, I do know these things happened.

“I’ve contacted other legislative campaigns across the state, and I’ve found that my experience was neither isolated nor unusual…”

FORGET FACTS

Henry Fernandez:

“Concerning the flash animation by Eric Blumrich, we might think that revelations like this would be the “eye-opener” for realistic conclusions by the citizenry that the media is toadying up to the powers that be. But nooo . . . Real life actually fits the interview on NPR a couple of days ago with a professor of Political Psycology. He had conducted some substantial tests with groups including varied political persuasions. He presented them with scenarios of events based on undeniable fact and asked for each one’s conclusion. He found that invariably 80 to 87% of them, regardless of political persuasion, could disregard factual evidence to reach a conclusion that made them comfortable with thier original point of view. Have we all (most of us) become so “conditioned” by what we each have already been led to believe.”

CHARLIE BROWN PART 2

Chris Magill:

“Thank you for publishing the Charlie Brown letter, I know you did not have to as it may be trivial in light of wars, election fraud possibilities, and AIDS, etc., but hopefully it was interesting, if not amusing for you and others. I personally find it surprising ABC would omit something so important to the show’s content in favor of more advertising and promos. I am sorry I did not catch it for sure three years ago and it surprises me that they are still doing this. Either people are not noticing or do not care, which could often apply to those more serious issues as well. Hopefully someone will notice this and perhaps some day question Michael Eisner on it? If our media can not or are unwilling to challenge Bush and friends, I doubt anyone would pursue this holiday travesty… Thanks for helping to keep us informed,

ON OBSCENITY

Bradley Laing:

“Why is it that nobody can remember the sex and violence crazed pulps of the 1940s that were such a part of mainstream culture, back ehrn the Hayes Code of movie censorship reigned supreme? “The Spider”, “The Shadow” and “Spicy Detective Stories” contained plenty of now-dated sleaze up there with the Desperate Housewives plot lines.”

ON ISRAEL

“I have had a number of letters disputing reports that Israeli troops are in Iraq.” Esti Marpet, an Israeli in America writes: “for your up-tight e mailer. Seymour Hersh has written about Israelis with special forces in Iraq and Kurdistan a long time ago.”

ON SCHECHTER FAMILY’S SECRET

Frank Meagher writes from Paris:

“What a beautiful story your brother wrote…. The true power of the media; when used for something other than propaganda and deception!

We CAN change the media.

ON PAKISTAN

Adam McConnel writes from Turkey:

“Just read yesterday’s blog and the note from Da’ud X, which reminded me of how, awhile back, he was lambasted by a person claiming to be writing from Pakistan, for criticizing Musharraf. At the time I figured that the person was probably (especially since using a computer) someone upper-class who benefitted from Musharraf’s dictatorship, but I’m currently reading Tariq Ali’s “Clash of Fundamentalisms,” which has nothing but scathing nastiness to say about Musharraf. Da’ud is right. And that reminds me of the note from Daryll Bowles (I believe that name is right) who had lots of negative things to say about Turkey awhile back — I was wondering if he might be interested in hearing more about what Turkey is really like, from someone who actually lives here?

BTW, congrats on the success with the film!! and I hope you got some time to rest. . .

DOCUMENTARY WINNER

I just got back from the IFDA film festival in Amsterdam, Al Jazeera reports: “Shape of the Moon, A film about the impact of political and social upheaval on an Indonesian family has won top honors at the Amsterdam IDFA documentary festival.

“In the film, which took the Joris Ivens award for best documentary picture, Dutch director Leonard Retel Helmrich captures world events erupting into the personal life of a widowed Christian woman when her son converts to Islam and the two are driven apart.”

I was at the Nation Magazine dinner last night. Writer Barbara Ehrenreich won the $100,000 Puffin Foundation prize and spoke eloquently about the state of the nation we live in. Al Franken substituted for Gore Vidal and as in years past, Calvin Trillen, a toastmaster’s toastmaster was the hit of the night with humor, poetry and great story telling.

DISSECTOR PROJECTS

Now some news about three projects I am part of that may interest readers. First, I will have a piece in a new book from Melville House called “What We Do Now,” an “instant book” offering post-election advice and encouragement for progressives and liberals. The book is out December l0. Other contributors include Former presidential candidate Howard Dean, Democratic consultant Donna Brazile and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.

“Our feeling was someone had to do something immediately,” Melville House publisher Dennis Loy Johnson said in a statement Wednesday. Johnson edited the book with co-publisher Valerie Merians.

FREE BOOKS TO DOWNLOAD

I have also published a new e- book about WMD and its challenge to TV news, The book can be downloaded from Tony Sutton’s terrific site ColdType.net. My book is one of 6 e-books, photo essays and essays now available FOR FREE. You have to check this site out for great writing from around the world. Do it now. Bookmark it:
www.coldtype.net

Here are two descriptions of what’s on-line:

“Danny Schechter’s new film WMD (Weapons of Mass Deception) blasting the media coverage of the Iraq war, opens this month in movie theaters across the United States. “News Dissector” Schechter, “blogger in chief” at MediaChannel .org, has collected his recent columns on the issue, and the film’s script into a new 102 page e-book. PLUS: A special 12-page Teachers’ Guide to help students understand the war in Iraq and the role of the media.

JOURNALISM UNDER FIRE

“Bill Moyers, host of the critically-acclaimed PBS TV show NOW, writes about the pressures facing today’s’ journalists, pressures that are greater than at any time since he began his career as a journalist 54 years ago. Read what he has to say about the state of the media in our 22-page essay … http://coldtype.net/

HELP GET THE WORD OUT

So don’t say I never gave you anything. But, in return, you can help us get the word out about WMD which opens this weekend in Boston, Austin (Landmark Dobie Theater) and Denver (Starz Film Center). Please spread the word. I will be at the Landmark Theater in Kendall Square, Cambridge for the opening on Friday night at 7:10.

First weekends are very important in the movie world so if you can support the film, please do. More information at www.wmdthefilm.com. If you have access to email lists, download the press releases on the site and pass them along.

Write to me at dissector@mediachannel.org

Posted by Danny on Thu, Dec 2, 2004 at 06:52 AM EST