Media
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Why ABC Thought Suffering Palestinians Were Israelis By Peter Hart
“We take you overseas now to the rockets raining down on Israel…. And here an Israeli family trying to salvage what they can, one woman standing speechless among the ruins.” One problem: Neither of those images is an “Israeli family.” Both photos are from the Gaza Strip, and capture the aftermath of Israeli attacks. Continue reading
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On US TV, Israel is ‘Striking Back’ By Peter Hart
Framing Israel’s actions as a form of retaliation is problematic, since the airstrikes, arrests and house raids are directed at people who had nothing to do with the murders. Israel has named two suspects in the crime, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha. As the New York Times (7/1/14) and other outlets have reported, these… Continue reading
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Highly Placed Media Racists By Steve Rendall
Nicholas Wade was a leading New York Times science writer for three decades. He left the paper weeks after the May publication of his book, A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History, a book many reviewers say is a full-throated defense of “scientific racism.” Wade’s views raise questions about his tenure at the Times,… Continue reading
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Pirate Radio Station for $55 Could Help Decentralize Big-Telecom By Tony Cartalucci
Make Magazine recently featured a tutorial on constructing a FM pirate radio transmitter using a Raspberry Pi board. Raspberry Pis are single board computers that go for about $55 and are regularly used as the centerpiece for a wide variety of projects ranging from art installations to automation and everything in between. Continue reading
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US military hacks the independent press
US army that operates from a secret base in Arizona, to start a war on independent media through hacking and blocking communications. Computer security teams cooperating with Veterans Today traced a pattern of attacks to Fort Huachuca, headquarters of the US Army Intelligence School, Press TV reports. Continue reading
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News of the World hacking trial ends: Scandal still poses threat to Britain’s ruling elite By Robert Stevens
The trial of former News of the World (NotW) editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson and others connected with phone hacking has ended with Coulson, former head of communications of Prime Minister David Cameron, found guilty of conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages. Brooks, the former head of billionaire oligarch Rupert Murdoch’s media-empire in Britain, was… Continue reading
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Ukraine Tips From Nameless US Officials: Good Enough for NYT By Peter Hart
Apparently the people who know best about what’s happening in Ukraine are US government officials who won’t let their names be printed in the newspaper. Continue reading
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John PIlger: ‘The best of journalism relies on whistleblowers’
Journalism has always relied on whistleblowers who should be praised for their extraordinary courage, journalist and filmmaker John Pilger told RT, adding the case against Julian Assange is a ridiculous attempt at retaliation for WikiLeaks disclosures. Continue reading
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Debating Iraq in 2014: Wrong All Over Again By Peter Hart
The crisis in Iraq has brought war back to the US airwaves. But if you were expecting a more robust discussion about US military action this time around, think again. The rule seems to be that if you were wrong in 2003, you’re still an expert in 2014. Continue reading
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Slaney Street: Birmingham’s new co-operative media project
Slaney Street is a new Birmingham-based co-operative media organisation. Initially starting as a modest blog last year, it has just held its official founding conference and is gearing up for its fourth print edition to be distributed free across the city. Continue reading
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The US media and the release of POW Bowe Bergdahl By Patrick Martin
The American media is once again exhibiting its boundless capacity for dispensing propaganda and promoting the most backward and reactionary conceptions. Such is the campaign of vilification directed against Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, released May 31 in Afghanistan in a prisoner exchange with the Taliban. Continue reading
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UK SEP National Secretary interviewed on BBC Daily Politics
On Monday Chris Marsden, the National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in the UK, was interviewed on the BBC 2’s Daily Politics show. The interview, with journalist Jo Coburn, was in response to the SEP’s official complaint that a previous May 21 interview with Marsden on the show ended with interviewer Giles Dilnot,… Continue reading
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‘Muddying a Murky Picture’: NYT’s Ukraine Kremlinology By Peter Hart
There is a tendency to believe that Russian president Vladimir Putin is orchestrating the unrest in eastern Ukraine, sending in irregular Russian forces to stir up pro-Russian separatist sentiment. As guesses go, this might not be a bad one–but journalism is supposed to be about presenting evidence to confirm such speculation. The New York Times… Continue reading
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Meet the Press’s Snowden Debate: Traitor or Criminal? By Peter Hart
On June 1, NBC’s Meet the Press unveiled new polling numbers about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. They weren’t very revealing. What was more instructive was how the show presented its debate over Snowden’s actions. Continue reading
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Political Destabilization in Venezuela and the Western Media’s Double Standard By Salim Lamrani
Since 1998, the Venezuelan opposition has consistently rejected the results of the country’s democratic elections. There is a single exception: it recognized the legitimacy of its own victory in the constitutional referendum of December 2, 2007, something it won by less than a one percent margin. The right has been strongly opposed to the legitimately… Continue reading
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How Should We Write and Fight? By Andre Vltchek
Are we – opposition investigative journalists, philosophers and documentary filmmakers – doing such a terrible job? Are we not providing the North American and European public with enough information, enough proof about the monstrous state of the world? Enough so they – the citizens of the Empire – finally get thoroughly pissed off, detach their… Continue reading
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Germany: Leading journalists attempt to censor TV program By Peter Schwarz
Since February, Germany’s second public television channel, the ZDF, has been broadcasting the political satire show “Die Anstalt” (the German word is used for a TV station as well as for a mental asylum) at regular intervals. Featuring 46-year-old Max Uthoff and 36-year-old Claus von Wagner, a younger generation of comedians has taken over from… Continue reading
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The Financial Times’ attack on Thomas Piketty
In a series of articles over the past several days, and in a major editorial published on Monday, the Financial Times has launched a scurrilous attack on Thomas Piketty and his book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Continue reading
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New York Times’ vision of Ukrainian “democracy” By Bill Van Auken
The New York Times, which from the outset of the Ukrainian crisis has tailored its coverage slavishly to the line of the US State Department, spelled out its vision for a “democratic Ukraine” Wednesday in an editorial entitled “A Critical Election in Ukraine.” Continue reading
The New Dark Age 