Monday, 15th January, 2007
I'm on broadband, feeling smug, and catching up with the "news". Apparently the United States launched some air strikes against Somalia last week, killing over 150 people and - surprise, surprise - all news reports failed to mention that this was an act of terrorism. Had Somalia taken a pot shot at the U.S., then that would have been reported as an act of terrorism. How blessed we are to have a neutral news media that only presents us with the unbiased facts.
On the subject of media bias, a new study by social scientists from Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds universities has found that the British media in their reporting of the justification for the invasion of Iraq “overwhelmingly reflected the official line”, with over 80 percent of stories mirroring the government position and less than 12 percent challenging it. I'm sure the same results would apply in Australia. Because of their overwhelming bias, they must take some responsibility for the terrible carnage that has occurred and the hundreds of thousands of lives lost.
Sadly, I think most journalists and reporters are unaware that they constantly push the official line because they themselves are reflecting their own deep-seated conditioned and unquestioned beliefs which have become embedded after years of subtle propaganda. And the propaganda is subtle and goes by unnoticed unless one is looking out for it. The evening TV news is a great place to do some "spotting", to see how stories are slanted in favour of certain interests: Australia, the government, the U.S., the West, the establishment, the rich and powerful, etc. etc.
Does the newsreader hear herself when she tells us: "The trade talks were marred by protesters ..." "marred?" Funny that - from where I was standing, the protests were marred by the police.
I'm on broadband, feeling smug, and catching up with the "news". Apparently the United States launched some air strikes against Somalia last week, killing over 150 people and - surprise, surprise - all news reports failed to mention that this was an act of terrorism. Had Somalia taken a pot shot at the U.S., then that would have been reported as an act of terrorism. How blessed we are to have a neutral news media that only presents us with the unbiased facts.
On the subject of media bias, a new study by social scientists from Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds universities has found that the British media in their reporting of the justification for the invasion of Iraq “overwhelmingly reflected the official line”, with over 80 percent of stories mirroring the government position and less than 12 percent challenging it. I'm sure the same results would apply in Australia. Because of their overwhelming bias, they must take some responsibility for the terrible carnage that has occurred and the hundreds of thousands of lives lost.
Sadly, I think most journalists and reporters are unaware that they constantly push the official line because they themselves are reflecting their own deep-seated conditioned and unquestioned beliefs which have become embedded after years of subtle propaganda. And the propaganda is subtle and goes by unnoticed unless one is looking out for it. The evening TV news is a great place to do some "spotting", to see how stories are slanted in favour of certain interests: Australia, the government, the U.S., the West, the establishment, the rich and powerful, etc. etc.
Does the newsreader hear herself when she tells us: "The trade talks were marred by protesters ..." "marred?" Funny that - from where I was standing, the protests were marred by the police.
posted by Rosie at 1:22 PM
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