Submitted by John Stauber on
As pundits and the Pentagon try to quantify the number of acceptable US casualties, world-wide opposition to the attack on Iraq grows by the day. The New York Times notes that "the public mood in
many countries around the world seemed to become angrier
and more sarcastic than ever... . Another day of global protest
is being advertised on Web sites and posters for Sunday,
Submitted by John Stauber on
"Bush planners appear to have left television off the
initial [bombing] target list because they wanted to use it to
administer Iraq immediately after the war and to limit the
damage to civilian infrastructure. Reports from Iraq, however, suggest that the American
restraint was seen by many Iraqis as an indication of Mr.
Hussein's resilience, undermining the allied message that
his days were numbered. There are, in fact, two parallel battles underway. One is
the intense assault American forces are mounting to set
Submitted by John Stauber on
Journalist Joseph L. Galloway, the military affairs correspondent for Knight Ridder, criticized the Bush administration's war fighting plan today on NPR's Fresh Air program. Galloway, the co-author of We Were Soldiers Once, and Young, was recently a consultant to Colin Powell.
Submitted by John Stauber on
"The English-language and Arabic websites of Qatar-based broadcaster al-Jazeera were forced down this morning after a spate of suspected hacker attacks last night. Neither aljazeera.net, which gets the most hits of any Arabic website in the world, nor english.aljazeera.net, which launched on Monday, were available this morning after suspected attacks crashed both sites. [C]ommunications manager Jihad Ali Ballout told MediaGuardian.co.uk the company was doing everything possible to get the sites up and running.. ...
Submitted by John Stauber on
Paul Krugman notes that "by and large, recent pro-war rallies haven't drawn nearly as many people as
antiwar rallies, but they have certainly been vehement. ... Who has been organizing those pro-war rallies? The answer, it turns out, is
that they are being promoted by key players in the radio industry - with
close links to the Bush administration. ... Until now, complaints about Clear Channel have focused on its business
practices. Critics say it uses its power to squeeze recording companies and
Submitted by John Stauber on
Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post asks, "Why did so many people think this would be a cakewalk? You'd have to say the media played a key role. The pre-war buildup was so overwhelming that it seemed like the war should be called off as a horrible mismatch. There were hundreds of stories about America's superior weaponry, the Bradleys and Apaches and Mother of All Bombs, the superbly trained forces. There were so many 'shock and awe' stories that Americans could be forgiven for thinking they were in for another video-game conflict.
Submitted by John Stauber on
"The start of the war caused business at movie theaters to
drop by 25 percent on Wednesday as people stayed home to
watch the war, and snack-food sales and restaurant
deliveries thrived. The opening salvos of the war had taken
the place of prime-time entertainment, and television
stations did their best to serve up gaudily produced
coverage: the war in Iraq as the ultimate in reality
television, as the apotheosis of every favorite Hollywood
genre, from the combat thriller to the coming-of-age tale
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"The eruption of war in Iraq last week set in motion a massive global PR network, cultivated by the Bush administration during the months-long buildup of forces. The network is intended not only to disseminate, but also to dominate news of the conflict around the world," PR Week writes.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"Last week I found out that National Public Radio wants the opinions of antiwar activists -- as long as we follow the right script," writes University of Texas journalism professor and co-founder of the Nowar Collective Robert Jensen. "After the first question, it was clear [NPR's Scott] Simon expected me to follow a script that would go something like this: Yes, I'm against this war, but I know that Saddam Hussein is such a monster that nothing short of war can deal with him.
Submitted by John Stauber on
Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh asks, "Why did the Administration endorse a forgery about Iraq's nuclear program?" How did the misinformation end up in the President's State of the Union address, and who has been fooling whom to make sure the US attacked Iraq?
Center for Media and Democracy (CMD)
520 University Ave, Ste 305 • Madison, WI 53703 • (608) 260-9713
CMD is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit.
© 1993-2024