Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Alastair Campbell, the communications director for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is at the center of a major controversy sparked by BBC reports that he and other British government officials "sexed up" their Iraq weapons dossier to justify the government's war plans. Campbell fought back by accusing the BBC of lying and demanding an apology.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the war that "ended" on May 1 is still underway. "Military families, so often the ones to put a cheery face on war, are growing vocal," writes Jeffrey Gettleman.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"For the first time since the beginning of the war in Iraq, a solid majority of Americans believe the Bush administration either 'stretched the truth' about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction or told outright lies, according to a new opinion survey," Agence France-Presse reports. A University of Maryland poll conducted from June 18 to 25 found that 52 percent of respondents said they believed President George W. Bush and his aides were "stretching the truth, but not making false statements" about Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's chemical, biological and nuclear programs.
Submitted by John Stauber on
A favorite PR trick of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels is known as the big lie tactic -- repeating a falsehood over and over until most people believe it . Unfortunately, as we relate in our new book Weapons of Mass Deception, lies worked well in selling the war on Iraq.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"War, unlike any other news event, asks profound questions of journalists," writes Roy Greenslade in the Guardian. "How do we separate truth from propaganda? How do we overcome the dilemma of political and military leaders controlling access to vital information? What value do we place on what we see on the frontline as against what we are told back at headquarters? ... These questions hovered over last week's Media Guardian forum on war coverage as reporters and desk-bound decision-makers explained how and why they acted as they did.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
So much for "Operation Iraqi Freedom." William Booth and Rajiv Chandrasekaran report that "U.S.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"If we learn nothing else from the war on Iraq and its subsequent occupation, it is that the U.S. ruling class has learned to make ideological warfare as important to its operations as military and economic warfare," write Robert W. McChesney and John Bellamy Foster in this excerpt from their upcoming book, The Big Picture: Understanding Media through Political Economy.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
American TV networks gave the Bush administration glowing coverage of Iraq war in exchange for the relaxation of media ownership rules, according to Michael Wolff, a media commentator and New York Magazine columnist.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"New York Times reporter Judith Miller played a highly unusual role in an Army unit assigned to search for dangerous Iraqi weapons, according to U.S.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
How did the U.S. end up in the growing Iraq quagmire? "One theory is that the neocons, like many in power before them, tend to believe their own propaganda .... The degree to which they helped twist the intelligence about Iraq has become increasingly clear over the past few weeks, as angry intelligence professionals have taken their complaints to the press," journalist Jim Lobe writes.
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