Whither the Weather?
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security "is paying a Pennsylvania ad firm to pitch 'pre-written' winter-weather-preparedness articles" to national and local media.
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Terrorism
The Taming of Al Jazeera
Submitted by John Stauber on
The New York Times reports, "When a Saudi court sentenced a young woman to 200 lashes in November after she pressed charges against seven men who had raped her, the case provoked outrage and headlines around the world, including in the Middle East. But not at Al Jazeera, the Arab world's leading satellite television channel, seen by 40 million people. ...
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Tortured Reasoning for Destroying Evidence of Torture
Submitted by Judith Siers-Poisson on
Steve Benen writes that "As it turns out, the reasoning behind the CIA's decision to record interrogations on video, stop recording interrogations on video, and destroy the interrogation videos was all exactly the same: officials were hoping to avoid a public-relations nightmare." They were unsuccessful, of course, since the media reported widely on the destruction of the tapes and
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The Rhetoric Beat
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Language plays a powerful role in shaping political decisions, argues Brent Cunningham. As an example, he points to the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, "when the choice of words -- by the press and government officials -- played a crucial role in setting America on a course that led, ultimately, to our military action in Iraq. ...
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"Posted to YouTube, Sir!"
Submitted by Judith Siers-Poisson on
YouTube has become de rigeur for posting official war propaganda. As CMD reported in October 2007, NATO has dedicated at least 1 million Euros (about $1.46 million U.S.) to produce and post footage to the popular video sharing site. In Britain, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Royal Navy and Royal Air Force all have channels on YouTube, with dozens of short videos shot by or with their forces.
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Wolfowitz Rides Again with Bush/Cheney
Submitted by John Stauber on
Bill Berkowitz reports that Paul Wolfowitz "has been offered a position as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board -- formerly known as the Arms Control and Nonproliferation Advisory Board -- a prestigious State Department
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NATO Considers Joining the Media War
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"At the end of a two-day informal meeting of defence ministers in the Netherlands, NATO's secretary general reiterated ...
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Shared Values Revisited
I received a request recently from a university professor who teaches a course about media literacy. She was wondering if I could help her find videos of the "Shared Values" television ads that the U.S. Department of State produced to improve the image of the United States in Muslim countries shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, so she could show them to her students.
Catching Up With al Qaeda
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"America should hire al-Qaeda's PR Agent," argues Matt Armstrong. Iraq, he says, has become "a stage" for "a new public diplomacy that insurgents understand, and the U.S. State Department doesn't. ...
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Alexis Debat: One Well-Connected Faker
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Over the past month, former ABC News consultant / reporter and self-described "terrorism analyst" Alexis Debat has been exposed for "having published fake interviews with Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Alan Greenspan,
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