I overheard one of my colleagues at work the other day. He was listening to a news report about the prospect of British jets bombing Isis targets in Syria. “Let’s bomb them,” he said. I often hear him saying such things. He’s not a right wing bigot or a racist, although he might be Islamophobic. Many people are Islamophobic these […]
“We have allowed our party to be hijacked by people joining by text for three quid” – Unknown Labour MP (quoted by Guardian columnist Andrew Rawnsley) As any career journalist will tell you, the first paragraph of your article must have a killer hook in these days of fickle, easily bored readerships. Tim Ross, senior political correspondent at The Daily […]
Outside of North Korea, speeches by political figures are rarely universally showered with adulation. So the mainstream media’s ravings in reaction to Hilary Benn’s speech to parliament on Syria are especially noticeable. Across the spectrum, the speech has been reported as ‘riveting’ (Guardian), ‘extraordinary’ (Mirror), ‘great’ (BBC News at 6, 3 December) and that of a ‘true leader’ (Telegraph). The […]
This in-depth special report is part of the Media Reform Coalition’s ‘media democracy’ series of think pieces. John Pilger once wrote that journalism is the first casualty of war. In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, as governments push forward with new legislation on mass surveillance and anti-terror powers, as the drumbeat for more war in Syria intensifies, the need […]
There’s been widespread grief and sympathy over the terrible killings in Paris. All very human and commendable. But, as Jonathan Cook asks, why the selective coverage, outrage and empathy? Were those innocents blown up a day before in Beirut by the, apparently, same Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) not worthy of the same humanity, the same demonstrations of global support? Those calling attention to the disparity are reminded […]
It was nothing short of a privilege to meet men and women who embody and demonstrate the kind of bravery not celebrated by our corporate media, a media that operates with a slavish adherence to an elite-friendly narrative only interested in drumming up support for more illegal and immoral military action around the globe. It’s an end arrived at only by exploiting the public’s distorted notion of patriotism, fostered on overdrive every year during Remembrance season. But how incredibly powerful it is to talk to people like members of Veterans For Peace who have had a change of mind and heart so profound that their entire worldview is shattered, only to be rebuilt on truth.
The Guardian’s “Let’s Hate Russia” crusade, like the old Windmill Theatre, never closes. It’s a 24/7 op and needs a constant supply of attack pieces to keep those fires of division and racism stoked. So it’s not surprising a lot of barrel-scraping has to be done, and in fact sometimes the results can be so unintentionally self-parodying they become almost […]
BSNews comment: this story is of interest but is somewhat ironic considering the role the BBC routinely plays in amplifying state/corporate propaganda: A BBC journalist has blasted the UK press after experiencing at first-hand the appalling way the media treats the public. In a moving blogpost, BBC Bristol presenter John Darvall blames the fact he is in the public eye and […]
Yemen is no stranger to conflict. Under the Obama administration, the country has been subject to years of lethal drone strikes, which Washington, for the most part, claims were targeted at al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Washington regards AQAP as the most deadly branch of al-Qaeda. However, in practice, these drone strikes have resulted in thousands of civilian deaths. […]
This is our second look at the work of Robert Stuart, concerning the BBC Panorama documentary Saving Syria’s Children. ( here for our first instalment). When did the alleged chemical attacks actually occur? Why do accounts of the timing differ so widely?
The video of 13 year old Palestinian Ahmed Manasrah bleeding to death on the pavement of an East Jerusalem neighborhood has been described as “shocking,” “disturbing,” and “painful to watch.” The callous verbal abuse and insults from Israelis watching the child writhe in agony are variously characterized as “heartless” and “cruel”; and indeed they are. “Die you son of a […]
Under Tory leadership the UK has gained the unenviable prize of being the first nation to ever be investigated by the UN for “grave violations” of the human rights of disabled people.
