The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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Hi All! Margaret makes some excellent points, which I feel should be shared with all on the list, so I take the liberty of forwarding this. Greetings, Bert. >From: "margaret paoloni" <peggyannp@msn.com> >To: "Bert Gedin" <gedinbert@hotmail.com> >Subject: Re: [casi] disinfo ...... >Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2002 22:47:12 -0500 > >Hi. That is true, bad journalism is not a reason to justify war against a >country. Of course. No one would disagree with that.Informed people make >informed decisions. >However in the US it goes beyond bad journalism. Most of the journalism in >the US is a jounalism to "manufacture consent" as Noam Chomsky" says. >Most of the easy accessable media is owned by corporations. In fact the >average american does not even know who Noam Chomsky is. They do not know >who Noam Chomsky is, or Howard Zinn or any other independant thinker,who is >critical of this corporate elite ..Trust me the lies are fed on purpose. As >Noam Chomsky says in a wonderful movie called "Manufacturing Consent" if >the wrong information was once in awhile he would believe it was an >accident but it is too regular. For ex. In the NY Times this sunday, there >is an article about Sharon. The headline says _ "Warrior, Provocauter, or >Peacemaker? for any journalist to write such a headline is intellectually >dishonest. From reading Sharons History in Lebanon or Palestine I would >have to call him a murderer. But no where in the article do they present >him in that light. > Yes in alternative media there are journalists struggling to get the >truth out and maybe behind the scenes in corporate media >there are concerned real journalists slipping real stories in.But when you >see some truth on these corporate stations you see it once and then you >never see it again. The programs that spread lies about the rest of the >world are repeated over and over. And you see so little truth that there is >no balance. If you feed a people a diet of 95 percent lies and once in a >while feed them some truth, they will believe the lies. Of course there are >percentage of americans that know they are being fed lies. But it is not >enough at the moment to mobolize against this corporate elite to get them >to stop. But I know the numbers are not important. The civil rights >movement in America was started by a handful of highschool students. And >then later on by a small boycott. Every country has those kinds of >stories.I know the media outside the us is different but only you know in >your own countries how honest or dishonest it is. For ex. if you can >understand the magnitude of the problem .And please understand I am in no >way justifying a peoples blindness. Americans are completely deluded about >their government. And some of it of course is a denial they are more >comfortable in. It is not easy to see the truth than you have to own the >magnitude of the evil that is operating in the world today. And I know >I don't sleep well since I have woken up to american governments brutality >towards the rest of the world. But I will tell you that CNN for example >talks about these smart bombs that the military drops."They only hit >military targets and once inawhile hit nonmilitary targets. "Most >americans think only a few Afghan people have died in these bombings >because that is how the media has presented it. Of course it is not true. >It makes me believe media is not the only problem. Education is a problem >also. If you educate people to think with their heads only and not with >their hearts and you don't teach people to think for themselves they will >not see thru the lies and propaganda. I traveled thru asia not to long ago >and most of the people I met could not read or write their own >language.(Though they could speak 3 or 4 foreign languages from interacting >with foreigners so often. ) I know you would never be able to convince them >that only a handful of people had died under american bombs. So much for >the educated population.that believes the lies too easily. > Its an education one is better off without if you loose one's ability to >connect with all human beings on the planet. Peace. > >----- Original Message ----- >From: Bert Gedin >Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2002 6:47 PM >To: gaz@uruklink.net; casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk >Subject: Re: [casi] disinfo ...... > >Hi! The difference between the words, 'misinf.' & 'disinf.', as I >understand >it, is that 'disinformation' is a deliberate distortion, e.g. in political >propaganda, or intentionally spreading false rumours about a person or a >situation. 'Misinformation, however, is a genuine mistake. In the context, >Fel.Arb. having referred to "The excellent coverage today in 'The >Guardian', >it would seem it was an unintended error. There are, very talented >journalists around, who are passionate about, to the best of their ability, >giving sincere & truthful accounts of events. My feeling is that in some >parts of the world independent >journalism is not only not encouraged, but positively discouraged. Whether >that applies to Iraq, or not, each one of us may judge for himself, or >herself. Were it the case that bad journalism existed in a country, that >would not, I believe, be a valid reason to wage war against that country. >Greetings, Bert Gedin, Birmingham, U.K. > > > >From: "Ghazwan Al-Mukhtar" <gaz@uruklink.net> > >To: <casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk>, "Bert Gedin" ><gedinbert@hotmail.com> > >Subject: Re: [casi] disinfo ...... > >Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 01:04:04 +0300 > > > >Yesterday it was the BBC today the Guardian tomorrow... Is it a >coincident > >or is there a Ministry of "Truth" for all this "misinfo" !! > > > >Ghazwan Al-Mukhtar > >Baghdad, Iraq > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Bert Gedin" <gedinbert@hotmail.com> > >To: <asceptic@freenetname.co.uk>; <soc-casi-discuss@lists.cam.ac.uk> > >Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2002 1:19 AM > >Subject: Re: [casi] disinfo ...... > > > > > >Fel. Arb. makes a valid point re. the monitors. But, am I splitting hairs > >in > >suggesting the Subject should have been 'misinfo...', not > >'disinfo...'? Greetings, Bert G., B'ham. > > > > > > >From: "farbuthnot" <asceptic@freenetname.co.uk> > > >To: soc-casi-discuss@lists.cam.ac.uk > > >Subject: [casi] disinfo ...... > > >Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 18:13:12 +0000 > > > > > >The excellent coverage today in the Guardian was ruined by (p 17) > >'Unscom > > >monitors were expelled in 1999'. So shld have been their sub-editors, > >since > > >the UNSCOM team fled Iraq in the dawn of 16th December '98, leaving >their > > >compatriots to a four day blitzkreig.. best. f. > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > > >Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. > > >To unsubscribe, visit > > >http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss > > >To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk > > >All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk > > > > > > > > > >_________________________________________________________________ > >Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. > >http://www.hotmail.com > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. > >To unsubscribe, visit > >http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss > >To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk > >All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk > > > > > > > > >_________________________________________________________________ >Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. >http://www.hotmail.com > > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. >To unsubscribe, visit >http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss >To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk >All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk