When the corporate media explain the logic behind Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, they turn to what Israel says officially and publicly. For example, today's New York Times, in an article on an Israeli government-backed investigation into the deadly Israeli raid on a flotilla heading to Gaza, states: Israel argues that the blockade is necessary to prevent Hamas from smuggling in weapons or materials needed to make them, and to weaken Hamas control. This sounds similar to a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Ha'aretz, 6/1/10), who justified the siege by saying: Gaza is a terror state funded [...]
Jul
10
2009
NYT's 'Blatant Lie' Now 'Embedded Fact… as Intended'
Salon's Glenn Greenwald (7/9/09, ad-viewing required) is extolling "The Significance of McClatchy's Act of Journalism" when reporting that recently released six-year Guantanamo prisoner Haji Sahib Rohullah Wakil–one of many who supposedly "returned to or are suspected of returning to terrorism after their release"–"far from being in hiding, operates openly among officials of Afghanistan's U.S.-allied government." Labeling Nancy Youssef's piece "a consummate example of excellent journalism," Greenwald also wants us to note the central role the New York Times played–yet again–in spreading and given credence to pure government propaganda. And the method used to accomplish that is exactly what led them [...]
May
08
2009
On Journalism's 'Long Line' of 'Everyday Extremists'
Reading Mark Lander's and Elizabeth Bumiller's New York Times "tidbit out of an overheated Washington last week: 'President Obama and his top advisers have been meeting almost daily to discuss options for helping the Pakistani government and military repel the [Taliban] offensive,'" Tom Engelhardt (TomDispatch, 5/7/09) decides to toss some cold water on "this kind of atmosphere that naturally produces the bureaucratic equivalent of mass hysteria": Reports indicate that Obama's national security team has been convening regular "crisis" meetings and having "nearly nonstop discussions" at the White House, not to mention issuing alarming and alarmist statements of all sorts about [...]
Feb
21
2009
Is Half a Million Enough for Ailing Papers' CEO?
By 1 Comment
The Sacramento Unit of the California Media Workers Guild has published (BeeGuildNow.org, 2/16/09) an open letter to McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt describing how, in quick succession, our salaries and our pensions have been frozen. The company match has been eliminated from our 401K plans. Weâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve gone through two rounds of buyouts. Our ranks are thinner. But that is only the beginning. An unknown number of us will be sent out the door in the coming weeks, laid off during the worst economic climate in 80 years. Those of us who remain will work harder, but we will work for less. [...]
