Sadly, ever since the Gulf War, the US media, particularly television news operations, have been under strict control of the Pentagon in any and all matters relating to military reporting [22]. Gone are the days of the independent reporter roaming the war zone, as was the case in Vietnam. Reporters who do not toe the Pentagon line, adopting its interpretation of events, are simply not invited to press briefings. The media have, furthermore, been subtly influenced into adopting the “terrorist” spin urged upon it by parties with an interest in promoting hatred of Arabs and/or Muslims.

In this context the American news media have become enthusiastic partners in the war on terrorism, serving narrow interests that it interprets as “American.” Under the scenario developed in this report, it can be reasonably be suggested that had the media not allowed its own best interests to be undermined in this way over the last two decades, the September 11 attacks would not have taken place. For without the guarantee of a news media already programmed to fall instantly in line with the “terrorism” spin urged upon it by the Pentagon, the planners of this tragedy would surely have thought twice.

By allowing the “terrorist” to become a separate, amorphous entity, straight out of Central Casting, the media have guaranteed that legitimate struggles for self-determination, driven as they sometimes are to violent expression, will result in more “terrorists,” involving American forces in a never-ending search for the boogey-man of the new millennium.

“So cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride chasing this devil herd across these endless skies.”

Note

22. MacArthur JR. 1993. Second Front.
Berkeley, CA University of California Press

The Price for the Loss of Media Independence

An excerpt from “Ghost Riders in the Sky”
By Professor A.K. Dewdney

akd@uwo.ca

http://168.144.111.33/iqraa/Ghost_Rider_v1.2.htm

30 March 2002

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