Media Bias & Propaganda  (2002-2005)

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P.C. Lexicon Should Come In Handy by John Leo: " English is a living language, always changing under the pressure of euphemism and verbal politics." For example:

  • Special interests: your opponent's supporters

  • Public-spirited citizens: your supporters

  • Outside agitators: your opponent's non-local supporters

  • Intergenerational intimacy: pedophilia, statutory rape

  • Homophobia: disagreement with the demands, tactics or manners of any gay activist

  • Monocultural: white

  • Emotional violence: criticism

  • Verbal abuse: any joke or remark you don't like

  • Organized religion: an outdated and prepackaged faith....

November 2005

The media and the unhinged Marine: "Former Marine Staff Sgt. Jimmy Massey was the liberal media's dream come true: An anti-war Iraq veteran who came forward to publicly lambaste the Bush administration and accuse American troops of murdering innocent civilians.... But like a lot of the agitators who pose as well-meaning, good-faith peace activists, Jimmy Massey was something else: A complete fraud." See The Mainstream Media

Former Public Broadcasting Head Resigns from Board: "Tomlinson's attempts to bring conservative voices to the taxpayer-funded airwaves was his downfall. 'His real crime in the eyes of these liberals was that he actually wanted to hold PBS accountable to some kind of political balance, which is what is says in their charter.'"

October 2005

Walter Cronkite: You're "Too Dumb": "Cronkite was called 'the most trusted man in America' when he held forth on the CBS Evening News for a generation. Now, he says, he doesn't trust you. 'I do not think the majority of our people [is capable] of making the decisions that have to be made at election time and particularly in the selection of their legislatures and their Congress and the presidency, of course. I don't think we're bright enough to do the job that would preserve our democracy, our republic. I think we're in serious danger.'

    "Cronkite's remarks recall those of Washington Post reporter Michael Weisskopf, who a few years ago called Evangelicals 'poor, uneducated, and easy to command.' It's no surprise that the liberal media elite think this way; what's surprising is that they so openly avow their contempt for the American people." See The Mainstream Media

August 2005

Voices: "Although the media couldn't wait to turn a mass murderer's conversation with his hostage into a conversion experience for our collective consumption, as if [Ashley] Smith, reading from The Purpose Driven Life, had somehow brought about a spiritual awakening in Nichols' pathetic life; for some reason they didn't think it was all that important or relevant to point out to anyone later that his new 'purpose in life' would be to follow Allah.... Nichols not only converted to Islam in jail after the hostage incident, but also pleaded 'not guilty' to the four murders he committed in front of numerous witnesses." No Repentance?

Trashing our history; Hiroshima: "Japan's plans for defense against invasion involved mobilizing the civilian population, including women and children, for the same suicidal battle tactics. That invasion could have been the greatest bloodbath in history.... As it was, the unconditional surrender of Japan enabled General Douglas MacArthur to engineer one of the great historic transformations of a nation from militarism to pacifism...." See The Mainstream Media

July 2005

Playing with the numbers: "Isn't it awful, a friend said at dinner the other night, that 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died since the U.S. invasion? When I asked where the statistic came from, he said maybe it was 8,000, but definitely somewhere between 8,000 and 100,000. That's a pretty broad spread, so I decided to do some checking." See Brainwashing in America

June 2005

John MacArthur on CNN: On [March 16, 2005] CNN interviewed John MacArthur about The Purpose-Driven Life .... ...John's critical comments about the book were brief but substantive. He highlighted some significant points where the thrust of the book is [at] odds with the message of Scripture. He pointed out, for example, that the true gospel is a call to self-denial, not self-fulfillment. The gospel is a message about redemption, not about life's purpose. The gospel according to Scripture deals with God's law, His grace, human depravity, redemption from sin, justification, sanctification, holiness, the nature of saving faith, and the lordship of Christ. And the true gospel's most essential features are the cross of Christ and the truth of the resurrection. None of those subjects is dealt with adequately or biblically in The Purpose-Driven Life....

     "CNN removed virtually all the substantive comments from their interview.... A voice-over by the CNN reporter introduced John MacArthur as someone who 'preaches the gospel of a stern God,' while the subtext identified John as a 'skeptic.'...CNN also inserted some remarks from secular media experts who seemed to think petty jealousy is the only motive two pastors might possibly have for disagreeing with one another...." See The Mainstream Media

April 2005

Radio Host Fired For Wondering If Pope Went To Heaven: "Marty Minto, 39, a senior pastor at a New Castle church, was fired Friday after three years as a host on WORD-FM in Pittsburgh. He said he was told that he was alienating listeners....  [H]e told the caller that whether someone was born-again was personal and 'between an individual and the Creator.' See The UN Plan for Your Mental Health

     "Chuck Gratner, general manager of WORD-FM, didn't dispute Minto's description.... [He explained that] 'WORD-FM needs to function in this city in support of the entire church -- that means everybody -- and not focus on denominational issues."

     But this attempt to please everybody and offend none may have backfired. A poll indicates that  81% of responders did not agree with that decision. See How to Resist the Pull of the Crowd

March 2005

Though Terri Schiavo died after 9AM Thursday morning, this article came Wednesday evening.

CBS announces Terri's death before she dies!: "CBS also wrote, 'Michael Schiavo, who was at the bedside of his wife Terri when she died, (how do we know? she hasn’t died yet) told Larry King that he lives now with another woman with whom he has two children. 'I can love more than one person,' he told King. 'Everybody can do that.'" See comments at  Sanctity of Life

February 2005

Propaganda in Nazi Germany: "Propaganda is the art of persuasion - persuading others that your 'side of the story' is correct.... As Minister of Enlightenment, Goebbels had two main tasks:  to ensure nobody in Germany could read or see anything that was hostile or damaging to the Nazi Party [and] to ensure that the views of the Nazis were put across in the most persuasive manner possible....

      "Disobedience brought with it severe punishments. As a result of this policy, Nazi Germany introduced a system of censorship. You could only read, see and hear what the Nazis wanted you to read, see and hear. In this way, if you believed what you were told, the Nazi leaders logically assumed that opposition to their rule would be very small and practiced only by those on the very extreme who would be easy to catch."

      Much of today's news about environmental disasters and other crises is presented as propaganda. The public is only told about the glaciers that are melting -- not the fact that more glaciers are actually growing rather than shrinking. That wouldn't help push public opinion toward global control over all natural resources, would it? See The U.N. Plan for Your Community, False & politicized science and the next link:


December 2004

Newspaper Logic: "Recently an Ohio newspaper, the Akron Beacon Journal, printed a series of articles attacking homeschooling. They claim that little is known about homeschoolers and suggest the government should tightly monitor and regulate the movement. They quote school officials and focus groups who say that homeschooling can hide child abuse and failing students. ... Our purpose isn’t to point out all the fallacies in these articles. We want to equip you to do this yourself. (Parents, finding fallacies in these articles might make a good school assignment.) Here is a crash-course in debunking bad newspaper reporting." This article is well worth reading, especially in light of the recent media assaults on the homeschooling movement. See Homeschooling Under Fire & The Three Myths of Homeschooling

November 2004

The media's elastic economy: "Last Friday morning, the Commerce Department reported a rate of 3.7 percent economic growth for the third quarter of 2004, the best pre-election growth rate in at least the last quarter century. Yup, that's an economic performance stronger than what we saw in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000....

     Not if you tuned into the nightly news. On ABC, Peter Jennings downplayed the facts.... In case that sounds nonsensical, Jennings turned to reporter Betsy Stark, who insisted: 'what matters to voters, Peter, gets back to that question that Ronald Reagan first asked when he ran for president: 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?'' With that question, the reality -- the truth -- of the matter was replaced by the perception of reality. The reality of an explosive economy was replaced by a discussion of how we feel -- and ABC wanted us to feel just lousy about it all. ... The networks don't really care what the numbers are on the economy, but only about how they can be manhandled, manipulated and spun." See Brainwashing in America

October 2004

ABC News or ABC spin: "What ABC News has done was too elaborate to be called a 'mistake.' Now that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have become too well known for the mainstream media to continue ignoring them, ABC's Nightline with Ted Koppel has broadcast its 'investigation' of one of the Swift Boat veterans' charges against John Kerry. The charge was that Kerry received a medal for an incident in Vietnam that he falsely reported. How did ABC's Nightline try to establish the truth? Interview crew members who were on Kerry's boat at the time?

      "No! Interview veterans who were in other boats near John Kerry's boat at the time? No!" See The Mainstream Media

 

Kinsey critic screened out of screening: "Two private screenings of an upcoming Hollywood feature film on the famed 'father of the sexual revolution' – attended by Alfred Kinsey's chief critic and whistleblower – were mysteriously canceled. ... [Judith] Reisman flew to Los Angeles Sept. 20 to view 'Kinsey,' touted as a potential Oscar winner for Liam Neeson in the title role.... But only 10 or 15 minutes into the film, which opens Nov. 12, the screen suddenly went blank.

     "Reisman has been critical of the new Hollywood film during its entire production process, warning Neeson and others more than one year ago that they are party to a whitewash of a man who has done incalculable damage to American society by providing 'scientific' rationale for softening laws that protect women and children from molesters and giving institutional sanction to an 'anything goes' sexual morality....

     "Reisman believes a media blitz this year, backed by the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and Indiana University's Kinsey Institute among others, is seeking to rehabilitate Kinsey...." See Are Campus Pornography Courses Sexual Abuse? and Kinsey's Fradulent 'Science'

 

Homosexuals' Media Campaign Takes Movement from Fringe to Mainstream: The Power of the Media and the "Conversion" of Amercia: "The article speaks of the 'conversion' of America to the the acceptance of something only whispered about two decades ago.... The spectacular success of the homosexual movement stands as one of the most fascinating phenomena of our time. In less than two decades, homosexuality has moved from 'the love that dares not speak its name,' to the center of America's public life. The homosexual agenda has advanced even more quickly than its most ardent proponents had expected, and social change of this magnitude demands some explanation....

     "Conceiving their book as a "gay manifesto for the 1990s," the authors called for homosexuals to repackage themselves as mainstream citizens demanding equal treatment, rather than as a promiscuous sexual minority seeking greater opportunity and influence.... Writing just as the AIDS crisis hit its greatest momentum, the authors saw the disease as an opportunity to change the public mind. 'As cynical as it may seem, AIDS gives us a chance, however brief, to establish ourselves as a victimized minority legitimately deserving of America's special protection and care.'...

      "Open, frank talk makes gayness seem less furtive, alien, and sinful; more above board," they asserted. "...the imagery of sex per se should be downplayed, and the issue of gay rights reduced, as far as possible, to an abstract social question." The Mainstream Media

September 2004

 Seventeen magazine, fashion bible for girls, gets religion: "Faiza worships five times a day, while Rhianna is as likely to believe in God as in the Easter Bunny. Kristin prays too, but to the God and the Goddess.... Seventeen has added a faith section that includes inspirational messages, personal stories of spiritual struggle and testimonials on issues ranging from prayer to gay teens who attend church. ... Verses from the New Testament are printed beside sayings from the Prophet Muhammad. The teachings of Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama are also featured."

       "If they can't quench Biblical truth, blend it with all the other religions. Soon they all will seem equally valid -- and few readers will follow the Biblical God. Unlike the others, His teaching can't be adapted to please our human nature. Loving evil more than good

August 2004

Stem cell debate is riddled with dishonesty: "John Kerry has repeatedly spoken of President Bush's 'ban' on stem cell research. Kerry knows very well it isn't a 'ban' or that Bush isn't 'shutting down' research. But 'ban' is a powerfully emotional word. It has more impact on swing voters than 'allowing private research, but not using taxpayer money for work on stem cell lines derived after Aug. 9, 2001.' ... Congressional Democrats have used this maneuver before, accusing Republicans of plans to 'cut' Social Security (big emotional impact there) when the Republicans actually just wanted to reduce the rate of increase in funding. 'Cut,' like 'ban,' wasn't truthful, just useful." See Re-inventing the World

July 2004

TV news religion coverage on the rise, but biased: “'Religious stories are more prevalent but the prevailing attitude at the networks seems to be it’s only a good story if it casts faith in a negative light, or if it evokes a political controversy,' Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, said...

      "...the tone of network TV religion coverage is hostile to orthodox faiths, and supportive to minority religions and progressive fads.... Finally, Bozell noted that networks too often favored 'religious' scholars and journalists who strongly question orthodox religion and the accuracy of the Gospels, but did not describe them as liberals or secularists." See The Mainstream Media and Brainwashing in America

May 2004

The skanks on Capitol Hill: "This vulgar little episode reflects a larger, disturbing media trend toward normalizing and glamorizing sexual promiscuity among young working women. It harms those trying to succeed on their merits in the professional arena. And it also harms our own daughters, who will be forced to fight harder to protect their dignity and credibility in a 'Girls Gone Wild' culture." The Mainstream Media

The hyena press: "While politicians were expressing their shock to the media over the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners, the Iraqi terrorists gave us a bitter lesson in what real shock is all about, with the videotaped beheading of an American civilian who was in Iraq to try to help rebuild the country. The family of the murdered man begged the media to leave them alone in their pain and sorrow, but there was a forest of microphones and cameras being shoved into the face of his sister by the hyenas of the press. ... What we are seeing in the media today is a degeneracy that is by no means confined to the media, and is indeed actively promoted in many of our schools that are busy breaking down moral standards instead of educating children." The Mainstream Media

February 2004

 Nasa accused of painting Mars red: "The American space agency Nasa has been accused of doctoring its pictures of Mars to make the Martian surface conform to our impression of the famously red planet. ...The theories gained credence after Nasa told New Scientist that 'getting the colours right is a surprisingly difficult and subjective job.'"

     Just a small reminder that "seeing is [not] believing" in a world where marketing replaces integrity. Judges 17:6

December 2004

Disney seduces press with all-expense paid packages: "If all goes as planned, newspaper readers, magazine subscribers, radio listeners and television viewers will face waves of flattering feature stories about Walt Disney World during the next few months....The attention won't be by accident but rather by a carefully orchestrated media campaign in which several hundred writers, travel editors and television producers from across the world were invited to Disney World for three days in October." The Mainstream Media

October 2004

CBS warns of homeschooling's 'dark side': "A CBS Evening News report called 'A Dark Side to Homeschooling," hinting at the need for regulation to protect children, has homeschool advocates crying foul....

     "Any fair-minded viewer of the report, Smith insisted, would be left with the impression 'homeschooling equals child abuse.... The real story is CBS' bias against homeschooling, and it is using this distorted story to encourage the regulation of homeschoolers.'"

     Christian homeschooling, with its emphasis on academics and traditional values, doesn't fit the the global plan for molding world citizens ready to flow with shifting currents and changing values. That's why the CBS must vilify it. See Reinventing the World Part 2: The Mind-Changing Process and Part 3: Global Standards

 

Media deception is more than liberal bias: "We cannot make informed decisions unless we understand that the end goal of what is really a media cartel is a new international socialist order ruled by an elite few. I say media cartel because while there are many different channels, they are controlled by just a handful of transnational conglomerates - AOL Time Warner, Disney, Viacom, News Corp and Sony...." The Mainstream Media

July 2004

Mangled quotes take on a life of their own: "Maybe we should give an award for mangled quotation of the year. Misquotations are becoming a regular feature of journalism and politics, partly out of carelessness but mostly because anything-goes partisanship so deeply afflicts our discourse." See The Mainstream Media

The N.Y. Times' 9-11 scam: "The New York Times -- unrelenting champion of the underprivileged, mighty battler against all corporate evils, and vehement opponent of Republican tax cuts for the 'rich and powerful' -- lives by a far more self-serving motto: All the corporate welfare that's fit to collect. You won't see it reported on the Times' front page, so here's the scoop: The Gray Lady is a greedy leech, siphoning off millions of dollars in state taxpayer subsidies for private real estate development disguised as a public good." See The Mainstream Media

Newspaper's ban on quoting Scripture in columns is distressing: "The Daily Journal in International Falls, Minn., recently... banned columnists from quoting Scripture in their work. This act severely hampered the work of 14 area pastors whose columns had been a regular feature of the newspaper for nearly a decade. The pastors found this out in a letter sent to them from the newspaper’s editor.... That same letter justified the move because religious texts might 'turn off' some of the readers. .....Since when did newspapers get into the business of worrying too much about what offends their readers or not. We’re not talking about nudity, foul language or violent pictures here — just a few words from the Bible." 2 Timothy 4:3-4

May 2004

Pro-Marxist Slant Pushed at ABC: "Having kept quiet for 14 years, a former ABC News correspondent has gone public for the first time with allegations that network anchorman Peter Jennings manipulated news scripts during the 1980s in order to praise the Marxist-backed Sandinista government in Nicaragua." See The Mainstream Media

 

Hyping The Looting Story: "...Now the leftist media is complaining about the failure of U.S. forces to prevent looting in Baghdad and elsewhere. In one classic overstatement, a British expert claimed that, 'You’d have to go back centuries, to the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, to find looting on this scale.'

     "The media are particularly incensed about the supposed plundering of the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad. The Los Angeles Times and others depicted the looting of the museum as being carried out by mobs of 'women, children, young people, old people.' Other sources quoted Iraqi museum officials saying that more than 100,000 pieces of history had been stolen and that other ancient artifacts has been smashed by the frenzied mob....But later reports indicate the damage may not be that bad." Jeremiah 17:5-10

April 2004

Shiites in Iraq: "Less than two weeks after the liberation the tune has changed. The same pundits and exiles now claim that Shiites represent the biggest threat to US plans in Iraq....

     "...most television cameras were focused on the small number of militants who had something 'hot', that is to say anti-American, to say....

     [But] "it is clear to this reporter that there is virtually no undercurrent of anti-Americanism in the heartland of Iraqi Shi'ism. Even some clerics who have just returned from exile in Iran were keen to advertise their goodwill towards the US." Glossary of Islamic Terms

March 2004

Embedding reporters - a brilliant Bushian stroke: "The deep-running leftism of the mainline press is categorical and beyond dispute.... Too many, in both newspapers and television, have known little but privilege, rarefied liberal arts schools.... They tend to write from the left with too often an insolent, mindless hostility to right reason on everything from abortion to the environment to war because they are reflecting the views they hear - and share - in the circles and milieu where they have spent - and spend - their time.

      "Those in the military are engaged in an innately conservative enterprise - defending the nation, conserving liberty. The literature of sociology (itself essentially a leftist enterprise) is full of dire analyses of the yawning gap between the nation's military and civilian sectors, complete with grim laments about the extent to which neither understands the other....

      "The American military boasts some of our best people - some of our best educated, most dedicated, most courageous; yea, verily, some of our most virtuous and most sacrificial because they may offer up even their lives in defense of freedom and this land of liberty. Time spent with them usually is exhilarating, uplifting and awe-inspiring. Forced 'embedded' proximity to them could well moderate or 'conservatize' some attitudes toward them on the part of a traditionally leftist and cynical press." The Mainstream Media

God, Satan, and the media: "Ten years ago, the Washington Post carried a front-page story on evangelical Christians. The writer, Michael Weisskopf, famously dismissed this significant demographic as 'poor, uneducated and easy to command.' Uproar ensued.... Weisskopf was forced to amend his story, explaining he meant 'most' evangelicals are poor, uneducated and easy to command. That brought more objections....

     "Now comes the newly minted New York Times op-ed columnist, Nicholas D. Kristof, with a similar statement." See The Mainstream Media

January 2004

Out of Touch, Out of Time for Pro-Lifers: "The national media highlight large Washington rallies when the cause is the impending death of Iraqis. But when thousands of people march against the impending death of unborn babies, that’s another story. If the media once again hew to their largely pro-abortion political beliefs, Wednesday’s March for Life will be quickly passed over as a publicity stunt." See The Mainstream Media

TV ads equate owning an SUV with supporting terrorists: "'This is George,' a girl's voice says of an oblivious man at a gas station. 'This is the gas that George bought for his SUV.' The screen then shows a map of the Middle East. 'These are the countries where the executives bought the oil that made the gas that George bought for his SUV.' The picture switches to a scene of armed terrorists in a desert. 'And these are the terrorists who get money from those countries every time George fills up his SUV.'" See Brainwashing in America

 

Advertisers feverishly target 'Tweens' - and their considerable buying power: "Alex is in that age group known as the ``tween'' years -- the ages between childhood and teenager, roughly sketched as 8 to 12 years old. They are now part of a 30 million-person force... one of the most powerful consumer groups in the nation....

    "It is estimated that tweens directly spend $10 billion annually and influence an additional $74 billion of family spending. It's an ideal combination for manufacturers and retailers, who have helped fuel the buying craze with faux leather pants and flirty tops.... Marketers even hold slumber parties to find out how to make tweens spend." Chart: Three kinds of temptation

 

The "Moonie" Washington Times: "Moon received a 'Universal Peace Award' at the U.N., has called for a U.N.-based religious body, and has declared, 'As long as America sticks with its nationalistic pride it will never be able to embrace the world.' Moon even conducted one of his notorious 'mass weddings' at the United Nations itself on January 27, 2001.... This is when Moon called the U.N. a 'temple of peace.'"

 


December 2003

Instrumentalization of justice at the Hague: "As the West's mainstream media unceasingly celebrate Mrs. Plavsic's virtual 'admission' and 'remorse' for virtual crimes before a virtual court, 'official' historians are busy writing a new, virtual history of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, 'cleansed" of inconvenient facts, complexities and, in the end, truths.'" See The Mainstream Media

November 2003

Germans call Churchill a war criminal: "Winston Churchill was effectively a war criminal who sanctioned the extermination of Germany's civilian population through indiscriminate bombing of towns and cities, an article in the country's biggest-circulation newspaper claimed yesterday." Mainstream or not, it illustrates subjective, politicized reporting. See Mainstream Media

 

 What's Wrong With The American News Media? "Going hand in hand with the fundamental dishonesty of America's news media is the second problem: hypocrisy. The news media claims to disdain capitalism and profit, yet most media outlets are part of huge for profit corporations that engage in fierce, often cutthroat, competition. Media figures draw huge salaries and their news reporting often reflects the interests of the big corporations they work for rather than the public interest....

     "Many journalists now feel that they have a moral right to manufacture stories and distort news coverage in order to promote the causes they believe in. Some journalists now believe that they are superior beings who have a right to dictate what the rest of us believe....

      "A nation like ours needs a free press that is willing and able to present its citizens with an honest and unbiased picture of the world around it. There is no way that today's American news media, which is so dishonest, hypocritical and arrogant, can fulfill that role."

The problem with polls: "Even though they’re often wrong, polls are cited repeatedly and authoritatively. That’s why one of the biggest stories on Election Night will be the way the outcomes are predicted and reported, and the renewed importance of journalists getting it right as well as getting it first." True or not, the results of polls create public perception. That perception is usually based on suggestions and probabilities, not facts. It often builds a consensus based on political expediency rather than actual reality. So watch out -- not just during the elections!  See The Mainstream Media

October 2003

Something Rotten in Denmark? "A Muslim group in Denmark announced a few days ago that a $30,000 bounty would be paid for the murder of several prominent Danish Jews, a threat that garnered wide international notice. Less well known is that this is just one problem associated with Denmark's approximately 200,000 Muslim immigrants. The key issue is that many of them show little desire to fit into their adopted country....

       "minor adjustments [by the government] prompted howls internationally - with European and U.N. reports condemning Denmark for racism and 'Islamophobia,' the Washington Post reporting that Muslim immigrants 'face habitual discrimination,' and a London Guardian headline announcing that 'Copenhagen Flirts with Fascism.'...
       "Contrary to media reports, the real news from Denmark is not flirting with fascism but getting mired in inertia. A government elected specifically to deal with a set of problems has made minimal headway. Its reluctance has potentially profound implications for the West as a whole."

 

Media Double Standards in the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict : ABC News.com reported recently that Palestinian suicide bombers have been lacing their bombs with rat poison. The poison acts as an anti-coagulant, causing survivors to bleed uncontrollably from their wounds. Although this gruesome information is not surprising in light of recent terrorist proclamations, it is telling that only ABC was willing to run the story, albeit buried on their website and not broadcast on the nightly news. Compare this with the Jenin "massacre," which prompted an investigation by the United Nations and received copious media coverage. It was suggested throughout that such a "massacre" was proof that the Israelis were "just as guilty" as the Palestinian terrorists they were fighting. Now that the "massacre" has proven to be a hoax, retractions are few and far between

July 2003

Misreporting Israel's war: "CNN has suffered a series of embarrassing incidents calling into question its news judgment and ability to meet the most basic standards of fairness in reporting on Israel.." The Mainstream Media

 

Brussels follows Labour's spin model: "The European Commission is to counter the growing mood of Euroscepticism across Europe by abandoning neutral presentation of facts and instead creating an aggressive spin machine....  A leaked strategy document obtained by The Telegraph outlines a plan to spend 267 million euros (£173 million) over four years to devise a core catechism of 'messages', and harness all elements of the European system to 'improve the perception that citizens have of the European Union'....

      "An 'action plan' will start in September involving the use of focus groups in each member state. It will work with the opinion poll departments of each EU government and co-ordinate 'informational vigilance'." The Mainstream Media

June 2003

At MIT, they can put words in our mouths: "Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created the first realistic videos of people saying things they never said - a scientific leap that raises unsettling questions about falsifying the moving image. In one demonstration, the researchers taped a woman speaking into a camera, and then reprocessed the footage into a new video that showed her speaking entirely new sentences.... But scientists warn the technology will also provide a powerful new tool for fraud and propaganda...." Judges 17:6

The media's immigration blunders: "Most news stories are frontloaded with quotes from illegal immigration and open borders advocates, while opposing views are buried and marginalized. Indeed, most editors still can't even bring themselves to use the term 'illegal,' preferring the flagrantly biased euphemism 'undocumented.'"  The Mainstream Media

May 2003

What's so special about Daniel Pearl? "Danny Pearl's execution is a recruitment video for savages. According to CBS News, the film is being distributed out of Saudi Arabia, our strategic partner for peace and the war on terrorism. The footage is titled 'The Slaughter of the Spy-Journalist, the Jew Daniel Pearl.'....

      "Apparently the footage is very popular with Saudi college kids, high-school students and other folks whose idea of downloading porn from the Internet involves getting the latest pictures of Americans and Jews being carved up like animals. So much for the idea that education is the solution to all social problems....

      "Images of these things have been used in recruitment videos by 'enemies of this country' for, literally, decades. The image of an American soldier being dragged, naked, through the streets of Mogadishu is a particular popular scene in the Arab world.... What's new about the Pearl video is that it's got a reporter in it, not that murder and savagery are being used to recruit our enemies. But to the bad guys, there's no moral difference in legitimacy between an American soldier and an American journalist." Rom 1:22-32

Jesse Ventura compares requiring Pledge to Nazi, Taliban oaths: "In a radio interview Monday, the free-associating governor [Minnesota] was discussing his opposition to a bill requiring students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance when he began comparing it to the indoctrination practiced by two notorious regimes, the Taliban and the Nazis." Yet,he is implementing the global education agenda in Minnesota. See The Nazi Model For Outcome-Based Education

A dissenter on development: "One of the chilling facts about the 20th century West is how poorly champions of individual liberty have fared in free societies. They seldom receive state honors. Rarely are they celebrated in academia or the media.... Neither are there Ford, Rockefeller or Carnegie Foundation grants, nor MacArthur Foundation 'genius' grants. Progressive prejudice has been such that no one who advances liberty could possibly be seen as a genius. The liberal-socialist establishment has worked to shut such people up." See The Mainstream Media

TV images of Palestinian suffering sway Arab world: "Round-the-clock broadcasts feed war fever among younger viewers.... In the past decade, a host of Arab satellite television stations have cropped up in the Middle East, and they are powerfully shaping opinion....'There's an incredible flow of horrible pictures that influence all Arabs, especially the youth, who are very affected by it,' says Hussein Amin of the Adham Center for Television Journalism at the American University in Cairo. 'These images have been engraved in the hearts and minds of youngsters.' ...Across the region, people are tuning in, sometimes obsessively, just as Americans did after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. ...Graphic images of severed limbs, slain infants and corpses allowed to rot while ambulances are blocked have filled the screen. Critics say the montage of death and destruction fuels Arab rage and gives short shrift to the suffering of Israeli suicide bomb victims." The Mainstream Media.

Media. Palestinians faking funeral in Jenin: "Palestinians have tried to create various types of false evidence to exaggerate what transpired in Jenin and support false claims of atrocities. Israeli intelligence sources reported that Palestinians have been exhuming corpses from nearby cemeteries and burying them in a mass grave of those who fought the Israelis in Jenin. Even so, even the Palestinians have reported no more than 52 recovered bodies, in sharp contrast to earlier claims, by Palestinian minister Saeb Erekat and others, of more than 500 dead. IDF senior officials reported earlier this week on Israeli television that animal carcasses were also hauled to the refugee camp to create the 'stench of death.'"  Next item shows similar tradeoff -- dishonest propaganda replaces truth and integrity -- in America:

 Media & Education. Staged death of teen clouds program's message: "Students at Eagle Grove High School heard a devastating announcement over the intercom a few weeks ago: One of their classmates was dead, killed in an alcohol-related wreck the night before. Grief gave way to anger for some students when they learned the story was untrue, made up to illustrate the dangers of drinking and driving."

March 2003

Former Homosexual Alleges TV Show Censored Testimony: "When Stephen Bennett recently told a national television audience how he left the gay lifestyle, he riveted the attention of the largely homosexual and gay-friendly studio audience. But when the show aired 13 days later, his testimony about the nature of his religious conversion was missing - deliberately cut, Bennett believes, by the show's producers, who objected to his Christian message." See 1 Cor 6:9-11 and The Mainstream Media

February 2003

"A Nation defines Itself  by Its Evil Enemies" (no link, New York Times, 2/24/02) by John Kifner: "Why has that phrase, 'axis of evil,' crystallized so much anti-American sentiment around the world?' Professor Dower said. 'Because the country sees itself as nothing but good and innocent, and that infuriates people." ... 

       "Communist were often conceived as moral monsters whose deviousness and unwavering dedication to their faith made them capable of almost anything. Whittaker Chambers, who saw in Communism 'the concentrated evil of our time,' wrote in his classic cold war memoir, 'Witness': 'Their power, whose nature baffles the rest of the world, because in large measure the rest of the world has lost that power, is the power to hold convictions and act on them. It is the same power that moves mountains; it is also an unfailing power to move men."

        His point illustrates both today's media bias and the manipulative power of communist indoctrination. While the consensus process (used to produce social change in the former Soviet Union -- and now, around the world) undermines Christian conviction and destroys confidence in traditional absolutes. But the communist went a step further. Their brainwashing process (copied by Hitler) built absolute loyalty to the state and its god-like leader. The Olympic rituals serve the same purpose. See Brainwashing and "Education Reform" and the next 3 links:

 

Should the media contribute to a culture of peace? "Religious, political, media and academic leaders from all over the world gathered last week with just one goal, to affirm and build human dignity. The event was the International Interreligious Federation for World Peace assembly, which had adopted as its central concern, "establishing a cultural peace."

      "...can the media develop those thoughts, principles and actions that might lead a populace to reject violence? [No, not today's media - especially not when promoting the UN vision of "a culture of peace."]

      "...the United Nations and the media can, and should, work together to nurture those conditions necessary for the respect of human rights and peace." See Jer 6:13-15 and Two UN Summits, One Millennium Goal

 

"Those dastardly 'fundementalists': "For so many liberals, Christian conservatives are there only to be caricatured as dangerous, superstitious tyrants. Reporters are especially burdened with the conceit of superiority. ...

       "It apparently does not matter whether you believe in God or not, or whether you are Catholic, Jewish or Mormon. If you believe a human embryo is human, and not a laboratory rat, you're Taliban -- a "fundamentalist." See The Mainstream Media

 

Media goofed on Antarctic data  -- Global warming interpretation irks scientists: "To most people, Antarctica is just a big, dumb block of ice swarming with penguins. But to scientists, Antarctica is one of the emerging puzzles of global warming research....  One study showed that while other continents are warming, major parts of Antarctica are cooling. The other demonstrated that the glacial 'ice streams' that feed the Ross Ice Shelf in West Antarctica appear to be growing, not shrinking." Government scientists and media reporters have both been skewing news in support of this needed global crisis for years. More glaciers are growing than shrinking the last decades, but the media won't tell us that. See Saving the Earth

January 2003

NPR smears Christian group: "A reporter on federally funded National Public Radio has suggested that a Christian political action group could be the culprit behind anthrax-laden letters sent to Sens. Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy." See The Mainstream Media and Preparing for Persecution

'Let's get nasty': "...an old debating trick -- if you’re losing (or have lost) an argument, change the subject. One way to do that is by attacking your opponent instead of his ideas." See The Mainstream Media

'Far Christian right' off the air: "Mr. Pederson [president of the National Religious Broadcasters] believes Christian broadcasting is influenced to its detriment by what he calls the 'far Christian right.' Whom specifically he is referring to, he won't say. ... The phrase 'far Christian right' is a pejorative used against Christian conservatives that one normally hears from the likes of Dan Rather or CNN's Bill Snyder. It's meant to discredit and discredit absolutely. Use 'far Christian right' as a descriptive before the name of an individual or an organization and the reader, listener, viewer is to understand that the person or group being named is seriously extremist in its views and doesn't deserve an ounce of credibility." See Preparing for Persecution


December 2002

Media Bias. "The Real War" (no link, New York Times, 11-27-01): "Terrorism is just a tool. We're fighting to defeat an ideology: religious totalitarianism. World War II and the cold war were fought to defeat secular totalitarianism... and World War III is a battle against religious totalitarianism, a view of the world that my faith must reign supreme and can be affirmed and held passionately only if all others are negated. ... [It] can't be fought by armies alone. It has to be fought in schools, mosques, churches and synagogues....

     "'All faiths that come out of the biblical tradition -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam - have the tendency to believe that they have the exclusive truth. ... The opposite of religious totalitarianism is an ideology of pluralism -- an ideology that embraces religious diversity and the idea that my faith can be nurtured without claiming exclusive truth. America is the Mecca of that that ideology, and that is what bin Laden hates...."

      Thomas Friedman, the author -- whose message matches the UN plan for global unity and social solidarity -- is wrong. See Four Faces of Islam. America was founded on the absolute truths he despises. But since his view has become so prevalent in our schools and culture, we need to understand it and help prepare our families for the coming challenges to our faith. In Christ, we can demonstrate genuine love while resisting compromise. More will be posted from this article and the editorial responses in the next few days. Meanwhile, read Preparing for Persecution

 

Letter in response to the above New York Times editorial: "Clearly extreme fundamentalist of any faith have more in common with each other then they do with t core of their convictions.... Any church that claims to be the only true faith is never a true faith." Ted Glichman.  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6. But this truth doesn't fit in a pluralistic world. John 15:20-21 and John 16:2

November 2002

What are we fighting against? It's simple - fundamentalism: "Bin Laden's own declaration of war was against Christians, Jews, infidels and Crusaders - our entire modern civilisation....  

        "Our scientific achievements have created the mistaken feeling that if only we apply our intelligence and rationality to a given problem - rather than our barbaric or atavistic impulses - we can solve any conflict. This school simply cannot understand fundamentalist Islam....Militant Islam in its expansionary form is an acute threat.... The West forgets that at its height in the Ottoman Empire, Islam went to the gates of Vienna. This memory fuels the fury of a bin Laden." But we are not fighting Christian "fundamentalism" -- though the media likes to link uncompromising Christianity to Islamic terror. See The Mainstream Media

 

God's smiley knight: "...Britain is the most irreligious society on the planet, thank God. Yet as church, synagogue and mosque attendances collapse, one church in the most expensive west London suburb can plausibly claim to be the cause of a religious revival. The Alpha course, a 10-week introduction to evangelical Christianity developed at Holy Trinity, has been run by 18,000 churches worldwide. The Rev Nicky Gumbel, a barrister turned religious leader, claims one million people in Britain have heard his message. ...
        Andrew Brown, one of the best writers on religion, warns that to describe Alpha as 'fundamentalist' is to be unfair to fundamentalists. There are many who are bone-headed enough to believe in the truth of sacred texts, but most Christian fundamentalists accept the age of miracles passed with Biblical times...
       There's a good case for arguing that the élite religion Holy Trinity exemplifies is a sign of the vertiginous gap between the governors and the governed. Most British politicians of the twentieth century were cheerfully atheist in private. As the country became agnostic - only eight per cent go to church, a third have no idea what the Easter is meant to commemorate - the political class turned to God. In the present Cabinet, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Hilary Armstrong, Tessa Jowell, Lord Irvine and Jack Straw are ostentatiously pious. ...  the religiosity of the powerful has become a public menace and incitement to hatred.
     ...consider that at no time in the past 100 years have British leaders been as religious as they are today and at no time has the electorate regarded its leaders with such cynicism and contempt."
See The Global Church

October 2002

The Idols of Secular Conservativism: "On October 23, Tod Lindberg, who also edits the [the 'conservative'] Hoover Institution’s Policy Review, sent forth this Washington Times column: 'Osama bin Laden, meet Jerry Falwell: Extremism must be defanged.'... Mr. Lindberg assures us that as Rev. Falwell and his ilk are driven from public life, the marketplace will restore a semblance of civility: 'Some of the old hatred and anger will certainly remain — now, however, defanged, its own adherents no longer willing to act on their anger by killing; their violence only metaphorical. For them, and to the great pecuniary benefit of its lucky proprietors, there will be Osama TV — on the cable lineup through the Middle East alongside Al Jazeera, CNN, the Food Channel and the Christian Broadcasting Network.'
    "Note the inclusion of the innocuous alongside the real target — Christian Broadcasting Network. The cover doesn’t work. The message is unmistakable: Clip the wings of religious zanies (all of them), and the marketplace will be our salvation." See
The Enemy Of The People?

 

Prescribe Zanax, not Cipro: "We've finally given liberals a war against fundamentalism, and they don't want to fight it....Walter Cronkite, better known as president of the Ho Chi Minh Veneration Society, has compared the Rev. Falwell to the Taliban. In response to Falwell's comment that gay marriage and abortion on demand may not have warmed the heart of the Almighty, Cronkite proclaimed it 'the most abominable thing I've ever heard.' ...Liberals compare Jerry Falwell to the Taliban, but then are furious with George Bush for not being Jesus Christ. ...Thus, the media repeatedly expound upon the proposition that what Bush should have done in response to the anthrax mailings is: Instantly produce the culprits and put an end to this madness!" 2 Cor 2:14

July  2002

Don't Call HER a ‘HE’: Gay characters are practically the norm on many prime-time shows - but there has never been a regular transgender character before. The idea has stirred up concern among members of GLAAD - the national organization that represents gays...." The Mainstream Media and Isaiah 5:20

Politics of the ancient Maya rested on the written word: "At the height of the Mayan civilization, the only literate society in pre- Columbian America, kings fervently, perhaps desperately, believed in the power of the pen. ... scribes played a central role in magnifying their king's reputation and solidifying his political hold on the realm."  Nothing new about media bias and political propaganda. See The Mainstream Media

Lying statistics: Thomas Sowell writes, "Every year since 1950, the number of American children gunned down has doubled.' Did you know that? It is just as well if you did not, because it is not true.... Yet the claim that was quoted did not come from some supermarket tabloid. It appeared in a reputable academic journal. It is one of innumerable erroneous statistical claims generated by advocates of one cause or another. Too often, those in the media who are sympathetic to these causes repeat such claims uncritically until they become 'well-known facts' by sheer repetition." See The Mainstream Media

The Death of Talk Radio: "Concerned that no liberal answer to Rush Limbaugh has yet appeared on the national scene, Daschle and his disciples may yet attempt to return to the Bad Old Days of government control of radio talk. The signs are there for anyone who cares to notice them -- emerging indications that some thoughts may no longer be acceptable.   Of course, bad thoughts are usually conservative in nature...." The Mainstream Media

June 2002

Questioning the motives of home-schooling parents: "America's most famous home-schooling parents at the moment are Andrea Yates and JoAnn McGuckin. Yates allegedly drowned her five children in a Houston suburb. McGuckin was arrested and charged with child neglect in Idaho. Her six kids barricaded themselves in the family's hovel when child-care workers came to remove them....

       "Perhaps the time has come to question the motives of some home-schooling parents. Are the parents protecting their children from a cesspool of bad values in the outside world? Or are the parents just people who can't get along with others? Are they 'taking charge' of their children's education. Or are they taking their children captive?

      "Yates and McGuckin are, of course, extreme cases and probably demented. But a movement that insists on parents' rights to do as they wish with their children gives cover for the unstable, for narcissists and for child-abusers."

      As one might expect, the media will use these two tragedies to limit parental rights and speed public approval for more state control.  See Comment and  The Mainstream Media---Forging a New Consciousness  (also posted in "control" and "persecution")

 

PBS film on Boy Scouts slammed as one-sided: "People on both sides of the issue who have viewed the film say that it is done in such a way as to make the Boy Scouts appear homophobic and intolerant, while making Steven appear heroic and worthy of admiration for his conviction and tenacity.  'It really showed the courage of Steven Cozza in a way that I thought was very heartwarming and very powerful," said Amy Koberta, spokeswoman for Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).'"  Isaiah 5:20

ABC's Partnership with 'Religion' Web Site Troubling to Some: "...ABC said it would now partner with Beliefnet.com for its religious coverage. Beliefnet bills itself as a "multi-faith e-community designed to help you meet your own religious and spiritual needs." While it claims to be respectful of a wide variety of religions, Beliefnet co-founder Steve Waldman admits, "you'll find things on this site that may annoy or even infuriate you." John 15:20-2

 

Houston mother said kids were damaged: "Andrea Yates told police she began thinking several months ago about killing her five kids, and finally did it this week because she believed she was a bad mother and they were hopelessly damaged." See this  note in the light of The Mainstream Media

 

CNN's "compound" interest: "How many families do you know that live in a 'compound?' ....It's a loaded word used to conjure up images of white separatists and religious sects....  'Compound' has a way of conveniently dehumanizing the people who live in the place being described. ...

     "Over the past week, I heard "compound" used repeatedly by CNN correspondents who left their posh East Coast digs to cover a five-day "standoff" in rural America between armed government agents and a frightened family. The McGuckins of Garfield Bay, Idaho had fallen on hard times since the head of the household, 61-year-old Michael, took ill...." See The Mainstream Media

May 2002

Censor added hate to song: "Egypt's top music censor has claimed to have put the vitriol in the chart-topping song I Hate Israel, which has swept across the country. Madkour Thabet, whose office of song censorship within the highly secretive Arts Censorship Bureau has the power to ban tapes deemed politically or morally offensive, said he persuaded the songwriters to toughen the original lyrics... [from] 'I don't like Israel' ... to 'I hate Israel' .... He said: "We didn't actually order that the lyrics be changed or provide the exact words, but we recommended that they be changed to better express the common feeling of the Arabic people." 

         This government tactic illustrates the UN aim for the global media. See our new article,  The Mainstream Media - Forging a new global consciousness.

April 2002

 

Bush, Religious Broadcasters Meet: "Bush appealed to the broadcasters for 'greater understanding and the potential of more clarity than what some of the media are currently providing' about his proposals. 'The president made it very clear that he wants to empower people to listen to the Lord, he said, and capture the compassion that is there."  See Faith-Based Compromise.

Leader Urges Journalism Standards: "Richard Oppel, president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, said newspapers face more competition from Internet sources but are more stable and better able to connect with communities. ``While many of our Internet competitors abjure fact for gossip, we must relentlessly pursue accuracy,'' Oppel said Tuesday. ``While they scandalize, we must insist upon fairness. While they exploit and spread hate, we must serve the public.''

          ASNE, a 79-year-old association made up of 900 top editors from daily newspapers, will be addressed this week by President Bush (news - web sites), Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (news - web sites), Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) and journalist Walter Cronkite....

          Timothy A. Franklin:  ``People come to us wanting depth and context and sophistication,'' he said...

          Oppel said, "...newspaper editors ``need to explain First Amendment principles without arrogance'' to readers.

Liberal media 'ignores' rape-killing of boy, 13  2 Tim 3-1-14

 

Media Blackout Pushes Homosexual Agenda 2 Timothy 3-1-14

March 2002

Turner called some CNN employees "Jesus freaks" on Ash Wednesday: "CNN had been telling the news media that [Stuart Varney, co-host of CNN's flagship 'Moneyline'] was out sick. But according to many news accounts, Varney walked out after last Wednesday's telecast in anger over remarks by Ted Turner.... Varney once buttonholed Turner on "Moneyline" about his views on Christianity shortly after his wife, Jane Fonda, declared herself a born-again Christian."

Note: Turner helped found the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE), an umbrella organization for various religious groups, including World Vision and other members of the Evangelical Environmental Network.  See Earth Day Joins Easter.

Orwellian Government Is Here, but the mainstream media doesn't tell you. Consider two other executive order that should be rescinded to maintain personal freedom in America: Federalism and The Implementation of Human Rights Treaties.

Boy's death spotlights bias in coverage of gays: "The New York Times hasn't reported how Jesse died of asphyxiation in 1999 after prosecutors say he was bound, gagged and sodomized by a homosexual couple."

Survey connects graphic TV fare, child behavior. The media promotes anti-Christian sentiments, sensual thrills and gratuitous violence -- and children follow.

Minister has prior conviction for beating. This tragic news is broadcast across the country partly because it happened in a church. It will surely be used to justify greater government control over churches and families. In contrast, the media rarely exposes child abuse in foster homes or non-Christian institutions. See the following item:    

CBS Ignores Own Poll Showing Support for Tax Cut.

While other newspapers carried front page articles about Tony Rodham's involvement in White House pardons, the New York Times hid its report near the back (page 20). Its title, "A Clinton In-Law Helped Win Pair of Pardons," didn't mention his link to sister Hillary. Many would stop reading before seeing the close connections. Could the New York Times be protecting its new senator's reputation? Such a bias wouldn't be unusual for one of the world's most influential public opinion-makers.


"Nearly 50% of those polled thought that George W. Bush's tax cut would favor the rich."

A causal reading gives the impression that this large percentage is somehow significant. Nearly 50%! WOW!

However, keep in mind that "nearly" still means "less than". Were your desire to diminish the view of this polling sample, you might also word the paragraph as such: "Less than half of those polled thought that the tax cut would favor the rich." Or...

"A majority of those polled felt that the Presidents tax plan would not favor the rich."

All three statements "mean" the same thing. But they "say" different things. It's all in how you write it (and read it). Let's stay sharp out there....  

Submitted by steve@khouse


Analyzing Media Reports (part 1)

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