Skip to content

Propaganda Blitz

Metadata

Highlights

‘Propaganda always wins, if you allow it.’ — location: 153 ^ref-58040

Why would we consider views generated by profit-maximising hierarchies of authoritarian power ‘mainstream’? — location: 224 ^ref-6266

Why would corporate journalists rage uncontrollably at Gaddafi for allegedly threatening a massacre, but not at British and US leaders who killed 500,000 Iraqi children by means of sanctions, and then one million Iraqis as a result of the 2003 invasion and occupation? — location: 578 ^ref-48960

every corporate media entity one can think of is responsible for promoting deceptions that have led to wars that have destroyed whole countries? — location: 594 ^ref-14934

The ‘effective operation of a democratic political system’ requires the promotion of ‘apathy and non-involvement’. — location: 639 ^ref-13785

use of state-subsidised ‘news’, — location: 1062 ^ref-37867

Julian Assange has been vindicated because the Swedish case against him was corrupt. The prosecutor, Marianne Ny, obstructed justice and should be prosecuted. Her obsession with Assange not only embarrassed her colleagues and the judiciary but exposed the Swedish state’s collusion with the United States in its crimes of war and ‘rendition’. — location: 1188 ^ref-14511

Julian Assange has been vindicated because the Swedish case against him was corrupt. The prosecutor, Marianne Ny, obstructed justice and should be prosecuted. Her obsession with Assange not only embarrassed her colleagues and the judiciary but exposed the Swedish state’s collusion with the United States in its crimes of war and — location: 1188 ^ref-15768

The rehabilitation of Bush and Blair followed the deeper rehabilitation of the US brand under Obama. After the Iraq disaster – drenched in too much blood and too many lies for even the propaganda system to whitewash – Obama’s task was to reassert the myth of US benevolence. — location: 1220 ^ref-49789

Obama’s destruction of Libya (see Chapter 5: Libya – ‘It is All About Oil’) was essentially never discussed during the 2016 US presidential election. Plunging an entire country of 6 million people into despair was not deemed a significant issue in discussing either Obama’s or Hillary Clinton’s record. — location: 1229 ^ref-4710

Today humanity faces a stark choice: save the planet and ditch capitalism, or save capitalism and ditch the planet. — location: 1248 ^ref-1302

up to 60 per cent of Israeli Jews support schemes to encourage or force Arabs to leave both the occupied territories and Israel. — location: 1611 ^ref-24549

what jumped out at me were the secret memos from the National Security Council. Explaining the U.S. interest in Southeast Asia, they spoke bluntly of the country’s motives as a quest for ‘tin, rubber, oil’. — location: 1834 ^ref-52643

More widely, Muammar Gaddafi’s 40-year record of appalling human rights abuses did not include large-scale attacks on Libyan civilians [our emphasis]. — location: 2054 ^ref-12036

Today humanity faces a stark choice: save the planet and ditch capitalism, or save capitalism and ditch the — location: 1248 ^ref-29761

up to 60 per cent of Israeli Jews support schemes to encourage or force Arabs to leave both the occupied territories and — location: 1611 ^ref-9749

what jumped out at me were the secret memos from the National Security Council. Explaining the U.S. interest in Southeast Asia, they spoke bluntly of the country’s motives as a quest for ‘tin, rubber, — location: 1834 ^ref-8979

More widely, Muammar Gaddafi’s 40-year record of appalling human rights abuses did not include large-scale attacks on Libyan civilians [our — location: 2054 ^ref-26106

Libyan forces did kill hundreds as they regained control of cities. Collateral damage is inevitable in counter-insurgency. And strict laws of war may have been exceeded. But Khadafy’s acts were a far cry from Rwanda, Darfur, Congo, Bosnia, and other killing fields. Libya’s air force, prior to imposition of a UN-authorized no-fly zone, targeted rebel positions, not civilian concentrations. Despite ubiquitous cellphones equipped with cameras and video, there is no graphic evidence of deliberate massacre. — location: 2076 ^ref-27440

But those who dominate Libya’s political and economic leadership are pursuing increasingly nationalistic policies in the energy sector that could jeopardize efficient exploitation of Libya’s extensive oil and gas reserves. Effective U.S. engagement on this issue should take the form of demonstrating the clear downsides to the GOL [government of Libya] of pursuing this approach — location: 2106 ^ref-37437

The columnist advised readers to check for traces of hidden gender bias: If you are naturally left of centre, especially if you are a woman, yet you find you instinctively dislike her, ask yourself why. — location: 2148 ^ref-18723

In August 2011, Hillary led the US into disaster with her declaration Assad must ‘get out of the way’, backed by secret CIA operations. — location: 2177 ^ref-20399

It was the military-industrial complex in Washington, what we would now – it’s Eisenhower’s phrase, but what we would now call the deep state, — location: 2659 ^ref-37981

alliance between the top military brass in Washington, the arms manufacturers and the intelligence agencies, — location: 2660 ^ref-51376

In August 2016, Oxfam reported that in excess of 21 million people in Yemen, out of a total population of around 27 million, were in need of humanitarian aid, more than in any other country. — location: 2848 ^ref-45672

In August 2016, Oxfam reported that in excess of 21 million people in Yemen, out of a total population of around 27 million, were in need of humanitarian aid, more than in any other — location: 2848 ^ref-7171

Iona Craig, formerly a Yemen-based correspondent for The Times, noted that ‘more than 58 hospitals now have been bombed by the coalition airstrikes, — location: 2853 ^ref-4852

Objective journalism is thus rooted in two ideas: 1.   that human beings are able to view the happiness and suffering of others as being of equal importance to their own. 2.   that, perhaps counter-intuitively for a society like ours, individuals and societies dramatically enhance their well-being when they ‘equalise self and other’ by caring for others in this way. — location: 4892 ^ref-59689

it is precisely the illusion that ‘mainstream’ media are fair and impartial that allows them to sell a fake version of democracy as the real thing. — location: 4917 ^ref-28232

the corporation media system is the key obstacle to progressive change. — location: 4929 ^ref-37843

much more profound changes can be achieved by speaking out honestly, compassionately, selflessly, thus provoking establishment media to reveal themselves in all their soulless, power-friendly cynicism. — location: 4934 ^ref-18482