How do you tell if the news is fake or has a propaganda agenda?
Media Control, A Problem for Right-Wing
From an 8/6/24 article on Media Matters by John Knefel.
Headline: “MAGA Media Figures Launch Desperate and Weird – Attacks on Harris Vice Presidentiral Pick Tim Walz”
“As governor, Walz has pursued a robust pro-worker and pro-child agenda, two public policy areas where conservatives have attempted to make superficialinroads. While some conservative pundits attempted to level attacks on Walz for his progressive record as governor, many of their initial reactions to the news have been strange, bizarre, and — some might even say — weird.”
Read it here:
TV News
“We don’t need no stinkin’ facts”
News Bothereing You Lately?
. . . maybe this is the solution (via R. Crumb):
Bait and Switch?
The corporate media hysteria about Biden’s age is reminiscent of a school of sharks circling their prey. As each shark takes a bite, media outlets increase their ratings and revenue. With each chunk taken out of the target the old adage of “If it bleeds, it leads” now has the addition of, “. . . and it pays well, too!”.
New Outlets Disappear, Replaced by Pink Slime
From an article in The Guardian 2/30/24 By Eric Berger:
Headline: “Deluge of ‘pink slime’ websites threaten to drown out truth with fake news in US election”
Sub-head: “News sites pushing misinformation are proliferating, aiming to look like reliable sources as local newspapers close down”
“Political groups on the right and left are using fake news websites designed to look like reliable sources of information to fill the void left by the demise of local newspapers, raising fears of the impact that they might have during the United States’ bitterly fought 2024 election.
“Some media experts are concerned that the so-called pink slime websites, often funded domestically, could prove at least as harmful to political discourse and voters’ faith in media and democracy as foreign disinformation efforts in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.”
Fossil Fuel Industry Buys Ads, Denies Climate Change
Drought monitor from US.Gov
From The Guardian 6/7/24 by Dharna Noor – Beware of “advertorials” disguised as “news”.
Headline: “News and tech media mostly quiet after UN chief calls for ban on ads for oil and gas”
For example, “‘Geoffrey Supran, an associate professor and scholar of fossil-fuel industry messaging at the University of Miami, said ‘there is also potentially a concern about the outlet’s editorial staff being exposed to the ads’ claims’. In a 1980s internal public relations assessment, ‘oil giant Mobil indicated that it believed its advertorials in the New York Times had shifted the outlet’s position in its favor,’ he said.
“‘The fossil-fuel industry’s advertising campaigns are state-of-the-art propaganda developed in partnership with public relations experts, executed via media outlets, and based on almost a century of collaborative experience,’ said Supran.”
According to The Nation quoted in The Guardian article, “Many outlets are not only accepting fossil-fuel advertisements, but also have arms that are producing them. Reuters, the New York Times, Bloomberg, Politico, and The Washington Post all count oil majors as clients of their in-house production studios, events businesses and other branded content . . .”
Want to be A Journalist? Don’t go to Afghanistan
From The Guardian article by Sakhidad Hatif on 5/1/24
Headline: “The Taliban targeted us, beat us and chased us out. This is how we run our Afghan newspaper from exile”
“In the two decades before the Taliban returned to power, Afghanistan had vibrant media sector. There were newspapers, television channels, periodicals, magazines and more, invigorating the public discourse by allowing citizens to express their views on national and local issues. That is completely gone”
FCM Event on Saturday, 5/4 Was Successful
Friends of Community Media sponsored a well-attended event with Palestinian non-violent peace activist Awad Mubarek at All Souls Unitarian Church in Kansas City last Saturday. FCM president Spencer Graves, interviewed by KCTV, MC’ed the event.
Important Palestinian Peace Event
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Spencer Graves (408) 655-4567
PALESTINIAN PEACE ACTIVIST TO SPEAK THIS WEEKEND MAY 4 AND 5
Kansas City, Missouri – 4/29/24
Doctor Mubarak Awad, Palestinian-American from Jerusalem, will speak on “Standing up for Palestine”, with baklava donated by the Jerusalem Café available at 1:30 PM for the event at 2-4 PM, on Saturday, May 4th at All-Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut in Kansas City, followed by a Q&A session.
Awad Mubarak is a Christian Palestinian, born in Jerusalem in 1943. He has a PhD in psychology and has US citizenship. In 1983 he founded the Palestinian Centre for the Study of Nonviolence in Jerusalem. He was expelled by Israel in 1988 for organizing nonviolent civil disobedience in the First Intifada. He then founded Nonviolence International, advocating for active nonviolence and nonviolent campaigns worldwide.
In the session about events in Gaza and calling for a ceasefire, ideas to be discussed include actions that people can take. These include contacting senators and representatives, participating in peaceful demonstrations and events, putting up yard signs protesting the treatment of Gazans, advising religious communities to host a educational forums, and how to contribute to humanitarian aid for the region.
Dr. Awad will also speak at the 9:30 All-Souls forum on Sunday, May 5 to be broadcast on community radio station KKFI 90.1 FM May 14th 7-8 PM, and the event will also be available later on the YouTube “AllSoulsKC” the second “Forum”.
Donations requested. Net proceeds will go to the Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA) for humanitarian aid. Contributions may be made through the “donate” button on the ourfcm.org website, or by mailing a check to “Friends of Community Media”, 3707 Pennsylvania Ave, KC, MO 64111.
Friends of Community Media is a 501(c)3 Kansas City non-profit organization founded in 2007, with the goal of promoting community-based media. It also assists local groups to create independent media, influence existing media, and promote diverse media ownership.
In its history it has conducted the “Media 4 Us week” literacy event, sponsored progressive media awards, brought in guest speakers on media topics, worked with the United Minority Media Association, and conducted media literacy classes.
Information on this event and on Friends of Community Media may found on the group’s website: ourfcm.org.
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