“What goes around comes around”, so goes the old adage; that also applies to media coverage of the position of the US in World Affairs, and especially over the conduct of deadly conflicts in Ukraine and Israel. Apparently the abrupt change in tone of Western media about Ukraine, or rather over the fighting in Ukraine, Palestine, and many parts of the world have suddenly met the underside of the bus, for starters!
They want to have it both ways. Spin doctors for the establishment, like as those portrayed in the film “Wag the Dog”, now want to change their minds. It is, however, apparent, that they don’t want to have to admit that they were ever wrong, as that would affect their compensation packages.
The movie, “Wag the Dog,” stars Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman and is a satirical comedy-drama that explores the manipulation of public perception through the media. The reality is far from being a joke, especially in how the MSM tries to manipulate all standpoint dependencies.
But this attempt to cover up their previous lies is not working, and the flip-flopping is showing the reality of the work of HG Wells, and how a subsequent series of radio broadcasts were presented, in what was offered to the public as realistic news bulletins. This caused panic among some listeners, who actually believed that Martians had invaded.
While the panic is often overstated, the broadcast is still remembered as a significant moment in the history of radio and the power of the media to influence public perception. The collective mentality has not really changed since then; people are more naïve than ever.
Changing perceptions, and facing reality!
Even the New York Times, the mouthpiece of the Military-Industrial Complex, which openly caters to the fan club of the political and economic elites, is caving into the dismal reality, as it too knows that the Ukrainian Ship of State is sinking.
Until recently, and in light of the failed, albeit much touted counteroffensive, Ukraine and the West were winning the media war, winning hearts and minds—at least that is what the CNN, BBC and most media outlets, wanted us to believe.
But on the internet, it’s a very one-sided affair, at least that is how the BBC reported last year, and it was basically true, at least in the beginning. “This is a meme nation,” says Olena, a Kyiv entrepreneur who manages teams of social media volunteers. “If this was a war of memes, we would be winning.”
This was most apparent in how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his supporters turned to social networks like TikTok, Telegram, and Twitter to document the horrors of the war for a global audience in real time – and make the proverbial case of good vs. evil.
However, he had help from greater powers, and the so-called evil became the good as reality flipped and people started opening their eyes as to what was really going on – not only on the ground but in the shadows. Even Ukrainians are growing weary of being lied to:
“Everyone is fed up with this picture that says, ‘We’re winning, everyone likes us and gives us money,’” said Oksana Romaniuk, the head of the Kyiv-based Institute of Mass Information, a media monitoring organization. “It’s state propaganda.”
The coverage of the warfrom the Western media is equally bad. In describing the kinds of refugees, basically portraying the situation as white people vs. other hues, as if they are more like usEuropeans or Americans, and such coverage is rather hypocritical, especially in making the comparison: Ukraine vs. the Middle East. It is as if media mouthpieces are describing different species and not human beings when comparing Ukrainians to Palestinians, for example.
In addition, the whitewashing of Ukraine’s Nazi problem, while damning all Gazans as Nazis, shows the disgusting bias and outright dishonesty of the western media.
Media coverage can be academically discussed, in layman’s terms, as a pack of lies, or more accurately as the CNN Effect or Manufacturing Consent, two edges of the same sword. As reported by NPR, which is far from being balanced.
Media coverage doesn’t merely create public awareness, says Martin Scott, a senior lecturer in media and international development at the University of East Anglia. “It can have an impact on the world’s response.”
Or the lack thereof; I would provide a bit of added commentary, “as now Palestinians IDPs are being described by many as if subhuman”, especially by the Israeli press. Dehumanisation of Palestinians is as central to Israel’s war strategy as the deadly missiles it wields, as discussed by Andrew Mitrovica, a columnist for Al Jazeera English, who is based in Toronto.
Selective Coverage
I personally don’t think most Americans care if Palestinians die. The news here keeps showing every dead old lady in Ukraine but not a whole building full of Palestinians, and most of the victims left buried in the rubble from the impact of an American made dumb bomb
I met a young lady ata bar recently in Tbilisi, she lives in Berlin, she said it is too dangerous to stay in Berlin over New Year’s Eve, and she told me that Jews are not safe anymore there, and some Israelis have stopped openly speaking Hebrew, wearing kippa, and sending their kids to Hebrew school. Also, that is not very popular to visit Jewish businesses these days, at least by some Jews.
She added that Israel is largely responsible for what it is doing to its own people, and not only domestically but Jews everywhere. Is that not a shocking turnaround of a so-called modern democracy situated amongst Arab countries? I would add that it is not only what Israel is doing, but also how the media coverage is so one-sided and mostly agenda-driven.
One of my son’s best football buddies, who is also Jewish, said the other day that Gaza needs to be totally cleared out and destroyed and everyone killed or Israel will never be safe. I also know two other people who are not Jewish who are saying the same and that Palestinians are like “rats and roaches” that should be exterminated!
Who is REALLY responsible for such hate?
The Bible says the entire world – every country – will turn against Israel in the long-run. Now we can see why. The whole anti-semitism thing of accusing every non-Zionist as being anti-Semitic the way the Zionists do is rather hypocritical, isn’t it? Most people do not know that Palestinians are not just Arabs or Muslims but include a significant number of Christians.
But many Christians, especially the born again kind, say they have to stand with Israel. The belief is that there is going to be a second coming of Christ and that the Jews/Israelis/Zionists will accept him as their first coming.
However, the devil/Satan/Lucifer/Anti-Christ will come first and pretend to be that same Christ … the Jews will accept him as their messiah. So if the real Christ comes after that, maybe he will be their second coming as well.
Who knows: the whole world will first accept the devil as their messiah—but the devil is really in the media coverage more than anything. When the devil sets up his kingdom, the whole world will be his slaves, maybe they are already, just waiting to swallow clickbait news, social media, and cable news?
Many Christians, especially the Evangelical sects, who claim to be pro-Israel, hope the most important Muslim temple in Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa mosque on Temple Mount, will be destroyed and that Israel then re-builds the temple, so the devil can take over, so that the real Messiah will come down from the sky and redeem the Holy Ones.
That’s the belief behind the action, tongue-in-cheek.
The false messiah will be called the Lord Maitreya by the Hindus and other eastern, non-Abrahamic, religions. They’re supposed to build a Jewish temple on the Dome of the Rock, so I guess they’re planning to destroy the Muslim temple in Jerusalem.
They have to have the Jewish temple there, so the devil can March in and declare himself the messiah.
So watch on CNN for the Mosque to be bombed in real time, live!
Seth Ferris, investigative journalist and political scientist, expert on Middle Eastern affairs, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.