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32 Comments
- philosophyzombi, on 05/11/2009, -2/+40FTA
Many people scoff at the notion that the American media propagandizes the American citizenry, but here one sees the vivid essence of that process. Our establishment media loves to point to and loudly condemn the behavior of other governments as proof of how tyrannical and evil they are -- look at those Iranian mullah-fanatics imprisoning journalists/look at those primitive, corrupt, lawless Iraqis and their "culture of impunity"/look at the UAE and their tolerance of torture -- while completely ignoring, when they aren't justifying, identical behavior by our own government.
This really should not be surprising to anyone familiar with our mainstream media outlets. They are not liberal or conservative, only establishment.
In other news: dog bites man. - HBZ55, on 05/12/2009, -2/+27I never heard of this guy before, bookmarked.
I like people who think like him, I don't mean liberals, but people who use logic when looking at these situations, not just blind patriotism. - mrkcohen, on 05/12/2009, -3/+26Greenwald is spot on as always and what a tool Eli Lake is.
America: do as I say, not as I do. - PhilPerspective, on 05/11/2009, -1/+24I wonder when the American media will talk about journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling. Both are being held by the North Koreans. Are they any less important than Saberi? After all, North Korea's government is just as odious(to the US Gov't) as Iran's.
- mediablitz, on 05/12/2009, -7/+26Let me parrot what those on the right will say:
"Yeah, you libs, always finding something wrong with America."
Thankfully, there are enough "libs" will to speak up through against slavery, oppression, inequality, unfairness, hate, and evil done in our name. The weak (re:the right) who are unwilling to question can stand aside. We will keep American values alive, despite their weakness. - inactive, on 05/12/2009, -8/+26Greenwald is always good, but holy crap that article was fabulous.
Bottom line, we're a bunch of racists. - elo91, on 05/12/2009, -2/+16I'm usually not a big fan of his articles, but this one is pretty much full of truth. Sadly, the American media acts in conjunction with the government 99% of the time. Personally I could live with it if they just went back to reporting actual news and conducting legitimate interviews. Reporting on the corruption and ***** that goes on every day in Washington would be nice, but anything positive is welcomed at this point.
- waqasabdul, on 05/12/2009, -1/+10Beginning in 2001, the U.S. held Al Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj for six years in Guantanamo with no trial of any kind, and spent most of that time interrogating him not about Terrorism, but about Al Jazeera. For virtually the entire time, the due-process-less, six-year-long imprisonment of this journalist by the U.S. produced almost no coverage -- let alone any outcry -- from America's establishment media
- morningmatters, on 05/12/2009, -1/+9Great article, and predictable responses in the comments.
After 9/11, the US government been very effective in using the media to push out a certain propaganda. I am not just talking about FOXNEWS either. I remember seeing news coverages of people celebrating and pulling down the statue of Saddam right after the Iraq war, then seeing more and more evidence turning up that the whole thing is staged and the media all went along. It should be apparent to people that the Government can easily leverage the media through exclusive coverage options and controlled "leaks". Plus, there is always the Patriotism card that the government can play to control any negative news coming from its own reporters.
And then you have the general American population, let's be honest, we like to hear good things about themselves and bad things about others. I am sure the media situation in many countries with less press freedom are much worse, but we Americans should really understand that bragging about our "free media" just make us look ignorant. - SaladCactusKing, on 05/12/2009, -0/+8NPR has been talking about them a lot.
- geekee, on 05/12/2009, -2/+9I think hypocrites is the word you are looking for.
- thecoolestguy, on 05/12/2009, -5/+11I especially like Greenwald exposing those neocon shills at the New Republic.
- lostlyrics, on 05/12/2009, -0/+6http://www.cpj.org/imprisoned/2008.php 2008 prison census: 125 journalists jailed
- cruisinaruban, on 05/12/2009, -0/+6This was mentioned a bunch of times on the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC FWIW.
http://www.relaxedpolitics.com/?tag=rachel-maddow
Scroll down to 5 April
Was also covered last night as a follow-up to the Saberi news. - inactive, on 05/12/2009, -2/+7Racists is the word I was looking for. Journalists from the Mideast don't seem to count as much as journalists from the USA. It is hypocricy, but it's based on racism
- booksnmore4you, on 05/12/2009, -1/+6This is *****.
- boundless316, on 05/12/2009, -2/+7Oh, so free press is good, free press is great, but only if they ignore the elephant in the corner? It's a war! It should be covered as accurately as possible! Journalists shouldn't be arrested for simply being on the front lines. They're risking their lives to bring us a complete and accurate picture of events so we can make informed decisions while carrying out our duty as citizens of a democratic republic (to vote, if you couldn't figure out what our duty is).
If the military kept good records verifying the authenticity of a press pass shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes. If verification proves to be impossible due to communications issues then the reporter can be held until such time as communication is reestablished. And that's fine, but even then you couldn't justify holding them for more than 24 hours after establishing contact with command without bringing formal charges. And there's no reason that can't be handled by which ever court has local jurisdiction.
As far as our treatment by the government; you're correct, we are better off in many ways. We just get lied to on a regular basis, terrorized into radical reactions to justify pointless foreign wars and restricted from basic freedoms like free speech, privacy and owning firearms all while having our currency inflated out from under us by disastrous monetary policies.
So yeah, I guess we really are morally superior to Iran. - dysfunction, on 05/12/2009, -1/+4mrmudgeon- Iran accused Saberi of spying for the US. You accuse al-Haj of spying for the Iraqi insurgency. You see how hollow Iran's claim is; why do you not see the same of your own? Of course they were 'interfering in war zones'. We embed our journalists in military units; isn't that just as 'interfering'?
- PhilPerspective, on 05/12/2009, -0/+3Maddow usually does a great job on these things. I should have been clearer. I meant the three major networks(meaning Gibson, Couric and Williams). Also where is holier than thou CNN? They've gone in the toilet ever since Ted Turner sold it to Time Warner.
- h8f8kes, on 05/13/2009, -1/+4I am what you would consider "right" and agree with Mr. Greenwald. Check your premises.
- h8f8kes, on 05/14/2009, -0/+2Well, since you brought up the partisan lunatics: I would like to point out that the Daily Kos, Huffington Post, Wonkette, Reddit, and MSNBC also have extremist followings. Based on data, we can agree that the fringes on both sides have fanatics. As a reader of all the sites I just mentioned I could tell you that I am not the exception to the rule based on other comments shouted down there (and in Digg). I can also conclude based on your submissions/comments that there are articles on Digg that you also avoid like the plague since they do not agree with your point of view. I would encourage you to expand your horizons and find our common ground; to see through the partisan fog that the political aristocracy has you mired in. Maybe then we can all straighten their mess out and get leaders who will do what’s best for the country.
- kbillar, on 05/13/2009, -0/+2Oh Greenwald, you give me have faith in journalism again.
- kbillar, on 05/13/2009, -0/+2edit: you give me faith in journalism again.
Damn, I am just sucking lately. - mediablitz, on 05/13/2009, -1/+3Go look at the freeper comments regarding this story, along with the comments on Fox News' site, then come back and tell me my premise is incorrect.
Until the "right" disavows the Free Republic crowd, I stand by my premise, based on actual data. Try going to a right wing site, and say that you agree with Greenwald. Tell me how many people support you. Go ahead. Go to Fox News website, Free Republic, or NRO. Say you agree with Greenwald, then tell me my premise is wrong, based on the responses you get.
Just look at the comments here. There are only two right wingers commenting, and they both disagree with the article, using strawman arguments. The rest of the regular crowd avoided this article like the plague.
You are the exception, not the rule. - wunksta, on 05/13/2009, -0/+2well played salon, well played
- Napiertt, on 05/12/2009, -0/+1He has some great columns on the torture mess.
- anillop, on 05/12/2009, -3/+1Better question who in their right mind goes to or screws with North Korea. Sorry but it is called assumption of risk. You want to go hang out at the boarders of a country known for kidnapping journalists or just about anyone and holding them hostage for political means you have to expect to get captured.
- charlietuna, on 05/12/2009, -3/+1She is so damned cute! Jailing her is like torturing a panda bear... everyone will be outraged.
- viol999, on 05/12/2009, -8/+4Yeah, but Obama will make things right.
- gerbil20, on 05/12/2009, -7/+1s/
- mrmudgeon, on 05/12/2009, -11/+2As usual, the author of this story glosses over important facts. The journalists taken, with the possible exception of Al Jazeera guy, were all interfering in war zones and doing surveilance on US troops. It does not take very much brains to figure out that journalism is done differently in war zones than elsewhere. War sucks. Get over it.
As far as Iran goes, we treat our citiznes much better than they treat theirs. Particularly their girls. Comparing the US to Iran in broad strokes, as he does, does not make any sense to me. The two societies are not comparable that way. They again, good propoganda requies taking the smallest fault and blowing it up to large proportions. - BohicaTwentyTwo, on 05/12/2009, -17/+4Comparing Saberi and Bilal Hussein is an insult to journalism. Hussein's photos clearly show that he had advance warning of terrorist attacks from the terrorists themselves. The fact that he wasn't convicted doesn't exonerate him, but shows the futility of using a legal system to fight a war.
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