-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.gov.yu/mediawar/mediawar.html <A HREF="http://www.gov.yu/mediawar/mediawar.html">what is media war</A> ----- Yugoslavic propaganda or a differing view? Om K ----- >From 1991-1998, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was subjected to media-driven political pressures unprecedented in modern communications history. But why have so few journalists reported or commented on this subject in the international media? Powerful interest groups and international media lobbies don't wish that theme to come to the attention of international public opinion. Revelations about the techniques and methods of media warfare are not in the interest of large multinational lobbies, because the world democratic public would realize that the "simple truths" about "good guys and bad guys" around the world actually represent deception and the conscious manufacture of confusion. Is the media war a mystery? On the contrary: A "media war" consists of a repertory of techniques of psychological pressure applied by international political lobbies, organizations, and individuals in pursuit of their own political goals, using the mass media against selected target groups in their own country and in other countries over an extended time period. The intensity of pressures by particular Western media on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in March 1998, during the events in Kosovo and Metohija, an autonomous region within the Republic of Serbia, show that media warfare represents the "right hand" of international political lobbies and pressure groups. Thereby, media war is not a temporary amusement or tactical move, but the strategic imposition of the interests of individuals, states, and multi- national corporations. These interests are often encompassed in the term "globalization". Techniques of psychological pressure Since psychological pressure subliminally affects human consciousness, people's political sympathies may be influenced by techniques of psychological pressure so that they begin to accept media theses as normal, natural, and as "their own" ideas. The mass media employ hundreds of psychological pressure techniques. These techniques do not consist primarily in direct lying, although that comes into play. The trick consists in: a) the organization of information (language, style, technique) b) symbolism (overt and hidden meanings) c) the massive circulation of unconfirmed facts supplied by public relations agencies and political lobbies. The art of organizing information In applying pressure to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Serbian and Montenegrin peoples, international (and some Yugoslav) media applied nearly all the known techniques of media war, including: 1. Demonization of political representatives and whole nations Particularly during 1991-1993, world media continually portrayed Serbs and Montenegrins as the personification of evil, using such terms as: barbarians, destroyers of civilization, Nazis, communists, "red danger," drunken bandits, and murderers. Political cartoons stereotyped Serbs by using such images as pigs rolling in mud, dinosaurs, hyenas, and monsters. Political leaders were labeled as "crazy," "sly foxes," "bloodthirsty hegemonists," "leaders of aggression," "war criminals," "Balkan butchers," and so forth. 2. Violation of the rules of journalism A well-known basic rule of journalism is to "hear all sides and let the reader decide" who is right. A favorite technique of the media war was to claim that "It isn't our opinion, but what Serbs themselves are saying!" But they constantly quoted the same Serbs, so-called dissidents who haven't lived in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for years, both prominent and unknown Serbian and Montenegrin opposition leaders, carefully selected "intellectuals" or analysts. They all had only one thing in common: consistent agreement with the positions of specific Western political circles. However, "roundtable" and panel discussions have included Muslims and Croats who were official government representatives, expressing the official positions of their governments. 3.The imposition of terminology, stereotypes, and myths The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is rarely called by its official name. Instead, it is referred to with as "the rump Yugoslavia," "the remainder of Yugoslavia," "Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)," and so forth. Stereotypes are a product of political lobbies, and a consequences of the ignorance and prejudice of journalists. Classic stereotypes include: - Serbs and Montenegrins are aggressors and "bad guys" - Serbs provoked the Yugoslav crisis - Yugoslavia was an "artificial state" produced by Serbian hegemony - Yugoslavia is opposed to multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-party societies - Kosovo is not autonomous, and so forth. 4. Media involvement of "intellectuals" In "defense" of all Yugoslavia's opponents, the media promoted numerous "intellectuals", "philanthropists," and former politicians. There is a long list: George Soros, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Pascal Bruckner, Bernard-Henri Levy, Susan Sontag, Andre Glucksmann, Alain Finkielkraut, and others. They were joined by: Margaret Thatcher, Aloiz Mock, Vaclav Havel, Benazir Bhutto, Warren Zimmermann, Morton Abramowitz, and others. Their goal was to create a legitimate media "defense" for a secessionist Croatia, a Muslim- dominated Bosnia, and "independent Kosovo" - meaning "Greater Albania." A simple technique was used to win over public opinion: the presumption that "ordinary people" tend to believe that whatever prominent people say must be true. 5. Application of double standards Serbs, Montenegrins, and all others who favored Yugoslavia were declared "aggressors" in advance. Much of the world media reserved their understanding and sympathy for all opponents of any kind of Yugoslavia. The application of double standards in world media culminated during the Croatian offensive against Knin, in August 1995, and during the demonstrations of ethnic Albanians for "independent Kosovo," in March 1998. In attacking Knin and the rest of the Krajina region, "Croatia resorted to armed force to re-occupy one-quarter of its total territory. Although that territory was inhabited primarily (88%) by Serbs, it was located within the boundaries of Croatia recognized by the international community" (as reported in Figaro, in August 1995 regarding the Croatian aggression against Knin). Similar standards are not applied in the media approach to resolving the question of Kosovo and Metohija, instead demands are promoted to "restructure the Yugoslav federation," and on behalf of the "Republic of Kosovo". 6. Reorganization of information How do editors revise relatively accurate information in conformity with political needs? Sanctions against the Federal Republic Yugoslavia were imposed by the United Nations Security Council in May 1992. The major precipitating factor for the sanctions was the massacre on Vase Miskina Street in Sarajevo. The European Times reported on that event as follows: "At least 20 people queuing for bread were killed yesterday as three mortar bombs exploded among crowds in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. Up to 160 people who had come out on to the streets during the latest ceasefire were injured in the assault which Bosnian defence officials blamed on Serbs. The attack took place as United Nati- ons and European Community officials met separately to discuss sanctions against Serbia" The subhead was: "Sanctions follow Sarajevo atrocity," and the headline: "TWENTY DIE IN SERB ATTACK ON STARVING CROWD." Nowhere did the reporter state who, in fact, perpetrated the massacre. Thereby the reporter followed journalistic rules, since the information was not known. Also correctly, the reporter stated that Bosnian (Muslim) Defense Ministry officials blamed Serbs for the massacre. After all, who else would they blame? The reporter, again correctly, stated that the massacre (coincidently?) coincided with meetings at which representatives of the international community were considering "imposing sanctions against Serbia" (actually, against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia whose legitimacy was being deliberately negated). However, the headlines say something entirely different. Why? Of course, the headline served as a justification for imposing sanctions against the Serbian and Montenegrin people. The categorical assertion that "Serbs provoked the massacre" does not leave any "normal" person room for doubt about who committed the crime. Obviously, any "normal" person would be horrified and disgusted by such a crime and would have nothing against the "justified" punishment of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. One comment: any "normal" person doesn't necessarily mean a "well-informed" person. 7. Manipulation by TV images An example of unscrupulous manipulation by TV images is the unforgettable journalistic "race for fame at any price" represented by British ITN television's famous reportage in August 1992 about the alleged concentration camp in Trnopolje. The media dust about the "Serbian death camp" in Bosnia had been raised somewhat earlier by journalist Roy Gutman in an article in New York Newsday. In the spirit of past Anglo-American unity, ITN rushed to corroborate the "American side of the story." Since the actual situation in Trnopolje didn't agree with Gutman's story, however, ITN resorted to rigged photography. By shortening the camera angle to create the impression that the thinnest Muslim men in a refugee center were surrounded by the barbed wire, ITN instantaneously sent around the world its story about the "inhumanity of the Serbian aggressors who are threatening internationally-recognized Bosnia." The readiness of the world to swallow this kind of media story "in the blink of an eye" demonstrates the following: a) what suits the political interests of particular countries will always have priority in major world media; b) the media believe whom they want to believe. ===== from: http://www.gov.yu/mediawar/Ruder&finn.html <A HREF="http://www.gov.yu/mediawar/Ruder&finn.html">what is media war</A> ----- The Cold War "gave birth to" the media war. The Cold War was based on hundreds of official and unofficial institutions, media, foundations, and non-government organizations, whose single goal was propaganda. On both sides of the iron curtain, it was necessary to persuade people that "only our system is right," and that the victory of one or the other bloc would be the "end of history." The Cold War is over. The media war goes on. Public relations agencies have taken over the work of public persuasion. The firm that became famous during the Yugoslav crisis is called Ruder & Finn. It based its work on political lobbying, first for Croatia, then for Bosnia, and finally on behalf of the Albanian separatists in Kosovo. Thereby, Ruder & Finn established its an anti-Yugoslav and anti-Serbian bias. In an interview with the respected French journalist Jacques Merl- ino, Ruder & Finn director James Harff gave the following explanation of their role: "We are professionals. We had a job to do and we did it. We are not paid to moralize.... Our craft consists of disseminating information to circulate as fast as possible so that the theses favoring our cause are the first to be expressed. Only the first information really counts. All denials are totally ineffective. Our work does not consist of verifying information. We didn't claim that there were death camps in Bosnia. We only publicized that Newsday had made the claim." The story about the concentration camps turned around American public opinion. A survey in Newsweek showed a dramatic reversal: earlier, 35% of the citizens had supported air attacks (against the Serbs, of course), but after these reports were published, that portion increased to 53%. A combined survey by USA Today, CNN, and Gallup, taken on March 1, 1993, showed that two-thirds of the American people then supported American intervention in Bosnia. As Ruder & Finn's James Harff explained further: "I am proudest of how we moved Jewish public opinion to our side. The game was very delicate and, on that side, the question involved a great danger. President Tudjman was too imprudent in his book "Wastelands of Historical Truth." Because of his book, he could be found guilty of anti-Semitism. It was no better on the Bosnian side since President Izetbegovic in his Islamic Declaration, published in 1970, showed too much support for a Muslim fundamentalist state. Moreover, the pasts of Croatia and Bosnia were marked by very real and cruel anti-Semitism. Our challenge was to reverse this situation and we succeeded in doing so between August 2-5, 1992, when New York Newsday published its lead story about the (Serbian, of course) camps. We jumped on that and convened three major Jewish organizations: the B'nai Brith Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the American Jewish Congress. We suggested that they publish an advertisement in the New York Times and organize a protest in front of the UN building. That really worked: the involvement of Jewish organizations on the side of Bosnians (actually Muslims from Bosnia) was a super poker play. Immediately afterward, we succeeded in associating the Serbs with the Nazis in public opinion.... In a single shot, we succeed in offering a simple story, about the good guys and the bad guys. Emotional terms appeared in the press, such as ethnic cleansing and concentration camps, evoking Nazi Germany and the gas chambers in Auschwitz." That is how a "real professional" talks. It is interesting that, in April 1994, the US Jewish magazine Midstream published an article that mentioned the Ruder & Finn agency's involvement in the Yugoslav crisis. Even more interesting, in its next issue, Midstream published a reply from Ruder & Finn's owner, David Finn in which the "boss" justified his political propaganda work for the first time. And most interesting is the letter published in the same issue of Mid- stream, in which American Jewish Congress director Phil Baum denied the quotations attributed to James Harff: "For the record: we have never heard of James Harff, Ruder & Finn Global Public Affairs. It is obviously a crude attempt by a self-admitted paid lobbyist to claim credit for matters with which he had zero connection." For its "epochal" contribution to global marketing, the Ruder & Finn public relations agency received high recognition from the American Association of Public Relations Professionals - its silver medal for 1993. In competing for that high recognition, Ruder & Finn justified its work as follows: "As media relations counsel to the Government of Bosnia, Ruder-Finn has complied eleven 3 1/2 inch binders representing 12,000 print media and wire service stories. It would be impossible, based on the sheer volume of media coverage, to condense or summarize the stories for this section. The following compilation represents some of the major events of the crisis and some of the more important articles placed or arranged by Ruder-Finn." Of course, no media mentioned in Ruder & Finn's self-congratulations denied these claims, considering that it is difficult to deny what is true. It is also telling that not a single one of the esteemed institutions for the "protection of journalism around the world" and of human rights in general (such as: UNESCO, the Council of Europe, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation of Journalists in Brussels, the International Federation of Newspaper Publishers in Paris, France's Reporters Without Borders, the American Committee for the Protection of Journalists, the Ameri- can Associa- tion of Pro- fessional Journalists, the Internati- onal Press Insti- tute in Vienna, the Article 19 organization in Great Britain and Holland, and the world-famous Soros Foundation) considered it necessary to send a protest to the media which, apparently very gladly, launched the unconfirmed claims of Ruder & Finn around the world. The basic reason for their silence was surely that they shared the same political interests with regard to the media. The only thing that isn't known is with how many zeroes the word "interest" should be written. ===== from: http://www.gov.yu/mediawar/therevision.html <A HREF="http://www.gov.yu/mediawar/therevision.html">what is media war</A> ----- In addition to provoking a crisis, a media war also continues after the crisis ends, for the purpose of "explaining" the crisis. After shaping world public opinion for years, many world media and their journalist "stars" write their summations on the crisis. Thereby, they recognize only the history that is written by selected media. Do you remember the TV series "The Death of Yugoslavia"? The series was prepared by the British BBC during 1994-1995, under agreement between the strongest European and American partners. The British-American team of two journalists simultaneously wrote a book with the same title. Both projects had the joint purpose of telling the public in the West, and the whole world, the "definitive truth" about what happened in the Balkans during 1990-1995. Both projects originated in the presumption that "Serbian nationalism destroyed Yugoslavia," that the "beginning of the end of Tito's Yugoslavia was set in Serbia," and that "Serbia is responsible for the wartime suffering in the Balkans." The overall scope of the documentary material was shaped according to that basic purpose. Everything that didn't fit both the presumption and scenario was edited out of the film. It is interesting that the two primary "professional consultants" for the "Death of Yugoslavia" series are authors known for their intolerance toward Belgrade: Tihomir Loza, prominent journalist for the anti-Serbian London magazine, War Report; and Laura Silber, an American and a correspondent for the British Financial Times and co-author of the book The Death of Yugoslavia. ===== from: http://www.gov.yu/mediawar/deja-vu.html <A HREF="http://www.gov.yu/mediawar/deja-vu.html">what is media war</A> ----- All the techniques of media war that were applied during the Yugoslav crisis were employed again during March 1998. The focus of world media - especially those specializing in the production of crises and wars - turned to the Republic of Serbia's Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija. The current goal of the media war against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is support for Albanian separatism that would result in the creation of Greater Albania (the "reconstruction" of Yugoslavia, Greece, and Macedonia, with parts of their territory merging with the "motherland" of Albania). Again, the whole "foreign legion" has gathered, united in support for the "justifiable demands of Albanians": from the "red" Bernard-Henri Levy, through the "blue-blood" Otto Habs- burg and his ally Aloiz Mock to Ruder & Finn's director James Harff, who even tried to bring an alleged " American Congressional delegation" (actually a group of paid pro-Albanian lobbyists) to Pristina in March 1998. Harff is simply continuing to do his job. Wherever he smells money and blood, Ruder & Finn arrives to "help" accelerate the crisis, resulting in war, if possible. A war that could draw in the whole Balkan peninsula and all of Europe. Is that what Europe wants? What individual world media certainly wish is to provide legitimacy for the aspirations of the Albanian separatists. That is unfolding by: - "reminding" world public opinion that "Albanians make up the majority of the population in Kosovo and there are two million of them" so their aspirations for "independence" are justified; - referring to Albanian terrorists as "freedom fighters," "honorable warriors," "heroes," and so forth, while labeling every action by the Serbian police as "brutal;" - emphasizing that "Kosovo lacks autonomy"; - stressing that "Albanians, under Serbian pressure, don't have bread" and that they are impoverished and persecuted, and so forth. But what is really happening? - Nobody knows exactly how many "Albanians" there are in Kosovo and Metohija, because they have boycotted the population census since 1991. The most recent census in which they participated was in 1981. According to the estimates of foreign experts engaged by Yugoslavia, there are no more than 900,000 ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija; - With regard to the alleged "lack of rights", "Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives".* *(This is the FBI definition of terrorism and it is provided as a resource by the AMERICAN TERRORISM RESEARCH CENTER, which is an independent institute dedicated to the research of terrorism, information warfare and other issues related to law - intensity po litical violence and gray-area phenomena.) - The activities of Albanian terrorist organizations function to create ethnically pure territory in Kosovo and Metohija and to promote the secession of this region; - The international community does not yet have a clearly defined position toward terrorism in Kosovo and Metohija. Terrorism everywhere in the world deserves the same condemnation; - Only through the cooperation and coordination of the entire international community, consistent with international agreements and declarations on terrorism, is it possible to eliminate terrorist actions in Kosovo and Metohija; - International media have reported that Albanian terrorists are being trained in particular European countries. Every state ought to investigate such activities; - The terrorist organization that unjustifiably calls itself the Kosovo Liberation Army should be enrolled by the international community in its register of international terrorist organizations. A TURKISH JOURNALIST: WE WENT TO KOSOVO WITH A PREJUDGMENT A correspondent of a big Turkish newspaper who is following the events on the spot, said that they went to Kosovo with a prejudgment. "There are in Kosovo, about a dozen of journalists from Turkey. When starting our journey, we were convinced that the events from Bosnia would be repeated there. Afterwards, there was no place for the objective news which we prepared. All journalists in that region are just looking for sensations." A joke may very well describe the situation in which the journalists who followed the events in Kosovo were. A five-star hotel "Grand Pristina" in which they were accommodated, was called, by the journalists, among themselves, "Hotel "Casablanca". Anyway the surroundings reminded us very much of the scenario of the famous film "Casablanca". Agents everywhere. The Turkish journalist said: "Before you send your news to the newspaper or to the agency in which you work, you first inform the American Information Center (USIS)", In fact the demonstrations really started in front of the American Information Center (USIS). The demonstrations organized against the Serbian leadership, were not deprived of the American flag and posters with the inscriptions, "Where are you, America?" The Turks living in that region, have in principle a neutral attitude towards the events. When, at one moment, a Turkish flag was carried in the demonstrations, the Democratic Alliance of the Turks immediately reacted: the Alliance reported during the whole day at the radio program, and called the Turks in the region not to allow to become instruments for provocations. One Turkish diplomat said, in a private conversation, the following: "What is done by the Albanians is, in fact, terror. However, the Serbs lack experience in the struggle against terrorism. ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kris DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. 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