-Caveat Lector-
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=14727&CFID=6154542
&CFTOKEN=55710026
Beyond the funhouse walls
Geov Parrish - workingforchange.com
03.26.03 - One of the most frequent requests or questions I receive is for
suggestions as to where to go to get better or a broader spectrum of
information than what America's mainstream networks and big dailies
specialize in.
As most readers of this site have already likely concluded, especially during
time of war, what we get from our entertainment-driven media isn't usually
the whole story. In the past few weeks and especially since the invasion of
Iraq began last week, even that characterization would be a kindness.
American network TV's emetic fare doesn't just resemble government
propaganda; it is propaganda, taking current events and burying them
under a fact-free blizzard of emotionalism, jingoism, and generous use of
the first person plural ("Which sites did we bomb today, General?").
Repeated in endless variations, the cumulative effect, and the intent, is to
rally the home front. Predictably, it's working -- more effectively than
anything on Iraqi state radio ever could, because even beyond the whiz-
bang technology and psychographic refinement of the American networks,
Iraqi audiences are under no illusions about the biases of their
government-run media.
However, technology doesn't just help the Pentagon build bigger bombs
and enable TV "news" programs to glorify the notion of pain-free, cost-
free, rationale-free military invasions. It also enables more inquisitive folks
to escape the funhouse. Via the Internet, Americans (and anyone else) can
sample media coverage virtually anywhere of fast moving events -- from
Iraqi deserts to the streets and conference rooms of the world's capitals --
in a way never before possible during wartime.
As with last year's Israeli Easter offensive and 2001's Afghan invasion and 9/
11, the news that audiences in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America get
-- both of the invasion of Iraq itself and of global reaction to it -- is very
different than what we're seeing here. The gulf, both in public
perceptions and in the resulting policy decisions, seems to be widening;
about that, more tomorrow.
In the meantime, here's a short and necessarily incomplete list of sources
I've found helpful for coverage of this invasion.
(eds. note: At publication time, not all links in this list were operational. All
URLs are believed to be correct.)
(listed in alphabetical order)
FROM THE ISLAMIC WORLD:
English language versions of Islamic newspapers:
www.ahram.org.eg/weekly: Al-Ahram, Cairo, state-owned;
www.dailystar.com.lb: Daily Star, Lebanon;
www.gulf-times.com: Gulf Times, Qatar;
www.jang.com.pk/thenews: Daily Jang, Pakistan, excellent reporting on
Afghan war.
Other sources for regional news:
www.al-jazeera.net: Al-Jazeera, the now-notorious Pan-Islamic Qatar TV
station; in Arabic, but until the U.S. bombs all of their reporters and
facilities, the pictures alone can tell lots that we don't otherwise see or
hear about both the news stories and Islamic news priorities. As for critics
that claim Al- Jazeera's coverage is propagandistic because it favors one
side's view: they should look in the mirror. Al-Jazeera has shown Americans
in a humane light far more often than American TV has shown -- well, any
Iraqis at all, actually;
www.allafrica.com: AllAfrica Global Media, good news coverage of Islamic
Africa;
www.haaretzdaily.com: Ha'Aretz, left-leaning daily Israeli newspaper, good
for domestic Israeli news and a spectrum of opinion on the occupation of
Palestine and other Middle Eastern matters far broader, actually, than
what passes for debate on Israel/Palestine in mainstream U.S. media;
www.irna.com: The Islamic Republic News Association, based in Teheran,
tends to be a fundamentalist viewpoint;
www.islamonline.net/english: IslamOnline.net, an impressive pan-Islamic site
(Arabic & English) of news, opinion, and culture;
www.memri.org: Middle East Media & Research Institute, translates articles
from Farsi and Arabic media.
EUROPEAN SOURCES:
Daily newspapers & TV:
www.bbc.co.uk: BBC;
www.dailytelegraph.co.uk: Daily Telegraph;
www.guardian.co.uk: The Guardian (until a few years ago, the Manchester
Guardian), Britain's leading left-leaning daily, also publishes London
Observer on Sundays;
www.independent.co.uk: The Independent, home of the immortal Robert
Fisk, the single best English-language Middle East reporter in the world;
www.dailymirror.co.uk: The Daily Mirror, home of John Pilger, who gives
Fisk a solid run on both experience and on eloquent opposition to
America's neo- colonialism;
www.ireland.com: Irish Times;
www.MondeDiplo.com: Le Monde Diplomatique, a separate online magazine
published by Le Monde, the prestigious Paris daily. It's not the daily (that's
only available in French), but still a good source for European perspectives
on international issues.
Other Western voices:
www.debka.com: DebkaFile, an excellent Website devoted to Middle East
intelligence run by a former Economist foreign affairs writer);
www.eurasianews.com scores of links to sites on Afghanistan, Iraq, and
other Eureasian counties;
www.iwpr.net: Institute for War and Peace Reporting, a British outfit that
ranges from the Balkans throughout Asia, but especially valuable for the
former Soviet republics;
www.mwaw.org: Media Workers Against War, originally formed after 9/11 by
disgruntled BBC and Guardian employees scrutinizing British media
coverage of the Afghan invasion, has since morphed into becoming, as well,
a British anti- war.com, with news on much of the global anti-war
movement;
www.estriples.com: European (as opposed to Pacific) edition of Stars and
Stripes, the daily newspaper of the U.S. Armed Forces. Not just the
military "line" -- the Pentagon figured out ages ago that providing an honest
reflection of what men (and now women) in uniform care about is in the
long run far more useful than printing a house organ that refuses to
acknowledge reality. This is war news stripped of the jingoism and feel-
good fluff, and from military contractor scandals to battlefield (and,
probably, occupation) difficulties, you're far more likely to read about it
here than stateside. Oh, and if you want to support the troops, you can
find out what they actually care most about -- like getting some toilet
paper into Kuwait...
www.wombatnews.com: Wombat International News, a Japanese site with a
stunning number of links to news coverage around the world, including
heavy coverage of U.S. adventurism.
Wire Services: Try accessing wire service articles, such as Reuters or
Associated Press, before they've been edited by their local or national
newspaper editors. They're posted on AOL, Yahoo, MSN, and a host of
other commercial internet service providers. Because they're originally
written for a wide variety of media outlets (with the same article often
running internationally), the original wire service articles have been miles
above the versions eventually printed in the NY Times, Wash. Post, and
other major daily newspapers: they're timely, they contain body counts,
and they contain "unofficial" quotes from US military men on the front lines
that often contradict the glowing quotes from Pentagon spokesmen.
ALTERNATIVE U.S. MEDIA:
www.alternet.org: AlterNet: syndicates articles to newspapers, magazines,
and web sites around the country, but also carries a lot of great original
content;
www.anti-war.com: Libertarian-oriented, utterly priceless source of news
and opinion on militarism and the resistance to it;
www.commondreams.com: Common Dreams;
www.fair.org: Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, an invaluable media
watchdog group;
www.indymedia.org: Independent Media Center, activism-oriented, with
links to over 90 local indymedia sites around the world, including Israel &
Palestine (a site which is very good). Can be stunning in its on the spot
coverage of protest, but the open publishing policies of many of its
affiliates can mean its quality varies wildly in reliability;
www.inthesetimes.com: In These Times magazine, updated more frequently
than the print publication;
www.motherjones.com: Mother Jones' magazine; their daily site tends to
be harder-edged and not as focused on long investigative pieces as the
monthly print version;
www.thenation.com: The Nation magazine, also with many features that
don't make it to print;
www.theonion.com: The Onion, an often brilliant satirical newspaper that's
more painfully truthful than the garbage in your local chain-owned daily;
www.theprogressive.com: The Progressive magazine;
www.tompaine.com: Tom Paine;
www.utne.com: Utne Magazine's site is updated daily with little of the new
agey lifestyle material the print monthly uses to spice newsstand sales;
www.workingforchange.com: the political site of Working Assets -- you
found it!;
www.yellowtimes.org: Yellow Times, like Utne is essentially a very good
clipping service;
www.zmag.org: Z Magazine and ZNet, also with a widely read European
edition. Chomsky's a close buddy, and ZNet tends to be more focused on
activism and radical alternatives than most of the above outlets.
As mentioned, this is necessarily incomplete, with no slight intended for a
number of fine sites not listed here. I've run such lists in the past, I'm
always looking for more suggestions -- and the web generates good new
ones far faster than any one person can keep track. Send 'em along and I'll
run a follow-up list as the opportunity allows.
Reclaim History!
Things that happened on Mar. 26 that you never had to memorize in
school:
1804: First official notice to Indians from U.S. government to move all
Indians west of Mississippi River.
1819: Birth of Louise Otto, German author and feminist pioneer.
1918: Minneapolis is the scene of the first so-called "Slacker Raid," a
dragnet of men without draft cards. Throughout the war, the raids will
seize more than 40,000 non-registrants across the country.
1923: Bulgaria: In Yambol, during an anarchist protest against the
government's decision to disarm the people, the army shoots into the
crowd, wounding the speaker Atanas Stoitchev and killing others. About 30
are murdered overall, including others executed at the Yambol barracks
tomorrow.
1958: Four pacifists set sail, intending to cross restricted zone around U.S.
pacific weapons testing site.
1966: Over 50,000 march in Fifth Avenue Peace Parade in New York City.
1969: Mexico: Anarchist novelist B. Traven dies.
1975: Biological Weapons Convention comes into force.
1979: Camp David accords signed by Israel and Egypt.
1993: Soviet cosmonaut Serge Krikalev returns to the planet's surface after
over 300 days in orbit. While he was away, the U.S.S.R. dissolved.
1995: More than 3,000 people flee ethnic violence in Burundi, Africa.
© Working Assets Online
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tions. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and
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the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after
careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with
reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it." The Buddha on Belief,
from the Kalama Sutra
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