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--- Begin Message ----Caveat Lector- http://www.nbr.co.nz/home/column_article.asp?id=9676&cid=1&cname=Media Was the spy scandal government-orchestrated? Media watch by David CohenNot long ago, a media columnist writing in this newspaper wondered loud and long about the country's major daily. Whatever will the New Zealand Herald do, he whimpered, when the magnitude of its "cock-up to do with its extensive, entirely uncorroborated reports on the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad's supposed infiltration of Auckland in search of passports becomes fully known?" Ahem. Yes, well, I am sure somebody snuck into my office and used the typewriter while I was out in the bathroom powdering my clichés. Since I poured cold water on what then appeared to be the likely outcome of the case to do with the two Israelis who were deservedly jailed in Auckland last week for attempting to obtain a bogus New Zealand passport, it seems only fair for me to admit I at least partially blew it. Far from being any kind of embarrassing news fizzler, this bizarre case has turned into one of those rare New Zealand news stories to command genuine attention in the domestic and international media. Full marks to the Herald, then, for chasing it in the first place and no thanks, waitress, I don't take cream with my humble pie. Okay, let's take another more clear-eyed look at just one niggling aspect of what's happened and how it might reflect on the local news organisation that has otherwise led the coverage with great flair. In retrospect, the Herald clearly made a smart call to go big on the story, which had all the ingredients of a detective novel so captivatingly ghastly it could have been written by Fiona Kidman. Cloak and dagger subterfuge. International intrigue. Exotic-sounding names. All good and dramatic stuff from a news outlet's point of view. But news outlets are in the business of tackling hard questions as well as entertaining the punters. Like the question of why it apparently took four men to fraudulently obtain one New Zealand passport. Were those men here pursuing any business other than obtaining a passport? How did a far-from-successful businessman raise $100,000 to give to charity? What part did the Australian secret service play in all of this? Why has the Herald's "investigation" uncovered virtually no hard information about these men? Could it be ... is it even faintly possible ... that the answer to all of the above is that the premier's office simply declined to release any of this information as it suavely managed the paper's exposes? Which brings us to the most important aspect of the Auckland paper's coverage that remains as puzzling today as it was when it broke the story: its almost complete lack of scepticism call it credulity if you will toward the official narrative. Nowhere has this been more telling than in the question of whether the convicted men were in fact working on behalf of the Mossad. The government insists they were, of course, but says it will not, or cannot, produce the evidence to fit the charge. Should that be taken on face value? Over the past year, the Herald has run scores of articles and op-ed pieces attempting to debunk the Anglo-American-Australian justification for invading Iraq, which in large part turned upon the respective premiers asking to be taken at their word. Why should Ms Clark's administration be treated any differently by the Herald? Out of a genial appreciation that any New Zealand Labour government could not be even a teeny bit callow in its handling of the media? Out of a sense of being overwhelmed by the righteousness of provincial moral suasion? For a paper whose international clippings are peppered with the rhetoric of disbelief, the Herald has seemed awfully willing to swallow the party line of an unpopular government which for many months now has been in urgent need of a focus for thunderous moral outrage so cheap, so easy, so clear-cut tailored to the type of wayward voter who prefers to see the world in all-too-tidy terms without any long-term or wider context. Pondering the same question earlier this week, an anonymous contributor to the dependably stimulating weblog, nzpundit. com, put it another way. Suppose, he wrote, a pair of New Zealanders were arrested for a similar offence committed in a friendly country abroad, duly prosecuted and convicted. "The next morning, Howard (or Blair or the Great Satan Bush) announces that they are SIS agents though no charges were brought, because, it seems, the 'evidence' wouldn't stand up to examination in a court of law and therefore diplomatic sanctions are immediately imposed on New Zealand until a suitably grovelling apology is received." In such a scenario, what would be the likely reaction of New Zealand's most important daily paper? Or of an ordinary news consumer with no stake in the affair? "Call me old school," he concluded, "but I prefer our espionage trials to conducted in the courts if for no other reason than the judiciary requires a better standard of evidence that the O'Herald's editorial staff on the 9th floor of the Beehive." Hmm. On second thoughts, waitress, perhaps you'd better take my slice of humble pie back. Fetch me a vodka and tonic instead. 23-Jul-2004 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -__ ___ _ ___ __ ___ _ _ _ __ /-_|-0-\-V-/-\|-|-__|-|-|-/-_| \_-\--_/\-/|-\\-|-_||-V-V-\_-\ |__/_|--//-|_|\_|___|\_A_/|__/ SPY NEWS is OSINT newsletter and discussion list associated to Mario's Cyberspace Station - The Global Intelligence News Portal http://mprofaca.cro.net ######## CAUTION! ######### Since you are receiving and reading documents, news stories, comments and opinions not only from so called (or self-proclaimed) "reliable sources", but also a lot of possible misinformation collected by Spy News moderator and subscribers and posted to Spy News for OSINT purposes - it should be a serious reason (particularly to journalists and web publishers) to think twice before using it for their story writing, further publishing or forwarding throughout Cyberspace. 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For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------------------------------- SPY NEWS home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spynews Mario Profaca http://mprofaca.cro.net/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spynews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substanceâ??not soap-boxingâ??please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'â??with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsâ??is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
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