Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The CIA and its reporter friends: Anatomy of a backlash

The CIA and its reporter friends: Anatomy of a backlash by Glenn Greenwald on Salon.com

Important because in this one case it exposes news outlets you can't trust not to print propaganda, reporters you can't trust not to print propaganda, and specific items about these stories that point to them being propaganda.

The backlash from the "intelligence community" over John Brennan's withdrawal -- which pro-Brennan sources are now claiming was actually forced on Brennan by the Obama team -- continues to intensify. Just marvel at how coordinated (and patently inaccurate) their messaging is, and -- more significantly -- how easily they can implant their message into establishment media outlets far and wide, which uncritically publish what they're told from their cherished "intelligence sources" and without even the pretense of verifying whether any of it is true and/or hearing any divergent views:

1 comment:

Samson said...

"(1) All of these reports rely exclusively on pro-Brennan sources, allies and friends of his in the CIA who have fanned out to plant their storyline with their favorite reporters."

...

"(2) None of this reporting even alludes to, let alone conveys, the central arguments against Brennan and the evidence for those arguments. "

...

"(3) In these accounts, Brennan is described in reverent terms "

...

"(4) Concerns over torture and rendition -- despite being widespread among countless military officials and intelligence professionals -- are uniformly depicted as nothing more than ideological idiosyncrasies from the dreaded Left "

All signs that a report is propaganda. Think back to oh, say, the lead up to the Iraq war

... Sources all from one side, and often anonymous

... articles that fail to even state the opposing case while arguing the opposite

... the person or policy constantly described in favorable terms (or just think of how Obama is 'described' often in the media as compared to Nader or McKinney)

... the opposite in a constant smear or sneer towards the opposing sice.

You see these techniques all the time actually. Just be aware of them. Learn to spot them, and instead of being manipulated by propaganda you instead become someone who can spot propaganda, and spot campaigns to plant propaganda across multiple mediums and publication.

Of course, sometimes its just scarier when you can see it happening.