Media Bias and Student Protests
NPR as National Propaganda Radio
I’d like to highlight this Twitter/X post by Lee Camp and his take on improving NPR’s BS headline:
Lee Camp: Ummm, NPR, I believe you meant to say “Nearly 300 peaceful unarmed people brutally attacked by fascist police for exercising their freedom of speech”
I’d add that students are protesting the Israeli government’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and the U.S. government’s complicity in the same. They are not protesting against “the war in Gaza,” unless you modify that as “Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.”
It’s funny indeed that NPR has a reputation as being “left” or even “far left.” Anything critical of Joe Biden is “radical left” in America (unless you’re a Trumper, in which case you’re “fascist”). Anyone that questions and challenges the U.S. government’s total subservience to Israel’s current genocidal agenda is dismissed as unrealistic or as Kremlin stooges. Or maybe apologists for China. It’s nonsense, of course, but it seems to work for some people.
Confuse and obscure the issue. Baffle with BS. And don’t forget Tasers, handcuffs, tear gas, rubber bullets, and good old-fashioned truncheons for those who refuse to obey.
I suppose deceptive headlines don’t hurt quite as much as being beaten to the ground and hauled off to jail. But they are even more effective, I think, at quietening dissent.
Update (4/29): At Indiana University, snipers and armored cars showed up as well as circling helicopters for a modest student encampment. The snipers were apparently escorted into rooftop and tower positions by university administrators. Check out this report:
Update 2 (4/29): A good cartoon is sometimes worth 1000 words:
And of course there is the absence of coverage. I read the Daily Mail to monitor the pulse of what is deemed interesting and shocking and about 4 or 5 days ago the campus protests were always the lead article skewed to the right and featuring conservative/establishment figures reacting with horror at the mere sight of the protests and the "attacks on Israel". Then the Daily Mail simply dropped any coverage so far below the digital fold that it's nearly impossible to find.
If "outrage" does not stop the protests, then consign the news to the deepest rabbit hole available. Yes, there always has been wretched MSM coverage or ignoring of reality, but it was fascinating to watch such a blatant 180 degree turn around from a media source that depends on fueling the fires of whatever can most alarm or titillate the reader.
There are 2 sides in the US. You are either pro-imperialism or anti-imperialism.
Imperialism is not "invading countries" or "militarism". Imperialism is the highest form of capitalism. It is monopoly capitalism. Both Democrats and Republicans are pro-imperialism. They just highlight different conflicts. Dems won't face reality about Ukraine, and 400,000 dead Ukrainians, and a completely PROVOKED war that has accelerated the collapse of the US. Money printing for Raytheon is just putting off the collapse of US imperialism.
Republicans won't face reality about China. They are told to hate China. The truth is that it was OUR US GOVERNMENT that destroyed American workers by moving factories to China for cheap labor. China has raised one billion people out of abject poverty while our government feeds talking points to argue about stuff that is completely meaningless.
Like, i really want to scream when Dems talk about abortion. Like, Omg. How they are blind to people who cannot afford a gallon of milk- it is really stunning. 10 years ago I cared about abortion rights. Now, are you f'in kidding me? It's almost like if someone was protesting the US supreme court's abortion decision in the rubble of Palestine. The absolute disconnect between material economic reality and the government and media's talking points is absolutely unbelievable.