July 12, 2007
Faux News - The Information Wars, Part II
There is a psychology behind presenting news, both the tenor of the article and the scope are intertwined to "inform" the public regarding what is happening, and, if the news writer, news editor, and news caster (for radio and TV news) are really good, they can present a bit of news with pathos, a grab at your heart strings and make you believe almost anything. Such was the so called "invasion" in the halloween broadcast of the "War of the Worlds" when presented by Orson Welles in October, 1938. The hysteria and fear was palpable, and, with the force of his personality, the tone of his voice, Welles had people actually believing that we were being invaded by beings from outer space.
Today, we look back and wonder how people could have fallen for that bit of radio drama. Yet, many of these same people today, believe much of what they see on TV and/or read in newspapers and magazines. That is, as I noted above, because there is a psychology at work here.
Recently, Brian Ledbetter of Snapped Shot took a look at a Yahoo news story showing this AFP photo:
which purportedly shows an elderly Iraqi woman holding an expended round (the bullet) which she said was fired into her bed (presumably from outside the house) by forces (or the enemy) during a raid on a poorer section of Sadr City in Baghdad.
Brian sent an email with the photo to Confederate Yankee asking for help in identifying the bullet. Gateway Pundit also posted on the issue and from readin all of the comments, it seems sure that the bullet in question was never fired from a weapon, and the story is obviously a bit of propaganda and/or Faux News, but we have become used to that because of Dan Rather's faked memos, the multitude of photoshopped photographs and faked video's from Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan, and last, but not least the faked news stories about torture and flushing of Korans at Gitmo. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that most folk (at least those with an IQ above room temperature) have figured out that what is reported in the MSM as news, is too often faked and or irrelevant. Why do you think the NYTimes is in financial straits?
But, I digress, let us return to the photo in question. The value of this photo is not only the story that this old woman claims the bullet was fired into her bed, but there is a huge amount of propaganda here. Old wrinkled hands holding a bullet by it's base (actually, this may be an indicator of covering up the rest of the round. Most folk would hold an expended bullet between thumb and forefinger - tip to base), the right hand of the old woman at her forehad concern, fear and consternation on her face, the tight focus on the bullet placing her face in a slight blur because of the depth of field. All to give the impression of a kindly old woman, cought up in the rigors and terror that is war because those mean old Americans are engaging in Sadr City, trying to rout Al Qaeda and the Sadrites. The photographer, one Wissam Al-Okaili has a history of making these kinds of shots along with copy that makes the US look like the invading Russians or the Whermacht pushing into and through Poland destroying much in their path towards Moscow.
As noted in a previous post, honest "Boots on the ground" tell an entirely different story in the "Information Wars." And only a fool will buy all the stories coming out of Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Palestine, or Lebanon, or ...
Also blogging on this: Cao's Blog
Posted by GM Roper at July 12, 2007 01:41 PM | TrackBackA once great editorial writer once said that "media came from the need to expose intellectual dishonesty in government."
In response, it comes to us, the common folk, to expose the intellectual dishonesty in media. Keep up the good work GM.
Posted by Justin Higgins at July 12, 2007 01:23 PM
Great article. I saw this pic at Cao's last evening.
The enemy has us all figured out. They know our habits. They know the average American spends less and less time reading news reports and watching news as well. A quick glance of this picture, by our very busy population, won't allow time for reflection and absorbation (A word??) of the info being provided. At the blogs, we tend to make the time to rip apart these bogus news bytes into what they really are. We're doing the true investigative reporting. Even though there are millions of blogs, we're still only a tiny portion of the information stream.
I have argued with neighbors and fellow diner mates over those news reports from last summer, when the Israeli's caused "ALL THAT DAMAGE" to that poor little neighborhood; when we saw the same little old lady sweeling over in agony after an attack- she must have been in 20 different shots...remember? My diner mates told me I was craZy to question the MSM reports. Why would they be dishonest? What purpose would it solve?
Recall, also the NYT sharing very secret but very important programs our government was using in an effort to track potential terrorist activities, with banking? Again, this was presented as something it was not. And the majority of Americans believed the NYT over anyone else.
Is it an information war or is it an all out effort to truly alter pubic opinion and stir up unrest? Whose side does the MSM represent? They claim to be governed by neither side, yet the principals who are fighting this war always seem to be on the end of bad news or inaccurate misleading news. Just look at the current reporting with the Haditha Marines! We can totally thank the MSM for that one. And the lasting effects could really dampen this country's ability to defend herself.
Great post GMann.
Posted by Raven at July 12, 2007 01:24 PM
Wait -- even worse, while it's clearly obvious to just about anyone that the bullet hasn't been fired -- does that "Iraqi old woman" look a bit familiar? Hasn't she already been featured numerous times in propaganda? I'm pretty sure that's the same howling woman that made the "news" awhile back...
Posted by Ogre at July 12, 2007 04:57 PM
Now terrorists are using Marty Feldman!
Posted by Woody at July 12, 2007 06:28 PM
My interest was in the bullet. It had no rifling marks, and from all appearances, had never been shot from a weapon, let alone fired into her bed.
That aside, GM's 'take' on this is exactly correct. I think Michael Yon's report on Al Qaeda BAKING CHILDREN and SERVING THEM TO FAMILIES to persuade them to their way of thinking really shows that there is another side to this other than what we're seeing and hearing from AP/AFP reports and pictures.
The other part is Bilal Hussein and all the numerous Al Qaeda/Taliban/terrorist-affiliated stringer photographers who've actually won Pulitzers for their pictures.
Journalism schools have been pumping the leftist rhetoric into our children for over 20 years now, and now we're reaping the result; across secular newsrooms everywhere.
Horowitz was right. There is an unholy alliance, and this just demonstrates the tip of the iceberg.
Great post, GM.
Posted by Cao at July 12, 2007 07:06 PM
This proves that our troops have resorted to throwing bullets at old ladies.
Posted by Woody at July 12, 2007 07:16 PM
This exposes one of the great internal contradictions of the American left.
On the one hand, the left pays great homage to multiculturalism, kowtowing to non-judgmentalism about the values of other cultures.
On the other hand, the left continually evaluates people from other cultures as though they hold and practice the values and thinking of the American left, which leads to a fatal naivete, the lastest demonstration of which is their uncritical acceptance of this photo's narrative.
Posted by civil truth at July 13, 2007 01:06 AM
