For an opener, this
warning. The report that Russia is intervening in the Syria war has
been denied by Russia – and has not been supported by any other
news source. It appeared on an Israeli site, Ynet News. But Russia
has denied it, and there is no sign of any confirmation coming.
__________________________________________________________________________
Back in 1867,
newsprint was expensive. The price of printing was expensive. And
most people didn't have much money. So the only market for
newspapers was the relatively well off. That meant the big news had
to do with ship arrivals and investments, with only bits of news
about the world. Then there were a few newspapers subsidized by
political parties to spread their propaganda. A notable leader in
this was the Toronto Globe, subsidized by the Liberal party. Another
category, but a small one, was that of newspapers subsidized by
churches. Altogether, their circulation was small, and their news
very limited.
The technology of
the late nineteenth century changed all that, making it possible to
print the paper far more cheaply so that it could be sold for as
little as one cent. Even in the 1940s, many Canadian newspapers still
cost as little as three or four cents a copy. Just about anybody
could afford a copy. And that added hugely to the value of the
newspaper as an advertising device.
Quite suddenly, the
newspaper became very, very profitable and, with their huge
readership, very influential. But there were problems with all this.
To draw the readers,
the papers had to come up with news that was exciting, often because
of its propaganda appeal. At the end of the nineteenth century, the
big news was about a brave English army officer, a colonel, who was
valiantly and brilliantly holding off a massive force of Boers in a
town in South Africa called Mafeking. His name was Colonel Baden
Powell.
It went on for
months with a public that couldn't read enough about this gallant
Englishman, this living proof of British racial superiority.
When British troops
relieved Mafeking, the army wanted to fire Baden Powell. It had taken
a large party of the army months to get to Mafeking, a place Baden
Powell wasn't supposed to be defending in the first place. In fact,
he had been an incompetent ass in his defence of the town. But they
couldn't fire him. He was a world hero. So they had to promote him to
general. Baden Powell got their message, though, and invented a new
career as founder of the Boy Scouts.
The newspapers won
by playing this for sheer sensationalism. There was no attempt to
find out the truth. Sensationalism sold papers. The truth didn't.
In the U.S. William
Randolph Hearst took it a step further with his newspaper that
spread propaganda favouring a war with Spain. It worked, as the U.S.
began its overseas empire-building with the brutal conquest of The
Philippines, and then its early interventions in China.
Newspapers became a
big business, and so, necessarily owned by wealthy men. And they used
it to make money out of sensationalism, and to make even more by
using the propaganda power of the newspaper so they could get control
of political decisions. The same thing happened in radio and TV with,
for example, Fox News. Sensationalism and lying propaganda – those
became the staples of almost all major news media in the world. (In
Canada, CBC was an exception to the rule. But Harper will change that
as soon as he can.)
The Irving press has
carried on the tradition of sensationalism and propaganda, and added
a third tradition of its own. It's boring.
The news in section
A concentrates on boring.__________________________________________
The editorial is
better than usual, if still short of smarts. It raises the issue of
the decline of the village of Cape Tormentine, suggesting it should
be an issue in the federal election because it is linked to the whole
future of rural life in this province.
Sure, a Canada
racked by concern about recession would certainly change the whole
election as it realized the towering importance of rural New
Brunswick to this whole nation.
The idea we should
address this problem is a good one. But there is no way we can made
this a federal issue. To say we can is just dumb. It's a provincial
problem. And I have never read any provincial politician say anything
about it – and I have never seen the Irving press offer an
intelligent suggestion.
The future of rural
New Brunswick is an important problem. It raises issues of
transportation, medical care, education for both children and adults.
And I don't see how closing schools and firing teachers is going to
help in solving the problem. Of course, it does solve the problem of
saving money so that the premier can give more welfare to the rich.
That may be why the Irving press hasn't said much about it.
Why not? Well, it's
safe bet that the owner of the Irving press has not the slightest
interest in rural News Brunswick except cutting down its trees with
cheap labour, and exploiting its minerals for as much profit as
possible for him.
The first rule of
our form of capitalism is that people don't matter. Only profits
matter. (Oh, and they should be hidden to avoid paying taxes on
them.)
Norbert treats us to
the greatest issue of the day facing this province. He says we should
be allowed to bring in beer from Quebec. In a way, making that a big
issue manages to be both irrelevant and low-level sensationalism.
Hump Cormier doesn't
have commentary. He has cute little story about how he doesn't like
dark rooms. And he gets paid for this crap. When will this newspaper
learn what a commentary is?
The guest editorial
is, we are told, by the vice-president of Canada's leading Christian
think tank. It's called Cardus. I've never heard of it. But here's a
hint – if the byline has to tell you it's our leading Christian
think tank, it almost certainly isn't.
I am sympathetic to
its declared goal of bringing religious (but, apparently, only
Christian) values into social planning. But I would like to know much
more about its funding, and the qualifications of its researchers. As
for this commentary, few will read it because it's confusingly
written, has hints of political bias, and, in the end, really doesn't
say anything. Nor do I see any hint of religious roots in his concern
for the way we elect people.
The headline for the
story, by the way (a headline usually written by the editor) has no
link that I can see to the message (if any) of the commentary.
Alec Bruce saves the
day for the whole paper with an excellent column on renewable
energy. However, I don't think the boss will like that column.
There's no money for the boss in renewable energy.
Section B is a
disaster area with big stories on “Accused in Pokemon competition
threat case denied bail (Boston); “Kentucky clerk still refuses to
issue same-sex marriage licenses”. This is just sensationalism, if
at a very low level. I suppose it might thrill people who have a
sexual climax when they see dogs sniffing each other.
The only interesting
story is on B4. The RCMP has laid a charge about a former Syrian
intelligence officer for torturing a Syrian-born Canadian named Maher
Arar. Now, get this.
In 2002, Arar was
detained in New York, and deported to Syria where he was immediately
jailed. Obviously, this was arranged between Syria and U.S.
intelligence – and it seems to have been based on false information
from the RCMP.
There, he was
tortured. (How awful. Americans and Canadians would never do that.)
The charge will
never lead to arrest, of course. The torturer is still in Syria and
in the middle of a war. But there's an even more intriguing element.
Somebody, presumably in the RCMP, is quoted as saying this will send
a strong message to people who commit terrible abuses in faraway
prisons.
What an absurd
statement!
An unenforceable
charge is going to send a strong message?
Okay. So when does
Canada send a strong message for the illegal detention and prolonged
torture of Omar Khadr? Why didn't Harper lead the way in standing up
for a Canadian citizen? When do we or any other country plan to send
arrest warrants to Bush and Obama for the thousands they imprisoned
and tortured – and almost certainly are still torturing? - not to
mention the torturing of Americans that still goes on in American
prisons.
In fact, in all
these years, not a single person involved in decades of massive U.S.
torture has been accused of anything Nor has any accusation been made
against Canadian officials who cooperated with it.
The only people who
now face prison or, quite likely, death are the few who had the
honesty and courage to release the truth of what was going on.
Tell me how Canada
and the U.S. are any different from Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy.
Just to read that
dreadful statement….”….will send a strong message...” is
enough to make one feel ill at our hypocrisy and sanctimony. For an
historian, it's dismaying to see what we have done to what was once
one of the most highly respected police forces in the world. I
thought of that when I saw the camouflage gang with combat rifles at
an anti-fracking demonstration here in New Brunswick. Now we have
this story of a further decay created by Harper's kissing up to the
U.S. and its fascist ways.
And the editor who
wrote that headline should have had the brains to know that the
headline is NOT what this story is about. It is NOT about a charge
being laid because it will never be enforced. It's about the moral
decay of Canada, the U.S. ( and more than a few others) who welcome
the fascist states we have become. Fascism and capitalism are close
friends. A major feature of Mussolini's fascism is that it made big
business automatically a part of any government
In sum, we really
need much commentary, informed commentary (and not about somebody who
doesn't like dark rooms).
The news story, as
rule, tells us very little. We need to know the background to the
news if we're going to understand it. That's why I wrote so much
about Chinese history in yesterday's blog. Reading the news is just
not a very good way to learn the meaning of the news. We need
informed (and honest) commentary. The best media for that are
newspapers and radio. People are involved in radio and media. With
TV, they just look at the changing shapes and colours.
But most commentary
in the Irving press is trash. And most radio is just a modern
equivalent of the old Juke-box.
____________________________________________________________________________
For a look at what
is happening in the middle east, see the site below.
|
The next site below deals with a ruling from the World
Trade Organization that India must give up a massive plan for
renewable energy. The reason? It discriminates against foreign
capitalists by cutting into their oil profits, and not giving
them a piece of the action. We're in for this sort of thing –
and much more – if Harper gets his Trans-Pacific trade deal
through.
|
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