Monday, April 28, 2008

TV Networks Silenced Anti-War Voices

By Jeff Cohen
April 28, 2008

In the fall of 2002, week after week, I argued vigorously against invading Iraq in debates televised on MSNBC. I used every possible argument that might sway mainstream viewers – no real threat, cost, instability.

But as the war neared, my debates were terminated.

Read on.
Posted by at

3 comments:

BlogNews said...

My argument is , from a joe-six pack pack point of view is , that so called news networks could have gone to collage professors , or any expert for a neutral point of view. But I believe they wanted the pipeline of info from the generals to the pentagon and to placate the military industrial complex .
I mean I find it bizarre that the only analysts that could tell us what was happening in Iraq were Generals , colonels and CIA .
And the idea that they were " neutral is an obscene joke in my book and you can prove it quite simply , by trying to name ONE that opposed the war , even on tactical grounds .

Mon Apr 28, 03:19:00 PM 2008
harrigan said...

Cohen is right, or left I mean.
Lets go door to door and speak the truth to the tens of millions who are daily misinformed by the corporate media.

Tue Apr 29, 08:06:00 AM 2008
Anonymous said...

Remember the big one million person protest march at the start of the Iraq war-blarney? It was in 2003 in New York City at Times Square. The papers barely mentioned the protest in the days just prior to the event, hoping not to publicize it. There was absolutely no mention in the broadcast media. But word got out anyway by email, etc and the turnout was enormous. The marchers were met by Giuliani-Bush-supporting bully cops who managed to arrest, terrify and silence enough of those people that they were ruined as activists for the past five years. Many of that group still don't make demands publicly. An unnamable fear took hold of a large segment of that group. Some would march again in protest of the Republican convention in New York City, but it was not widely promoted media-wise either.

Not just those particular marchers, but people of that particular time, 2003-2004, became afraid...afraid...afraid. They had wanted to march peacefully to demonstrate to the administration that huge segments of American society were against the war. Surely, they believed, if Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld could just SEE how many people disagreed with going to war with Iraq, common sense would tell the three not to go ahead with their plans. But for the first-time, mainstream Americans came fact-to-face with bully-cops who provoked them and WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM TO PROTEST PEACEFULLY. Bully-cops who arrested them regardless of race or status and treated them like "others." Police who wrapped huge groups of people up in orange plastic netting, capturing those who were merely passers-by along with the protesters. The old and disabled were captured in this plastic web along with everyone else. The marchers got a taste of what life was like when the police department was "privatized." Giuliani's orders. And the media reported and questioned little or none of this strange behavior on the part of an elected official. The march was shown on the evening news and that was the end of it. Giuliani remained the undisputed hero of 911 despite evidence to the contrary.

Everyone waits for someone else to be the next Martin Luther King or Malcolm X. Someone strong enough to cheerlead the crowd to greater deeds and victories and someone powerful enough to stand as marytr - someone to die for them and in their place. Nobody wants to step out front and volunteer for that job.

It is only recently that a new, younger crowd has grown up and they are not afraid of voicing their opinions publicly, so they are speaking out on You Tube and Facebook and finally making some demands. Still the media ignores this growing force that loudly and publicly protests war-mongering and war-profiteering. The "terrified" generation is being outnumbered by the "non-terrified" generation finally, - thank God! But what will it matter since we now know that many of our elected officials are loathe to bring the war to an end because they themselves are profiting from it.
You can read about this online, but not a word on broadcast news or in print media.

Some kind of regulation must be put back in place regarding ownership of so much of our media by one person or organization. This present system is not healthy.

Think about this: What will happen when the war is ended and the Blackwater mercenaries return to an America that is bereft of jobs? Will our police forces become privatized? And who will they CHOOSE to arrest (and/or kill as in New Orleans after Katrina?) Just imagine what a "privatized" police force will do to alter your life. Funny how this is one of those questions people choose not to think about...

Wed Apr 30, 09:02:00 AM 2008

Post a Comment