{"id":116323,"date":"2014-05-05T07:36:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-05T07:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?guid=6761d1a4ff59d1670e1adb22c2d2cfb1"},"modified":"2014-05-05T07:36:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-05T07:36:00","slug":"scandalous-scoundrel-media-big-lies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/scandalous-scoundrel-media-big-lies\/","title":{"rendered":"Scandalous Scoundrel Media Big Lies"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\"><b>Scandalous Scoundrel Media Big Lies<\/b><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">by Stephen Lendman<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">They proliferate daily. Shameless propaganda substitutes for hard truths.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">it mocks legitimate journalism. It fronts for power. It does so reprehensibly. It betrays readers and viewers in the process.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It exceeds the worst of Cold War misinformation. It increases chances for global conflict. It drives things unconscionably toward it.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Sunshine is the best disinfectant. On May 4, <a href=\"http:\/\/rt.com\/news\/156652-odessa-fire-mainstream-media\/\"><span style=\"color: #1255cc;\">RT International<\/span><\/a> did responsible fact-checking. &#8220;MSM uncertain who is behind deadly Odessa blaze,&#8221; it said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Hard evidence omits doubt. Video footage delivers clarity. Not according to scoundrel media liars. RT put it this way, saying:<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;Despite clear evidence that the pro-Kiev radicals set Odessa&#8217;s House of Trade Unions ablaze on Friday killing dozens, the mainstream media (are) being ambiguous about the causes of the tragedy.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Misinformation proliferates. Hard truths are buried. &#8220;(A)ssigning blame to those who actually set the building on fire&#8221; is ignored.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">MSM sources were scandalously unreliable. They remain so. Kiev&#8217;s version of events was featured. Victims were blamed for neo-Nazi Right Sector crimes.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">According to media scoundrels, &#8220;the House of Trade Unions just caught fire.&#8221; A sort of Immaculate Conception arson.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Ignited on its own without triggering. It just happened on its own.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">No human involvement. No accelerant used. No truth claiming it.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">On Saturday, Sky News said:<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;At some stage yesterday &#8211; and it still unclear exactly how this started &#8211; but there were rival pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian protests here.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;It led to fierce street clashes, which culminated in a huge fire in a building last night.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">According to Fox News:<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;Violence is escalating in Ukraine. Police in normally calm Odessa say a clash between pro-Russians and government supporters led to a fire that killed at least 31 people.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">At around midday Saturday during lunch break, this writer heard Fox News blame Russian special forces.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Thousands of Eastern Ukrainians asked Putin for help. According to Fox News, they asked Kiev for protection against Russia.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Independent video footage clearly showed pro-Kiev extremists throwing Molotov cocktails into the Trade Unions House.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Odessa activists were trapped inside. Media scoundrel ambiguity buried truth. BBC notoriously fronts for power. Britain owns and operates it.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Propaganda substitutes for real news, information and analysis. It cited Kiev&#8217;s regional Interior Ministry misinformation. It did so like gospel.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">The ministry &#8220;did not give details of how the blaze started,&#8221; it said. &#8220;(T)he exact sequence of events is still unclear,&#8221; it claimed.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It lied saying so. Doing so is official BBC policy.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Reuters maintained ambiguity. It said &#8220;a pro-Kiev march was ambushed, petrol bombs, stones, explosive devices were thrown, police soon lost control and the building was later set on fire.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">CNN long ago fell from grace. It matches the worst of Fox News. It lied claiming it&#8217;s &#8220;unclear exactly what may have caused&#8221; the Odessa blaze.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Belatedly when it was too late to matter, it suggested Kiev supporters&#8217; responsibility.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Big Lies make headlines. Similar ones repeat. Belated hard truths aren&#8217;t reported.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Sometimes they&#8217;re buried after the fact in virtual print footnotes in print or on-air sound bites too insignificant to matter.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Doing so barely gets notice. Big Lies resonate beyond when reported. Readers and viewers are scandalously misinformed. Doing so is longstanding scoundrel media policy.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">The New York Times notoriously fronts for power. It&#8217;s Ukraine articles, commentaries and editorials bury hard truths.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">On May 3, It <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/05\/04\/world\/europe\/ukraine.html?hpw&amp;rref=world\"><span style=\"color: #1255cc;\">headlined<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Ukraine Presses Pro-Russian Militants After Fighting Spreads to a Port City.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It lied calling Eastern Ukrainian activists &#8220;militants.&#8221; Saying so equates them with combatants.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">They&#8217;re ordinary people. They want their legitimate rights respected. They&#8217;re fighting for freedom. They deserve worldwide support.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Time rubbish denigrates them. A same day article<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/05\/04\/world\/europe\/behind-the-masks-in-ukraine-many-faces-of-rebellion.html?hpw&amp;rref=world\"><span style=\"color: #1255cc;\"> headlined<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Behind the Masks in Ukraine, Many Faces of Rebellion.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It replicated its other article misinformation. It called a civilian self-defense leader a &#8220;shadowy paramilitary.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It questioned his motives. They&#8217;re &#8220;murky,&#8221; it said. They&#8217;re crystal clear.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">At stake is freedom or virtual slavery. If fighting for what&#8217;s right isn&#8217;t important, what is?<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">The Times ludicrously called Ukraine&#8217;s conflict &#8220;complex.&#8221; It&#8217;s Obama latest imperial adventure.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It&#8217;s a pretext for targeting Russia. It&#8217;s to eliminate a major rival. Don&#8217;t expect The Times to explain.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It fronts for what demands denunciation. It marches in lockstep with imperial lawlessness. It&#8217;s mindless of fundamental rights. Wealth, power and privilege alone matter.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">A same day Times editorial <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/05\/04\/opinion\/sunday\/president-obama-and-the-world.html?hp&amp;rref=opinion&amp;_r=0\"><span style=\"color: #1255cc;\">headlined<\/span><\/a> &#8220;President Obama and the World,&#8221; saying:<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">He&#8217;s &#8220;the kind of foreign policy president most Americans and their allies overseas respect.&#8221; Recent polls show &#8220;most Americans&#8221; reject his foreign policy.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">They&#8217;re sick and tired of perpetual wars. They want them ended. They want domestic policies addressed. They want America out of Afghanistan. They want no US Ukraine involvement.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Times editors ludicrously called Obama &#8220;a transformational leader.&#8221; His so-called &#8220;new strategy for a new world&#8221; risks armageddon.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">He deplores diplomacy. He craves conflict. He waged multiple direct and proxy wars since day one in office. They continue. He&#8217;s got more in mind.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;A lot is riding on (his) ability to lead,&#8221; said Times editors. They irresponsibly accused Putin of &#8220;gobbl(ing) up more of Ukraine.&#8221; Truth-telling isn&#8217;t their long suit.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">London Guardian misreporting is scandalous. Irresponsible sources are cited. A neo-Nazi Right Sector thug was quoted saying:<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;The(ir) aim is to completely clear Odessa&#8221; and other Eastern Ukrainian cities of pro-Russians. &#8220;They are all paid Russian separatists,&#8221; he said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">This and similar Big Lies repeat a malicious false narrative. Anti-Kiev activists are pro-Russian puppets, it&#8217;s claimed. They&#8217;re &#8220;militants.&#8221; They&#8217;re insurrectionists.They&#8217;re &#8220;terrorists.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">They&#8217;re ordinary people fighting for rights everyone deserves. Not according to scoundrel media liars.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Vilifying them continues daily. Illegitimate fascist putschists are supported. So is might over right.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Self-defense forces leader Denis Pushilin spoke publicly. He called Odessa&#8217;s massacre unimaginable &#8220;on our land, on Russian land.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">A man listening to him said Stalin should be resurrected to fight &#8220;Nazis.&#8221; He left no doubt which ones he meant.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">They&#8217;re in Kiev. They infest Washington. One fascist regime supports another.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">They threaten more than Ukraine. Europe is at risk. So is humanity if America&#8217;s rage for unchallenged global dominance isn&#8217;t stopped.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;\">Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;\">His new book as editor and contributor is titled &#8220;Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;\">http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanIII.html<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;\">Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;\">Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;\">It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;\"><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;\">http:\/\/www.progressiveradionetwork.com\/the-progressive-news-hour&nbsp;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scandalous Scoundrel Media Big Liesby Stephen LendmanThey proliferate daily. Shameless propaganda substitutes for hard truths.&nbsp;it mocks legitimate journalism. It fronts for power. It does so reprehensibly. It betrays readers and viewers in the pro&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[461],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-116323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorials"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116323\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}