How the Media Doesn't Give Peace a Chance

• Norwegian sociologist, Johan Galtung, the winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize in 1987, believes that the media's institutional bias toward reporting "official sources" in the government and military means that we generally only hear from those with a vested interest in the use of force, rarely from the people on the ground who will pay for their decisions in blood. The arguments for military action are framed in abstract geopolitical terms and vague appeals to "the national interest" rather than focusing on the terrible human costs of organized state violence.
• Iran: This Is What Propaganda Looks Like
• PBS's Dishonest Iran Edit
• How the Media Is Taking Us Toward War With Iran

Richard Schiffman, OpEdNews

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Peace in Action! by http://behebekfalasteen.wordpress.com

Who can forget Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter whose stories, claiming falsely that Iraq had developed weapons of mass destruction, were used by the Bush administration as a pretext for invading that country in 2003 to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein? The failure of the news media to investigate the truth of these allegations is often cited as a key factor in leading our nation into a dubious war, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and American casualties, and cost more in dollars (even after factoring in inflation) than World War II.

The news media professes neutrality in its coverage of war. Yet, by routinely repeating government arguments and assertions as facts, journalists like Miller make themselves accessories to the conflicts upon which they report. Another Times pundit, Thomas Friedman, argued repeatedly in his influential column, during the run up to the war, that invading Iraq would bolster American influence in that crucial region and help "bring democracy to the Middle East" -- giving the Bush administration the liberal cover it needed for its military adventure.

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Related:

Iran: This Is What Propaganda Looks Like, Peter Hart, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)

• It's important to remember, amidst all this hoopla, that it is U.S. military officials and the president who have regularly threatened that "no options" are "off the table" in dealing with Iran. That is code for using nuclear weapons--and Barack Obama's latest repetition of that apocalyptic threat got a standing ovation from Congress.
• Iran and the Threat of Not Having Future Wars

PBS's Dishonest Iran Edit, Peter Hart, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)

• Panetta's statement--that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon--is being used to argue that the United States disputes Iran's long-standing contention that it not building a nuclear weapon.
• How the Media Is Taking Us Toward War With Iran
• If PBS Is Afraid of Moyers, Maybe It Needs a New Slogan

How the Media Is Taking Us Toward War With Iran, davidswanson, War Is a Crime .org

• Media lies and the onset of war.
• Iraq. Began with big lies. Ending with big lies. Never forget.
• Robert Parry | Slip-Sliding to War with Iran