Farewell Punch (and Judy)

CATEGORY: OPINION
SUBJECT: POLITICS/JOURNALISM
SOURCE: THE TIMES, TIMES OF MALTA

David Cameron is the new leader of the Conservative Party in the UK. Our own, Maltese, Times dedicated its editorial to this new appointment – which only goes to show that somebody at Strickland House still labours (or conserves) under the illusion that The Times of Malta is an independent conservative establishment of its own right.

But back to young David (I am ready to wager that it will become Dave soon). At 39 he is young indeed and has already (like Blair in his time) begun to draw comparisons to that myth called William Pitt the Younger. What I like about Dave is his intention to break with the past… which does take some guts when you are head of a party called Conservative. Reading today’s Times (the original) we could hear about the person without experience who was elected to head the party. As always we hear the idealistic story, the one the person sets out with before facing the realities of politics. It is pleasant to hear but one cannot help but ask “How long will this idyllic wishing last?”.

I loved the Punch and Judy politics quip. It is an ideal that I share with a passion. Here is what Cameron said:

“And, in a swift illustration of his determination to reclaim the centre ground for the Conservatives, he broke with the legacy of Thatcherism, declaring that there was such a thing as society, and promised a new style of politics that would mean the Tories backing the Government if they thought it was right for the country. He told his party to stop grumbling and to accept modern Britain as it was. With the authority of his massive victory behind him, Mr Cameron prepared to lay down the law to MPs, saying that he wanted an end to “Punch and Judy politics — the name-calling, backbiting, point scoring and finger pointing.”

Apart from the beautiful middle-finger to grammatical convention by the Times contributor who starts a sentence, nay, a paragraph, with the word “And”, this Grand Plan of Cameron cannot but be appreciated. Stop the bickering and become real, mature, responsible politicians. The joke (and irony) is on us. On the electors of democratic governments worldwide. Because (yes I start sentences with Because too) you see, we are now come to a point where electoral promises and promising politicians are simply what they were meant to be in the first place.

There is such a thing as society indeed…. good luck David!

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This post was originally posted on J’Accuse

War Propaganda or Journalism?

Category: Shoutrage
Subject: Journalism/Propaganda/PR/News
Source: Financial Times, Institute for Propaganda Analysis, Indymedia and others cited in text.

US paying Iraqi press to run favourable stories
By Mark Mazzetti and Borzou Daragahi Nov 30 2005 08:16

As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq. The articles, written by U.S. military “information operations” troops, are translated into Arabic and placed in Baghdad newspapers with the help of a defense contractor, according to U.S. military officials and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Many of the articles are presented in the Iraqi press as unbiased news accounts written and reported by independent journalists. The stories trumpet the work of U.S. and Iraqi troops, denounce insurgents, and tout U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country.

This FT article continues here.

Update 02/12/2005: (via Ted Pease’s Word on Journalism)
It may seem strange to suggest that the study of propaganda has relevance to contemporary politics. After all, when most people think about propaganda, they think of the enormous campaigns that were waged by Hitler and Stalin in the 1930s. Since nothing comparable is being disseminated in our society today, many believe that propaganda is no longer an issue.

But propaganda can be as blatant as a swastika or as subtle as a joke. Its persuasive techniques are regularly applied by politicians, advertisers, journalists, radio personalities, and others who are interested in influencing human behavior. Propagandistic messages can be used to accomplish positive social ends, as in campaigns to reduce drunk driving, but they are also used to win elections and to sell malt liquor.

As Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson point out, “every day we are bombarded with one persuasive communication after another. These appeals persuade not through the give-and-take of argument and debate, but through the manipulation of symbols and of our most basic human emotions. For better or worse, ours is an age of propaganda.” (Pratkanis and Aronson, 1991)

This article continues at the Institute for Propaganda Analysis.

Update 03/12/2005: (via Sean Madden’s iNoodle.com)
A Spinwatch investigation has revealed that journalists working for the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC) have been commissioned to provide news reports to the BBC. The BBC has been using these reports as if they were genuine news. In fact, the SSVC is entirely funded by the Ministry of Defence as a propaganda operation, which according to its own website makes a ’considerable contribution’ to the ’morale’ of the armed forces.

In the US, Washington has been rocked by the scandal of fake journalists. The Bush administration has been paying actors to produce news, paying journalists to write propaganda, and paying Republican party members to pose as journalists. In the UK this has been reported with our customary shake of the head at the bizarre nature of US politics and media. Implicitly we are relieved that, however bad things are here, at least we are not as bad as they are.

The article on this Spinwatch investigation continues here.

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This post was originally published on Lost in Thought.

A cont(r)act too far (INT/SHT)

Kategorija: Unjoni Ewropea, Korruzzjoni
Suggett: Tender mirbuh minn Media Link Communications
Sors: Stqarrija Stampa ta’ Alternattiva Demokratika
PRESS RELEASE 22/11/05

A CONTRACT TOO FAR

On the initiative of Arnold Cassola, Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party (AD) Spokesperson on EU Affairs, Swedish Green MEP Carl Schlyter has raised the issue of a contract made by the European Commission to the news agency of the Maltese Christian Democratic Party (Partit Nazzjonalista, PN).

In his Parliamentary question, Carl Schlyter said that according to a report which appeared in the newspaper Malta Today of 20 November 2005, the European Commission has awarded a EUR 565,000 contract to the media agency of the governing Christian Democratic Party in Malta (Media Link Communications) to provide a daily press review to the European Commission Representation in Malta. MEP Schlyter added that, to the best of his knowledge, the Malta Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg was both a nominal shareholder and a director of the Media Link company.

Carl Schlyter pointed out that Commissioner Wallström’s spokesperson Mikolaj Dowgielewicz was reported to have replied to the Malta Today queries by saying: “The fact that a tenderer was owned by a political party was not considered to be a situation of conflict of interests as defined in the tender specifications.”

Carl Schlyter finally asked if, in view of all this, the Commission does not believe that the award of such contract to the news agency of a political party (in this case a Government party), undermines the whole spirit of Plan D for Democracy, and indeed goes very much against the European citizens’ plea for dialogue on an equal footing.

Arnold Cassola commented: “If what was reported by Malta Today is true, then European Commission Vice-President Margot Wallström has to take drastic action. Failure to do so would not only mean that the European Commission is influencing the course of the democratic political debate in Malta by financing one particular political party indirectly but would also be contributing directly to undermining the European citizens’ trust in the European Union institutions.”