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When News is Noise

More than timely - from medialens.org:

"A Los Angeles Times editorial observed last month that China had persuaded world leaders to attend the Olympic Games “despite their misgivings about Beijing's horrific human rights record both domestically and abroad”. The horror, the editors noted, could not be entirely suppressed:

“What planners in Beijing miscalculated is that no matter how well you teach performers to smile, the strain behind the lips is still detectable.” (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-olympics26-2008aug26,0,5033807.story)

Needless to say, no mainstream British or American journalist referred to the host nation’s “horrific human rights record” at the time of the US Games in Atlanta in 1996, or of the Los Angeles Games in 1984. And of course no media outlet has discussed “misgivings” about the awarding of the 2012 Games to Britain. But why on earth would they? Historian Mark Curtis explains:

“Since 1945, rather than occasionally deviating from the promotion of peace, democracy, human rights and economic development in the Third World, British (and US) foreign policy has been systematically opposed to them, whether the Conservatives or Labour (or Republicans or Democrats) have been in power. This has had grave consequences for those on the receiving end of Western policies abroad.” (Curtis, The Ambiguities of Power, Zed Books, 1995, p.3)

A Guardian leader in July described how “western leaders rightly remain uneasy about giving their imprimatur to a [Chinese] regime which jails dissidents, persecutes religious groups, backs Burma and bankrolls Darfur.” (Leader, ‘Beijing Olympics: Faster, higher - but freer?,’ The Guardian, July 12, 2008)

On the other hand, the Guardian leader writers might have felt uneasy about giving their imprimatur to “western leaders” who are the destroyers of Baghdad, Fallujah and Mosul, and who have promoted chaos and terror in Afghanistan, Haiti, Serbia and Somalia, among many other places.

An Independent leader naturally shared the Guardian‘s view:

“The outside world will have a crucial role to play in the coming years. Engagement will produce much better results than isolation. But at the same time, the developed world must guard against soft-pedalling sensitive issues such as the treatment of Tibet, or Beijing's sponsorship of vile regimes in Africa.” (Leader, ‘China must not let its brief democratic light go out,’ The Independent, August 2, 2008)

It is taken for granted that “the developed world” is the great hope for human rights. Again, comparable Independent editorials did not appear ahead of the Atlanta and Los Angeles Games condemning Washington’s “sponsorship of vile regimes”.

Everything in the media starts from the assumption that ’We mean well,’ and from the unspoken, indeed unthought, assumption that this claim need never be questioned. This isn’t just a matter of choice - career success depends on it. Senior journalists like the BBC’s Huw Edwards have to be willing to make the Soviet-style claim that British troops are in Afghanistan “to try to help in the country’s rebuilding programme”. (Edwards, BBC 1, News at Ten, July 28, 2008)"

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