Secrecy, Lies and Propaganda Sweeping the U.S.

Freedom of the press is in decline in the United States as Secrecy, Propaganda and Lies Seen Sweeping the US

NEW YORK -- Freedom of the press is in decline in the United States amid increased government secrecy and propaganda, say media veterans, analysts, and advocates.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom here that U.S. media are the freest in the world, the United States has suffered ''notable setbacks'' in press freedom and has slipped among countries tracked by the New York-based rights group Freedom House.

In one case, the administration -- seeking to build support among black families for its education policies -- paid a prominent African-American pundit, Armstrong Williams, 240,000 dollars to promote the ''No Child Left Behind'' law on his nationally syndicated television show and through his newspaper column, and to urge other black journalists to do the same.

Other nationally known journalists have admitted accepting thousands of dollars to endorse government programs.

''Paying journalists to write positive stories is part of a pattern of secrecy and manipulating the public that undermines our safety and our democracy,'' Steven Aftergood, who runs a project on government secrecy for the Federation of American Scientists, told IPS.

Government agencies also have produced video news releases, or pro-government propaganda made to resemble independent news, and distributed them to local television stations across the country. The stations frequently fail to identify the government as the source, thus encouraging viewers to believe they are watching genuine news, Freedom House said.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Congressional watchdog agency, has called the videos a form of ''covert propaganda.''

More than 20 federal agencies have used taxpayer funds to produce such television segments. Bush has defended the practice and has said he plans to continue it.

But Martin Kaplan of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication told IPS, ''The consequence of their injecting fake news into the media mainstream may be even worse than poisoning public debate on specific issues. It corrodes the ability of real journalism to do its job.''

US News and World Report magazine recently complained that the Bush administration has ''quietly but efficiently dropped a shroud of secrecy across many critical operations of the federal government -- cloaking its own affairs from scrutiny and removing from the public domain important information on health, safety, and environmental matters. The result has been a reversal of a decades-long trend of openness in government.''

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Ofcourse these things have been going on in the U.S. for many years, and during both republican and democratic presidencies, which is why the rest of the world never has had a high regards for American democracy and press freedom. It's just that it has never been as bad as it is today and as severe. The U.S. even makes no secret of the fact that it has an official department whose job is to spread misinformation!

These reporters did not have a gun to their heads. They took the cash because they wanted it.

I have saw CNN do a piece on the "Assault Weapon Ban" and it was nothing but lies. Who profited for that type of journalism? Who payed CNN? Soros?

Roper

This is about a stupid statement.

"We should have our own nuclear technology. For us nuclear technology is like a kitchen knife. You buy one to prepare food. But if a thief came to your house, you might use it to defend yourself. This does not mean you bought the knife to kill anyone with it."

Kitchen knives dont blow up entire cities or kill hundreds of thousands of people either.

How safe are those russian nuclear plants now?

Siroos do you really have to post this crap about americans? I mean i have read alot of your posts and almost all are about slandering americans. Have you ever said one positive thing about the USA?

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Originally posted by Siroos
Freedom of the press is in decline in the United States as Secrecy, Propaganda and Lies Seen Sweeping the US

I can't be the only person who sees the breathtaking irony in witnessing CommonDreams.org, of all organizations, complaining about propaganda. Grab a camera, because that's a keeper.

That is irony too thick to be cut with ordinary machine tools.

Strangely, though, the word “lies” doesn't appear anywhere in the source article.

I guess the “lies” were added at the time of posting.

Originally posted by Roper
These reporters did not have a gun to their heads. They took the cash because they wanted it.

Oh, so that makes it ok? Is it ok that the U.S. government is bribing the media to spread misinformation and lies? And is it ok for the media to accept bribes and agree to spread misinformation of behalf of the U.S. government?

I have saw CNN do a piece on the "Assault Weapon Ban" and it was nothing but lies. Who profited for that type of journalism? Who payed CNN? Soros?

Roper

It may have been CONCEIVED as lies by someone like you who perhaps oppose an assault weapon ban. The report does not state that ALL journalists and media outlets in the U.S. were accepting bribes or being controlled by the U.S. government. So there are certainly many respectable journalists and media outlets in the U.S., which is why you will see such programs as the one you refer to about the assault weapon ban by CNN.

The only lies and propaganda sweeping the U.S. I've seen lately were generated by ATS poster Siroos.

[edit on 5/5/2005 by djohnsto77]

Originally posted by djohnsto77
The only lies and propaganda sweeping the U.S. I've seen lately were generated by ATS poster Siroos.

Ouch...couldn't have said that one any better myself. Talk about a missing a few cards.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
The only lies and propaganda sweeping the U.S. I've seen lately were generated by ATS poster Siroos.

[edit on 5/5/2005 by djohnsto77]

...Some one is feeling rather insulting this afternoon........

Originally posted by Trustnone
This is about a stupid statement.

"We should have our own nuclear technology. For us nuclear technology is like a kitchen knife. You buy one to prepare food. But if a thief came to your house, you might use it to defend yourself. This does not mean you bought the knife to kill anyone with it."

Kitchen knives dont blow up entire cities or kill hundreds of thousands of people either.

Do you know what a metaphor is? I suspect that you don't. Do yourself the favor and look it up in the dictionary, if you have one. There are a bunch of good online dictionaries that are free to use.

What Mr. Nasseri meant was not that nuclear technology could be used as a kitchen knife, or that it could be used in the kitchen and to kill a potential burglar with.... What Mr. Nasseri so beautifully is saying is that Iran needs nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, and that it is aqcuiring it for peaceful purposes, but that if it would be attacked or seriously threatened by its enemies it could use its nuclear technology to produce nuclear weapons which it could use as a detente against the agressor(s). I don't think there is anything stupid about it at all. It makes perfect sense. Ask Israel, the U.S., England, France, Pakistan, Russia, and China.

How safe are those russian nuclear plants now?

There is only ONE reactor in Iran which the Russians are helping with, and that is the one in Bushehr. All other nuclear facilities throughout Iran are built and maintained 100% by Iranians. And they are no more or less safe than the nuclear reactors in the U.S., Israel, Europe or elsewhere.

Siroos do you really have to post this crap about americans?

Listen! If your stomack can't take any criticism directed against the American government and current system, then I advise you to not visit forums like this. You have FOX TV and a bunch of other media outlets and plenty of likeminded biased websites where you can live with your lies without having them disturbed by the world outside. That you equal "Americans" with your government and what it's responsible of having done and is doing, just shows that you seem to live in a small nutshell far away from reality.

I mean i have read alot of your posts and almost all are about slandering americans. Have you ever said one positive thing about the USA?

Oh really? Can you do me a favor and go and find some of the things that I have said here that are about slandering Americans? I challenge you to do so! I haven't slandered Americans as a people, I have criticised the U.S. government - the ruling U.S. elite which reigns in America. And yes, I have said plenty of good things about Americans:


In response to: "quote: Is it true that some of us Americans are arrogant and reckless? Of course, but no more so than many people in the rest of the world."


I said:
"Well, that's your opinion, and although I agree that most Americans are nice, good and very decent people, there is a large percentage of Americans who are arrogant and reckless as you put it. Perhaps 30%? That would mean that 70% are nice and good, and 30% are not. While 30% is a minority, it is enough to make its presence felt in a society."

In another post I said: " Iranians in general have no hostile feelings towards America as a nation and as a culture, and instead acknowledge the tremendously positive achievements of the U.S.A., and have great admiration for those positive achievements. We just want the U.S. to cease its bullying, interference, and oppressive policies in the world. "

And here's another: "I don't think that people like you realize just how much of a bully the U.S. is percieved as in the world. You have been taught since you were born to believe that your country is the freest, most democratic, and best country in the world. And that you are invincible. This is why you are so sensitive to any criticism of the U.S. by foreigners. It's hard to shatter dreams, no matter how untrue they are

Originally posted by Majic
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Originally posted by Siroos
Freedom of the press is in decline in the United States as Secrecy, Propaganda and Lies Seen Sweeping the US

I can't be the only person who sees the breathtaking irony in witnessing CommonDreams.org, of all organizations, complaining about propaganda. Grab a camera, because that's a keeper.

That is irony too thick to be cut with ordinary machine tools.

Strangely, though, the word “lies” doesn't appear anywhere in the source article.

I guess the “lies” were added at the time of posting.

Before you're so quick, pay notice to that this was not written by Common Dreams, but was posted on their website. INTERPRESS SERVICE is the publisher of the article, and they in turn are quoting what the non-partisan, non-profit org based in New York, "FREEDOM HOUSE" said in its annual report on the state of freedom of the press throughout the world.

[edit on 5-5-2005 by Siroos]

Perhaps the US should strive to be more like Iran in the pursuit of Freedom of Speech? Or maybe not, since they don't seem to practice what Siroos preaches?

Iran: Activists and human rights defenders under attack
Efforts by Iran’s judiciary to curtail freedom of expression and association are now increasingly encroaching on human rights defenders and civil society activists, said Amnesty International today (11 November 2004).

Reports of around 25 internet journalists and civil society activists arbitrarily arrested in recent weeks mark an alarming rise in human rights violations in Iran.

“The judiciary has placed Iran’s growing civil society under attack. The targeted arbitrary arrests and detention in secret places along with reports of ill treatment of activists like Omid Memariyan, Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh and journalist Hanifmazrou’i clearly expose the judiciary’s intention to clamp down on Iran’s burgeoning civil society”,
Amnesty International said today.

Family members of all three individuals, along with members of other families, have repeatedly expressed concern over the safety of their loved ones.

“The ban on foreign travel of human rights defenders Emaddedin Baqi, Mohammad Maleki, Azam Taleghani and Mohammad Maleki shows that Iran’s judiciary is turning its back on the international human rights standards it has promised the international community that it will uphold.

"With the latest clampdown, the judiciary has betrayed the Iranian peoples’ hopes for greater respect of their human rights,”
Amnesty International said.

In November 2003, Amnesty International expressed concern at the alarming spiral of human rights violations in Iran. One year later, a similar pattern of flagrant human rights abuses continues.

Iran has failed to adequately cooperate with visits made by United Nations human rights representatives, several of whom have visited the country in 2003 and early 2004. The recommendations made by, for example, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), following its February 2003 visit appear to have been ignored.

Hypocrisy

Trustnone:

Siroos do you really have to post this crap about americans? I mean i have read alot of your posts and almost all are about slandering americans. Have you ever said one positive thing about the USA?

Siroos is allegedly an Iranian. I wonder why he spends so much time here slamming the US instead of working to make Iran a better place to live? It seems like he has a deep-seated hatred for the US, to spend so much time and energy trying to portray it as such an evil place.

Or maybe he is just a plant, put here to stir up controversy? Maybe if we agree with him, he will go away?

Originally posted by devilwasp

Originally posted by djohnsto77
The only lies and propaganda sweeping the U.S. I've seen lately were generated by ATS poster Siroos.

[edit on 5/5/2005 by djohnsto77]

...Some one is feeling rather insulting this afternoon........

I don't pay attention to such remarks - Any veteran of discussion forums, or any debate in general, knows perfectly well that these are the typical remarks of those who are the loosers in a debate and who instead of having the guts to admit it, resort to cheap and insulting remarks since they do not have any ammunition as far as being able to present rational, logical and legitimate arguments.

Did you happen to see John Stewart last night?

He showed clips of the British town meeting where detractors would ask Blair the tough questions, and then compared to Bush's "town meetings".... What a riot! Free speech here? I think you've got the wrong nation....

Yeah I saw that, pretty funny bit.
Bush would never put himself in a position to answer tough questions like that.

It's funny, reading this thread, I see attacks on the source, attacks on Sirros, but almost nothing actually attempting to refute his claims.

Despite constant bleating and whining from the Right, the "liberal media" is a myth. The mainstream US media these days, owned by the same huge corporate entities that own anything else, are little more than propaganda mills.

There are articles like this made by media in the US complaining about there not being that much freedom of press and speech....

I don't get it??
How do articles like this exsist then?

Isn't your article doing nothing but disproving the point your trying to make?

Originally posted by jsobecky
Perhaps the US should strive to be more like Iran in the pursuit of Freedom of Speech? Or maybe not, since they don't seem to practice what Siroos preaches?

I would say here what condoleezzzza said when asked by the BBC reporter why it was that the U.S. was claiming to be promoting democracy in certain countries in the Middle East, while ignoring many of its allies (puppets) in that region - some which have the most un-democratic systems, such as Saudi Arabia....

Condo became visibly more nervous than usual, and finally after having stuttered for a while managed to answer that one ofcourse has to take the culture of the country into consideration.....implying that Saudi Arabia's culture was more backwarded and primitive than Iraq's. Well, the same goes for Iran. You can't compare the U.S. to Iran. Be so it that the U.S. is the only country in the West, and the only industrialized country that doesn't have national health insurance coverage for its citizens who instead have to pay the highest cost in the world for medical care and medication, but it is still a developed, industrialized country, and Iran is not (yet) although it's on its way to become one within 15 - 20 years from now. Can you compare the U.S. press freedoms to Germany? Yes, but it's unfair to compare it with Iran or many other developing countries - I mean it's unfair to the U.S.

Having said that, I want you to know that although I acknowledge that Iran has serious restrictions to its press freedom, it is not at all anything close to as bad as you think. If you would pick up an Iranian newspaper you would be very surprised to find that they freely criticize the government and many of its policies, and that they engage in a very provocative style of expressing or contemplating a variety of political subjects. However, there are limitations, and you have to know your limits or else you could get in trouble.

Now, of those who have gotten themselves into trouble are found "guilty", they will be either fined, and/or imprisoned, and/or will have their newspaper shut down. However, most of them are through legal channels released, and almost as often their newspapers will be reopened. This shows that there is a democratic and proper judicial process involved. And this process has been and is being strengthened more and more for each year.

Although I fully support the ideals of a democracy, I do not think that one necessarily must have a democracy in a society that is not ready for it. It all depends on the society in question and on a lot of factors. Certainly, one cannot expect that a democracy in a Middle Eastern country should necessarily be based on the model of a Western-style.

Iran had a democracy once upon a time, but the U.S. was quick in putting an end to it and to install a repressive government in its place. Although Iran is a relative democracy today, in the sense that the people elect the government, representatives in the parliament, and provincial authorities and on a municipal level and so on, it still has some way to go before one can consider it a fullblown democracy and free society. What is important is that it is moving forwards in that direction and on its own without allowing foreign interference of any sort.

Siroos is allegedly an Iranian. I wonder why he spends so much time here slamming the US instead of working to make Iran a better place to live?

You're here much more than me - Why aren't you out there trying to do the U.S. a much better place to live? You probably think the U.S. is perfect and doesn't need to be improved.

I'm here to:

- Clarify for misguided people like you that the U.S. is far, far, far from being anything close to perfect, and that although it has done a lot of good, it is indeed also guilty of having wrecked havoc around the world in the name of "freedom" and "democracy".

- Educate you and people like you about the realities in Iran and the Middle East, so that you are given an opportunity to realize that a big part of your media is controlled by the imperialistic selfish ambitions of your rulers, and thus often portray events around the world in a fashion that does not reflect the truth, and only serves to further their imperialistic agenda. And also so that you and people like you realize that you're being kept in the dark about what's really going on in your own country as well. As an increasing number of Americans are struggling to just get by, your rulers and the elite they belong to are getting richer and more greedy by the hour. As an example, you're being forced to pay ridiculous prices for your medication - The higheset in the world - Just so that the capitalists who own the companies that produce the drugs - some of them in your government - can become even wealthier at the cost of millions who are suffering or dying. Americans are also the by far most indebted people in the world. The filthy rich in your country are sucking you dry! While the minimum wage has increased with only a few dollars in the last 30 years or so, the cost of living has reached levels that are quite alarming - Look at the rent hikes in some of your most populated areas! Your government messes up everything for you so that they and the greedy elite which they serve can become richer and richer, while the people are getting poorer and more and more indebted. Then they have to go to Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Caucasus, etc..... to "make" money so that the system doesn't collappse. But as it is today, I think the U.S. economy is real close to a collapse. A few more interest rate increases, and people won't be able to keep up with their loan and mortgage payments, and the next thing you know, everything will crumble, and what will then come will dwarf the depression of the 30's.

If only 10 people come here and learn from what I'm relaying to them, then I think I have made a great service to my country and to the world. I'm doing a lot to improve things in Iran which you have know knowledge of since you don't know me.

It seems like he has a deep-seated hatred for the US, to spend so much time and energy trying to portray it as such an evil place.

No, not at all - I have a deep-seated love for Iran and for the truth and for humanity, not a deep-seated hatred for the U.S.

I'm constantly amazed how radicals like you portray people who critisize the U.S. for its policies and actions as "anti-American" and as "hating" the U.S.!! Amazed!! I mean I'm perfectly aware of the ultra-patriotic sentiments of many Americans, which sometimes borders or crosses the borders of what would by many be regarded as extremist. You know whith whole landscapes, buildings, hats, heads, bodies, everything being covered in the American flags, and with slogans hanging all over the place, like "Proud to be American" or "These colors don't run"....etc.... But I never thought that people would be so extremely fanatical, that they would accuse people for being "anti-American" or for hating America and Americans, just because they critisize the U.S. government and its actions. I think people like you are the ones who bring Hitlers to power and who in the past were burning or hanging alleged "withces" like in Salem. You are the self-proclaimed prosecutors - the mob - who always pretends to represent the truth and that which is right, but who in reality prosecutes the truth and the innocent. In the 1930's and 1940's it was the Jews, and prior to that and after that it was the blacks, and today it's Islam, homosexuality, liberals, and immigrants - legal and illegal.

Or maybe he is just a plant, put here to stir up controversy? Maybe if we agree with him, he will go away?

That was really a weird remark. Think of it! This is a forum - a DISCUSSION forum. I'm here to stir up a controversy? What did you think that a discussion forum like this was for? To come here and have a competition of who the most ultra-patriotic American is? If you have noticed most people here are engaging in debates, and in debates there is more than just one side, and often there is a lot of disagreeing and arguments going on. I think you and some of your friends here are disturbed because I'm saying things - truthful things - you do not want to hear, and because you leave the forum often after having engaged in a debate with me feeling that you have lost big time. But hey, that's life! When you're wrong and you face a smart person who opposes you, you often loose. Try to be a good sport about it at least.

[edit on 5-5-2005 by Siroos]

[edit on 5-5-2005 by Siroos]

Originally posted by jsobecky
Siroos is allegedly an Iranian. I wonder why he spends so much time here slamming the US instead of working to make Iran a better place to live? It seems like he has a deep-seated hatred for the US, to spend so much time and energy trying to portray it as such an evil place.

It seems many on here enjoy doing just that about Iran, can they not take the same back? Of course they can't. The fact is Iran is nothing like what most people in the US think it is like.

Suck up the US propaganda.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that Siroos is a paid propagandist for the Iranian Ministry of Information.

Originally posted by ThatsJustWeird
There are articles like this made by media in the US complaining about there not being that much freedom of press and speech....

I don't get it??
How do articles like this exsist then?

Isn't your article doing nothing but disproving the point your trying to make?

Ok, if you don't get it I'll explain it for you - It is quite simple though! You see, if you read the article carefully, it doesn't say that "The U.S. media is totally controlled by the U.S. government, and ALL journalists and media outlets in the U.S. are corrupt and accept bribes from the government and the CIA so that they shall publish or broadcast whatever it is that the government wants them to" It doesn't even imply that.

It says:

"Freedom of the press is in decline in the United States amid increased government secrecy and propaganda, say media veterans, analysts, and advocates. " In decline does not mean that it's totally absent - It's in decline!

"Contrary to the conventional wisdom here that U.S. media are the freest in the world, the United States has suffered ''notable setbacks'' in press freedom and has slipped among countries tracked by the New York-based rights group Freedom House."

Again no word here that there is no press freedom. It says that the press freedom in the U.S. has suffered notable setbacks. Big difference!

So based on this, it means that there still is a chance for some truth slipping out to the public here and there.

from Siroos
I'm constantly amazed how radicals like you portray people who critisize the U.S. for its policies and actions as "anti-American" and as "hating" the U.S.!! Amazed!! I mean I'm perfectly aware of the ultra-patriotic sentiments of many Americans, which sometimes borders or crosses the borders of what would by many be regarded as extremist. You know whith whole landscapes, buildings, hats, heads, bodies, everything being covered in the American flags, and with slogans hanging all over the place, like "Proud to be American" or "These colors don't run"....etc.... But I never thought that people would be so extremely fanatical, that they would accuse people for being "anti-American" or for hating America and Americans, just because they critisize the U.S. government and its actions. I think people like you are the ones who bring Hitlers to power and who in the past were burning or hanging alleged "withces" like in Salem. You are the self-proclaimed prosecutors - the mob - who always pretends to represent the truth and that which is right, but who in reality prosecutes the truth and the innocent. In the 1930's and 1940's it was the Jews, and prior to that and after that it was the blacks, and today it's Islam, homosexuality, liberals, and immigrants - legal and illegal.

Poor Siroos. You try so hard to make us believe that you are not a hater, then you resort to childish attacks such as this. Do you think you are going to get me angry and lower myself to your level? Tsk tsk tsk. :shk:

The way you try to portray Iran and the US reminds me of the insane rantings of Baghdad Bob. Tell me, are you related to Comical Ali?