THINGS WHICH MUST BE DISSEMINATED

Pulse Media

7.5.08

Two different cases of news manipulation


Dowethics.com (hoax)
Dow.com (the real deal)

Democracy Now!
(December 2004)

Yes Men Hoax on BBC Reminds World of Dow Chemical’s Refusal to Take Responsibility for Bhopal Disaster




AMY GOODMAN: And the feelings of giving false hope to people in Bhopal who perhaps read these reports in the Indian newspapers?

ANDY BICHLBAUM: Right, that is the most difficult thing about this. And, in fact, we didn’t expect it to run as long as it would. We really thought that the BBC would catch on pretty much immediately or Dow would react even more likely immediately. They didn’t react for at least an hour, so there was a much longer time when people thought it was real.

AMY GOODMAN: That would mean that Dow would have had to jump in and say, no, we are not sorry.

ANDY BICHLBAUM: Right, and they did eventually, but they took at least an hour to do that, and we thought that they would immediately contact the BBC, even perhaps as it was running. I kept hearing voices in the background and thinking I was about to get cut off during the interview. But two hours later it was still a story. So that was sad. Also, but at the same time we are talking about two hours of false hopes versus 20 years of unrealized ones. And suffering for those who are still alive and weren’t killed. And all hopes are false until they are realized. So, you know, any protest sort of brings false hopes, any protest against something as maniacal as Dow. Like Dow is not likely to do anything about this, and so anytime you hope that it is, it’s false in a way.



Democracy Now!
(May 2008)


NYT Scrutinized for Report on Hezbollah Training Iraqis in Iran

The New York Times is coming under criticism for publishing an article based solely on unnamed sources suggesting that the Lebanese group Hezbollah is training Iraqi militants inside Iran. The article by Michael Gordon was published on Monday, one day after Iraqi government spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraq has no hard evidence of Iranian support of insurgents in Iraq. John Stauber of PR Watch said Gordon’s article is “reminiscent of the horrendous errors of judgment and bad journalism committed by Michael Gordon, Judith Miller and others at the New York Times who turned the paper into a conduit for phony stories that sold the war in Iraq.” Retired Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner said he feels the article in Monday’s Times is “part of a strategic communications plan.”


John Bolton: Striking Iran Is “Really the Most Prudent Thing to Do”


Hours after the Times article was published, former UN Ambassador John Bolton appeared on Fox News and called for US strikes against Iran. He was interviewed by Jaime Colby of Fox News.

John Bolton: “I think this is a case where the use of military force against a training camp to show the Iranians we’re simply not going to tolerate this is really the most prudent thing to do. And then the ball would be in Iran’s court to draw the appropriate lesson to stop harming our troops.”

Jaime Colby: “Ambassador John Bolton, a good message to end on. Thank you very much.”

Iran Suspends US Talks to Protest US Offensive