Topic: big media
Have a look at this horrific story. IDF airforce use white phosphorous shells usually banned as a weapon of war and kill some Gazan Palestinians with terrible burns. The injured and dead are carried by farm tractor to hospital when the two youths driving are shot dead "in cold blood" with arms raised in surrender.
John Lyons, Sydney journalist, has the story here on page 1 and large section of page 2, and feature story on p23 last weekend to the heartland of the conservative readership of Australia. There is no reasonable doubt the soldiers are racist murderers within the IDF:
This story combines with the feature story later in the newspaper here:
Will the cycle be unbroken | The Australian 31 Jan 2009 [though the print version is called "Choice is talk or fight again"]
Then the ABC radio this morning, Cameron show, says they are running a feel good story later today about the Israeli Air Force helping to save birdlife with research for a neat radar device. Not a mention of UN accusations of war crimes for use of white phosphorous bombs. Sydney ABC radio running interference for Israeli propaganda machine on profound evidence of war crimes and murder by racist predators in the Israeli IDF?
How out of touch is that? How offensive to Arabic Australian listeners in Sydney? How pathetic can the public broadcaster be? Or stupid?
Indeed we called the Executive Producer before the story ran with a fair warning that this story will be seen as running a feel good story for the IDF and in particular the Air Force under pressure over demonstrated war crimes. Sure enough the Tel Aviv University researcher confirms research in collaboration with "the Israeli Air Force" has been able to save the birds migrating through the "Gaza war zone". The ABC telephone interview goes all the way into Israel.
And there folks is how a war machine does PR. Too bad our ABC is caught in the manipulation with our tax dollars. Quite shameful in fact.
And that's speaking as a zoology graduate from Australian National University with 15 years at the coal face of conservation campaigning and 6 arrests for peaceful protest on forest issues and the like.
The interview winds up with Polyanna Deborah Cameron in twee form "Isn't he great?" of the Israeli conservationist. She thinks it's a bridge building story across political boundaries - funded by the Israeli Air Force and their white phosphorous shells.
This reportage in The Australian above puts others to shame in big media too such as Paul Sheehan at Fairfax and indeed PM Kevin Rudd as apologists for the racist elements of the IDF in Israel.
............................
Postscript #1 4 Feb 2009: As if to respond to our stinging critique of abc Deborah Cameron show (re deceptive PR for the IDF) we noticed her retreat today from the web media reality to a segment about Old Media same schedule. It's with the letters editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, her old workplace. That's what we call existential angst - which is good. Because she should feel it: Our email response this morning;
Having disgracefully pandered to the Israeli PR regarding the 'moral' IDF and their bird wildlife protection yesterday, well exposed by our web post yesterday, you retreat to the letters page of alma mater .... in the age of the blog and ezine self expression. As if.
Tom McLoughlin
