The western media's failure to report the reality of Gaza didn’t start on 7 October 2023. It’s always been like this. Here’s why journalists won’t tell you the truth about Palestine
Thank you very much Jonathan, clear explanations for the complicity of mainstream media to the Zionist genocide that has been ongoing for more than 80 years. The state of Israel has a sinister expertise in ruling by fear. The accusation of anti semitism has apparently become the greatest method of control that the modern western world has ever known, it has become equal to the Catholic Inquisitions of the previous millenium.
When you are a part of a so-called "marginalized" group, it doesn't surprise you to see the outright bias of the Mainstream Media. Today's Mainstream media is digital, but in the days of old it was printed. You witnessed the lies being told. You witnessed how those lies would shape the minds and reactions of the masses. You witnessed how those lies would be maintained by more lies should any crack in the narrative appear. You witnessed those who did speak the truth were marginalized and called "lovers" of the marginalized. You witnessed the death threats, discrediting, demonization, etc. of those who had the courage to speak the truth. You witnessed the struggle your once allies faced when it came to their livelihoods versus their support. You witnessed the real story, should it enter the news at all, on the last page or next to the last page of the periodical. You witnessed the defamation of character and the isolation. You witnessed the distortion of historical facts to support the current narrative. You witnessed your own work being hijacked and reprinted with no credit given to you. I would say, most everything that Mr. Cook experienced has been happening to journalists, historians, educators, and archivists who dared to shed the light on heavily censored topics, especially those written about so-called "marginalized" groups.
Today... with the advent of the Internet and social media, it is a bit harder to bury the truth, or shall I say, an alternative perspective of what is happening in our world. But even today, if you are an apt investigative journalist, you know and have experienced, how quickly information is scrubbed from the internet. Today... researching is being replaced with AI which for all intents and purposes is biased and controlled.
Today's mass media's approach to what is happening to the Palestinians is of no surprise to those who have been marginalized, called all the despicable names, deemed less than human, have no rights, have been genocided with utter impunity, robbed, raped, tortured and deprived of their human rights and dignity. This is an old story. It is an old script.
Today, as Malcolm X once quipped, "The chickens come home to roost."
BTW, Jonathan, I crosspost this very insightful article.
Really appreciate your insights, knowledge, and wisdom on this topic to explain what is happening with the media's complicity in the Gaza genocide. Very eye opening. Thank you for your perseverance and courage to expose the truth.
Excellent piece. I think the penchant for self-preservation, which requires self-censorship, extends much further, as well, to coverage (or lack thereof) of things like the climate crisis and the continuing subjugation of people in the southern hemisphere for the greed of "The West." Wouldn't want to report too clearly on those and other oligarchic darlings or you'll be cancelled by fossil fuel and tech companies, for example. Reading your first-hand account isn't surprising, I'm afraid, but reinforcing. Thank you.
became doctors because they genuinely wanted to help people healed - and then realized they are nothing more than drug dealers for big corporations, and at best , doing little more than referrals and pain management .
How many teachers took up teaching positions because they love teaching , only to realize there is little room for that utterly sacred space in a classroom when tests are every other week, and the curriculum is so lacking …
How many young talented
singers wanted to inspire the world with the beauty of music- as children full
of talent , brimming with confidence and bravery,
only to be told wear a lower bra and bend over for the camera, when they released their first single,
written by produceds who never even bothered to listen to the singers own songs .
Is it really suicide
to leave something that isnt what you thought it would
"Honest Reporting", "The Free Press", they have the best names you have to admit. Imagine a murder with a shirt reading Angel on the front. I was reading Robert Fisk's great war for civilisation and I think I sensed some of this frustration there too. Thank you for putting this information out there.
I would recommend watching the talk Francesca Albanese gave at Australia's National Press Club 2 years prior https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAnn07kilFk - and this year of course, they had organised for Chris Hedges to come there and then later there was this big mistake and he was not! But on Francesca's talk, the last part where she takes questions was pretty heartbreaking to say the least, but you provide the explanation for that here.
It must be much easier to just tow the line and write a load of pro-Israel/Western viewpoint guff, so I have the utmost respect for those journalists who are prepared to risk their careers and reputation in the name of truth telling and challenging those in power. Thank you.
I agree. I gave up on MSM years and years ago. The only ones I read or listen to have either been fired, or they quit in disgust over never having their stories published. Upton Sinclair and Douglas L. Reed come to mind. The latter was The Times' Berlin correspondent in the run-up to WWII. He repeatedly tried to warn the people of the UK about what was soon to come. The editors trash canned his stories because the owners of the newspaper and the banks behind them wanted that war. As a result he sat down and wrote "The Controversy of Zion", which I highly recommend.
What the Israel lobby does to journalists they also do to politicians. Paul Findley described that in detail in his book "They Dare To Speak Out".
All reporters that stick to the truth instead of selling out or caving in are heroes. Jonathan Cook included.
If anyone wants to see what is happening in Gaza they only need to join the Israelis who make a picnic of watching the bombs drop on tents and IOF snipers shooting children in different body parts on any given day -- to stop the boredom of ^just^ killing them.
Many, if not most, Western corporate news-media outlets are/were complicit in (or perhaps even enabling) Israel’s campaign of systematic mass starvation and slaughter of Gazan non-combatants young and old, almost a third of whom are children. At best, those news-media have been editorially emasculated thus negligent. Though it may be due to orders from ownership headquarters and therefore beyond their control, our (Canada's) news-media are serious offenders.
The most notable example is The National Post. One would really have to read it to believe it, especially since the initial (October 7) Hamas attack against Israel. It epitomizes an extreme example of an echo chamber promoting unconditional 110% support for the Israeli state, including its very-long-practiced cruelty towards the Palestinian people.
For example, shortly after that Hamas attack, a single-column story about a five-year-old American-Palestinian boy who was stabbed to death by the landlord of the residence in which he and his mother lived simply for being Palestinian was placed on page 5, while placed up high on the front page was a large photo (which accompanied a much larger story) with three Israeli teenage girls crying after their friends or family were kidnapped by Hamas gunmen.
More progressive outlets in Canada (e.g. The Globe and Mail national newspaper) — progressive in regard to basically following “woke” ideology: that of race, sexuality, gender and gender-bending — may be considered more deceptive with their largely pro-Israel stance, especially since 10/7, while attempting to appear objective.
This is one of the most important posts ever! Thank you, Johnathan, for all your efforts to get the truth out! Imagine a journalist trying to achieve "Balance" in genocide reporting! What?
excellent!
Thank you for your honest journalism ❤️🇵🇸
Thank you very much Jonathan, clear explanations for the complicity of mainstream media to the Zionist genocide that has been ongoing for more than 80 years. The state of Israel has a sinister expertise in ruling by fear. The accusation of anti semitism has apparently become the greatest method of control that the modern western world has ever known, it has become equal to the Catholic Inquisitions of the previous millenium.
When you are a part of a so-called "marginalized" group, it doesn't surprise you to see the outright bias of the Mainstream Media. Today's Mainstream media is digital, but in the days of old it was printed. You witnessed the lies being told. You witnessed how those lies would shape the minds and reactions of the masses. You witnessed how those lies would be maintained by more lies should any crack in the narrative appear. You witnessed those who did speak the truth were marginalized and called "lovers" of the marginalized. You witnessed the death threats, discrediting, demonization, etc. of those who had the courage to speak the truth. You witnessed the struggle your once allies faced when it came to their livelihoods versus their support. You witnessed the real story, should it enter the news at all, on the last page or next to the last page of the periodical. You witnessed the defamation of character and the isolation. You witnessed the distortion of historical facts to support the current narrative. You witnessed your own work being hijacked and reprinted with no credit given to you. I would say, most everything that Mr. Cook experienced has been happening to journalists, historians, educators, and archivists who dared to shed the light on heavily censored topics, especially those written about so-called "marginalized" groups.
Today... with the advent of the Internet and social media, it is a bit harder to bury the truth, or shall I say, an alternative perspective of what is happening in our world. But even today, if you are an apt investigative journalist, you know and have experienced, how quickly information is scrubbed from the internet. Today... researching is being replaced with AI which for all intents and purposes is biased and controlled.
Today's mass media's approach to what is happening to the Palestinians is of no surprise to those who have been marginalized, called all the despicable names, deemed less than human, have no rights, have been genocided with utter impunity, robbed, raped, tortured and deprived of their human rights and dignity. This is an old story. It is an old script.
Today, as Malcolm X once quipped, "The chickens come home to roost."
BTW, Jonathan, I crosspost this very insightful article.
Really appreciate your insights, knowledge, and wisdom on this topic to explain what is happening with the media's complicity in the Gaza genocide. Very eye opening. Thank you for your perseverance and courage to expose the truth.
A Marxist analysis states that Palestinian genocide is a symptom of a murderous economic system called Capitalism.
Uniting and mobilising the international working class against it is the only way to save us and all life the planet sustains.
Brilliant 👏👏👏
Brilliant as usual, and necessar ! Thank you Jonathan, piece translated in French here : https://zanzibar.substack.com/p/se-liberer-de-la-pensee-unique-des
Excellent piece. I think the penchant for self-preservation, which requires self-censorship, extends much further, as well, to coverage (or lack thereof) of things like the climate crisis and the continuing subjugation of people in the southern hemisphere for the greed of "The West." Wouldn't want to report too clearly on those and other oligarchic darlings or you'll be cancelled by fossil fuel and tech companies, for example. Reading your first-hand account isn't surprising, I'm afraid, but reinforcing. Thank you.
Why fear phone calls from Israel ? Just look at Israel ... are they always to be a reflection of the ruling class ? My Gid indeed ...
On ‘career suicide’.
How many people
became doctors because they genuinely wanted to help people healed - and then realized they are nothing more than drug dealers for big corporations, and at best , doing little more than referrals and pain management .
How many teachers took up teaching positions because they love teaching , only to realize there is little room for that utterly sacred space in a classroom when tests are every other week, and the curriculum is so lacking …
How many young talented
singers wanted to inspire the world with the beauty of music- as children full
of talent , brimming with confidence and bravery,
only to be told wear a lower bra and bend over for the camera, when they released their first single,
written by produceds who never even bothered to listen to the singers own songs .
Is it really suicide
to leave something that isnt what you thought it would
be.
Why stay and rot
"Honest Reporting", "The Free Press", they have the best names you have to admit. Imagine a murder with a shirt reading Angel on the front. I was reading Robert Fisk's great war for civilisation and I think I sensed some of this frustration there too. Thank you for putting this information out there.
I would recommend watching the talk Francesca Albanese gave at Australia's National Press Club 2 years prior https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAnn07kilFk - and this year of course, they had organised for Chris Hedges to come there and then later there was this big mistake and he was not! But on Francesca's talk, the last part where she takes questions was pretty heartbreaking to say the least, but you provide the explanation for that here.
It must be much easier to just tow the line and write a load of pro-Israel/Western viewpoint guff, so I have the utmost respect for those journalists who are prepared to risk their careers and reputation in the name of truth telling and challenging those in power. Thank you.
I agree. I gave up on MSM years and years ago. The only ones I read or listen to have either been fired, or they quit in disgust over never having their stories published. Upton Sinclair and Douglas L. Reed come to mind. The latter was The Times' Berlin correspondent in the run-up to WWII. He repeatedly tried to warn the people of the UK about what was soon to come. The editors trash canned his stories because the owners of the newspaper and the banks behind them wanted that war. As a result he sat down and wrote "The Controversy of Zion", which I highly recommend.
What the Israel lobby does to journalists they also do to politicians. Paul Findley described that in detail in his book "They Dare To Speak Out".
All reporters that stick to the truth instead of selling out or caving in are heroes. Jonathan Cook included.
If anyone wants to see what is happening in Gaza they only need to join the Israelis who make a picnic of watching the bombs drop on tents and IOF snipers shooting children in different body parts on any given day -- to stop the boredom of ^just^ killing them.
Many, if not most, Western corporate news-media outlets are/were complicit in (or perhaps even enabling) Israel’s campaign of systematic mass starvation and slaughter of Gazan non-combatants young and old, almost a third of whom are children. At best, those news-media have been editorially emasculated thus negligent. Though it may be due to orders from ownership headquarters and therefore beyond their control, our (Canada's) news-media are serious offenders.
The most notable example is The National Post. One would really have to read it to believe it, especially since the initial (October 7) Hamas attack against Israel. It epitomizes an extreme example of an echo chamber promoting unconditional 110% support for the Israeli state, including its very-long-practiced cruelty towards the Palestinian people.
For example, shortly after that Hamas attack, a single-column story about a five-year-old American-Palestinian boy who was stabbed to death by the landlord of the residence in which he and his mother lived simply for being Palestinian was placed on page 5, while placed up high on the front page was a large photo (which accompanied a much larger story) with three Israeli teenage girls crying after their friends or family were kidnapped by Hamas gunmen.
More progressive outlets in Canada (e.g. The Globe and Mail national newspaper) — progressive in regard to basically following “woke” ideology: that of race, sexuality, gender and gender-bending — may be considered more deceptive with their largely pro-Israel stance, especially since 10/7, while attempting to appear objective.
Don't forget how much of the media is owned by jews/zionist jews.
This is one of the most important posts ever! Thank you, Johnathan, for all your efforts to get the truth out! Imagine a journalist trying to achieve "Balance" in genocide reporting! What?