This report by Channel 4 News in the UK, covering Edward Snowden’s application for asylum in the Russian Federation and his revelations of collaboration between Microsoft and the National Security Agency struck me as everything that US “news” coverage is not.
The reporters don’t just parrot the Washington line. They point out that the transit lounge in Moscow airport is not actually much of a “propaganda platform,” as Jay Carney charged. They point out that the frantic attempts to shut Snowden up and deny him the ability to seek asylum are not consonant with the First Amendment of the American constitution. They cover Snowden’s revelations about Microsoft, Skype and collaboration with the NSA and the FBI, not just controversies about Snowden himself.
They report, in full, and critically. I think aside from Chris Hayes on NBC.com and Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! it would be impossible to get this quality of reporting on this issue on any US outlet. The fusion of Corporate News and the US Government (with its Deep State) is so complete that questioning the Beltway Bandits is out of the question any more.
so we understand the nature of the american media…
may we never again have expectations for anything different
I’m so happy Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now was cited for reporting excellence.
Her’s is one of a very few sites I trust and rely upon for accurate reportage…
I’m a very long term expat and consider the bulk of U.S. News to be a joke or just pure entertainment; at least for idiots.
This one was immediately taken down by Reddit when posted to WORLDNEWS.
I don’t thing the US media is “schoolable”. There has to be some willingness on the part of the student.
This report included Mike Hayden, former NSA liar-in-chief, saying that Snowden was wrong to go against the collective judgment of the IC establishment — meaning himself.
What value does that add ?
Remember Iraq war?
The places where one could get relatively unreducted news was the BBC and in the US, Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now. . Nowadays Aljezira English and RT are places to go for news and views from the othe side. Why are we not blessed by having access to more sites of this sort? Don’t tell me we don’t deserve it!
As an Englishman over here in the UK I regard our news media as second rate at best. That’s why I read Informed comment and other internet news and comment sites. Our BBC channel two TV is well able to give politicians and others short shrift and they get away with nothing. We have a morning radio programme called ‘Today’ run by John Humphrys. This is the terror of politicians, spokesmen and quangocrats everywhere. But the rest of our TV and radio leaves much to be desired. I have seen some American TV news outlets and listened to one or two radio talk shows and it seems to me they are talking to an idiot audience. What I don’t understand is why Americans listen to it. I have met many Americans over here in the UK and they are always critical of their own news media but seem to be news aware in general. Are there two kinds of Americans? If you don’t listen to the sheer propaganda of say, Fox news, the station will soon shut down. The trouble is, Americans listen this drivel in their millions.
This note just came over the transom to my office: “Davy Gregory just told MSNBC he will no longer deliver their softball questions to guests who are power players in the Washington Establishment. He is going to grill them to get the real skinny.”
Oops! Here’s another note. “Davy just got fired.”
Hold on. Here’s another. “Chick Todd, Ed Schlitz, Melissa Rick-Perry, Motormouth Matthews, Sharp Alton, and Duke Russert are lined up at the president’s door applying for Davy’s job.”
More people are being prosecuted by the state and corporation for telling the truth than have been prosecuted by the state for causing the near-collapse of the worldwide economy in 2007-2008.
Coincidence?
This kind of reporting certainly does put into perspective the blather heard from American broadcast news outfits. Maybe it’s because it’s British, but this brings to mind the shock and hang-wringing by the servile American press a few years ago when a British television reporter had the temerity to ask George Bush tough questions in an interview. Is it any wonder that Reporters Without Borders ranks the United States 47th in its world Press Freedom Index? 47th.
link to en.rsf.org
I have always found The Christian Science Monitor to be a reliable source for fair, unbiased reporting of global events. The Snowden case is no exception, see:
link to m.csmonitor.com
The scientists at Onion Magazine say that Earth is a prime time crime drama broadcast in a parrallel universe. But if that were true the woman who recently gave an official government briefing to the press in which she condemned the Russians “for giving Snowden a Platform” would have instead not have said what she was told to say but she would have told the truth and mocked the so called leaders of our country for being the lying sociopaths that they are. Then she would have quit before she could get fired and written a book and made a lot of money and then flew to Costa Rica with her money and lived happily ever after while watching watching the second American Revolution on Russia Today the only kind of accurate news source one can get on TV.