Palestine-Israeli conflict
Maybe it is just me but, for me, this focus on “Palestinian families” and the claim that Palestinian violence is somehow qualitatively different from Israeli violence sounds racist. If we talk about “relentless” it seems strange not to include mention of the Israeli settler movement which has been, relentlessly (?), taking over more and more Palestinian land for decades. In other words, for me, this piece is extremely one-sided. (In fact this piece is at least viewable and I assess the journalist as being mistaken rather than malicious. I find much of the Times Radio coverage of the conflict unwatchable it is so fascistic).
Ukraine
This is from the Washington Post. It reproduces this line which has become a kind of ‘trope’ in Western Media coverage: “Putin has also shown a willingness to endure high numbers of casualties.”. This is then used as evidence of Russia’s or Putin’s especial barbarism. But – they hardly ever mention that Kiev, too, has shown a willingness to accept equally (if not higher) numbers of casualties. The same problems that Russia has apparently, of soldiers not being released for home leave are also very much the case in Ukraine. But the media only talks about Russia, while hiding Ukraine’s problems. Basic war journalism.
This is another propaganda line being widely reproduced in the Western media. The holdup of more military aid to Ukraine in Congress and the Senate is due to “extremist Republicans” or “extremist Trumpian Republicans”. Getting somewhat less airplay is the fact that amongst the US public as a whole support for sending military aid to Ukraine is now down to less than 50%. As so often in the Western media, if you pay attention, and look, accurate and ‘objective’ reporting does take place. The propaganda drive seems to come from the editorial offices, the State Department and “think-tanks”; this shapes the overall message, but, as I say, individual reports still surface enabling a more accurate picture to be built up.
