War / Peace

Who Flacks for Peace ?

by John Stauber — September 25, 2001 - 7:37pm

Peace Action is no new kid on the block. This very serious and well established group dates back forty years to the 'ban the bomb' movement of the 1960s, and led the fight in the 1980s against Ronald Reagan's nuclear build-up. Now, it tackles the current crisis in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Main Source: 
http://www.peace-action.org/

Managing the Image of the New Peace Movement

by John Stauber — September 23, 2001 - 11:00pm

During the Vietnam War some peace activists rejected and burned the American flag, embracing instead the flag of Vietnam's National Liberation Front fighting against the United States. When some U.S. peace activists traveled to Vietnam their Vietnamese hosts questioned their turning against their own flag as an unpatriotic blunder that allowed the Nixon government to make the American flag into a symbol of support for the war, marginalizing those who called for peace. Three decades later, will peace activists learn from past blunders and embrace the stars and stripes?

Main Source: 
AlterNet, September 24, 2001

U.S. Students Push Peace on the Internet

by John Stauber — September 21, 2001 - 7:57am

One sign of how different this "war on terrorism" is from previous U.S. wars is evident in the campus antiwar movement's use of the Internet. While they have so far received very little media coverage, already tens of thousands of young people in the U.S. are participating in vigils, rallies, fundraisers, teach-ins and other events that mourn the victims of terrorism while calling for military restraint and an examination of the role of the U.S. government itself in terrorism in the Middle East, Central America and elsewhere.

Main Source: 
http://www.peacefuljustice.cjb.net

War Time Reporting: Journalism or Flackery ?

by John Stauber — September 20, 2001 - 8:12pm

Author Normon Solomon warns that "more than ever, as journalists report for duty, the news profession is morphing into PR flackery for Uncle Sam. In effect, a lot of reporters are saluting the commander-in-chief and awaiting orders.

Main Source: 
AlterNet

FAIR Watchdogs the "Media March to War"

by John Stauber — September 19, 2001 - 11:00pm

Coverage of the September 11th terrorist attack and the pending military response contains clamors for blind and immediate revenge.

Main Source: 
http://www.fair.org/press-releases/wtc-war-punditry.html

Will Truth Again Be The First Casualty?

by Laura Miller — September 19, 2001 - 11:00pm

In the wake of the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, the U.S. government is preparing for a new war. The Center for Public Integrity asks us to recall U.S. military actions of the 80s and 90s when the U.S. government imposed restrictions on news media. CPI examined the consequences of those impositions in a 1991 report, "Under Fire: U.S. Military Restrictions on the Media from Grenada to the Persian Gulf." The report concluded that "information about Defense Department activities . . .

Main Source: 
Center for Public Integrity, September 20, 2001

How Will the Media Cover the Peace Movement ?

by John Stauber — September 19, 2001 - 11:00pm

The New York Times today reports that "in interviews with two dozen New Yorkers, most people said the desire for peace outweighed any impulse for vengeance, even among those directly affected" by the September 11 terrorist attack. Across the U.S. tens of thousands of Americans are already participating in peace rallies calling for military restraint and criticizing the U.S. media for poor reporting of U.S. military and foreign policies leading up to the terrorist attack. How will the news media cover and depict this unfolding peace movement and its views?

Main Source: 
New York Times, September 20, 2001

Powell Tate Lobbies for Star Wars

by Sheldon Rampton — September 16, 2001 - 11:00pm

Boeing is using Interpublic's Powell Tate unit to build PR support for President Bush's missile defense system. Bush's request for $8.3 billion for missile defense was expected to be sliced due to the vanishing surplus, but now has gotten new life in aftermath of last week's terror attacks. This contradicts Kevin McCauley's prediction in last week's O'Dwyer's PR Daily. McCauley wrote that the terrorist attacks "killed Bush's missile defense program.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, September 17, 2001

TV Fans the Flames of War, But Common Dreams Go Deeper

by John Stauber — September 16, 2001 - 11:57am

Common Dreams is one website providing an important alternative to mainstream TV coverage. TV commentators are increasingly fanning flames of war and rapid retaliation. "Americans are anxious to have some sort of retaliation take place," National Public Radio and FOX TV commentator Juan Williams stated today during FOX coverage featuring stirring music videos of Tuesday's attack set to patriotic songs. Actor and action-figure Chuck Norris appeared on Fox to declare that "good is white and evil is black," saying he was "always against eliminating the draft" and has been riveted to Fox TV.

Main Source: 
http://www.commondreams.org/

Bush vs. the Taliban

by Sheldon Rampton — September 14, 2001 - 11:00pm

During part of Friday, Spin of the Day provided a link to a story by Robert Scheer of the Los Angeles Times titled Bush's Faustian Deal with the Taliban. We have discovered, however, that Scheer's story was misleading and inaccurate. His story, written on May 22, 2001, reported that the Bush administration had given $43 million to the Taliban as "an ally in the drug war. ... The gift ... makes the U.S.

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