The Listening Post~US Media Double Standards 2009 09 17 Al Jazeera

The Listening Post~US Media Double Standards 2009 09 17 Al Jazeera

22mn / 154 mb mp4

We focus on double standards in the US media when it comes to covering the so-called 'war on terror'.

There has been a lack of consistency in what state-side news is reporting, and a lack of confidence in their coverage as a result.

We take a look at the willingness of Barack Obama, the US president, to suppress certain images, and the US media's reticence in even using the word "torture".

Salah Khadr also explores the celebratory coverage of the release of journalist Roxana Saberi from an Iranian prison in May this year, in comparison to their silence about foreign reporters held by the US.

Pentagon propaganda

Often the standard by which reporters measure themselves editorially and creatively, the Times has, since 9/11, found itself under fire for some well-publicized failings in reporting, that had real implications on security issues.

Meenakshi Ravi takes a look at the paper that promises "all the news that is fit to print" and the media war over alleged Pentagon propaganda and the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

However, in April 2008, far from being accused of acting as a mouthpiece for the Pentagon, the New York Times exposed a pundit program that put retired, pro-Pentagon generals on air across the US media networks.

The Pentagon abolished the program after the Times article was published – and the news channels and papers that played along with the propaganda game ignored the story.

The Listening Post explores the story of the Pentagon pundits, and the picture it painted about the US military's relationship with the news media.

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/listeningpost/2009/07/2009715144916757956.html

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