Great analysis, it's a breath of fresh air to read an article that provides so much context on this critical issue of press freedom and the consequent information we have access to. The myth of western nations embodying freedom needs to be confronted every day, good on you for doing that. As Arundati Roy said, this myth has been buried under the rubble along with the children in Gaza, and yet their powerful propaganda machine allows it to persist.
Kia ora Mick, thanks for exposing the misinformation and disinformation rampant throughout journalism in Aotearoa, not least our state media, to the light of day. Your critical analysis is salve to a woeful state of affairs.
Our media is now entirely complicit in manufacturing consent for endless wars and genocide. Almost every news article promotes the supposed moral superiority of the West and the deep colonialist ideology so familiar to anyone deemed “other”.
NZ Herald brought by right wing millionaire as taken to task and to court by Ian Taylor. As the purchase of CNN in US. Even left wing papers like the Guardian carry stories about 'anti semitism' by the likes of Johnathon Freedman. Disgusting
Hate to disillusion you, but the Guardian lost any pretence of being left wing, long ago!
It's been very passive in its reporting, on the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. As Mick says, referring to MSM in Aotearoa, it reports the white colonisers perspective, because its readers "identify," more readily with their fellows, than with brown Palestinian people, being subjected to a genocide.
"Freedom of the press" (which is a but a specific expression of the more general concept of "freedom of speech") has no value in itself. We uphold freedom of speech and freedom of the press as a means to an end, that end being the promulgation of the truth.
But what does it mean when we don't get the truth from our media? It means that "press freedom" is not serving its intended purpose. It means that press freedom in this country is an empty vessel, devoid of content and effectively worthless.
The problem is that the people who control the New Zealand media are not committed to the truth and in many cases are actively hostile to it. Giving those people freedom to publish whatever they like can only harm the cause of truth. The press, and the media generally, become propaganda organs in the hands of the anti-democratic political elite, and journalists are reduced to being banal propagandists.
So what is the solution? I would say that the ethics, the structure and the personnel of media organizations must be decisively changed. Quite simply, the media must accept that its job is to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. No more propaganda. No more lies. Those who have abused "freedom of the press" through dissembling, obfuscation and outright lies have to go. Those who were purged from the New Zealand media because of their dedication to the truth need to be brought back and honored for their courage and commitment.
Great analysis, it's a breath of fresh air to read an article that provides so much context on this critical issue of press freedom and the consequent information we have access to. The myth of western nations embodying freedom needs to be confronted every day, good on you for doing that. As Arundati Roy said, this myth has been buried under the rubble along with the children in Gaza, and yet their powerful propaganda machine allows it to persist.
A brilliant analysis on the rather sad state of our media today
Kia ora Mick, thanks for exposing the misinformation and disinformation rampant throughout journalism in Aotearoa, not least our state media, to the light of day. Your critical analysis is salve to a woeful state of affairs.
Kia kaha.
Excellent analysis and thank you. Our media have failed, they are complicit in the heinous crimes of genocide
Our media is now entirely complicit in manufacturing consent for endless wars and genocide. Almost every news article promotes the supposed moral superiority of the West and the deep colonialist ideology so familiar to anyone deemed “other”.
Elegantly said and so important for others to read. Thanks Mick.
It's (the Guardian)the most left wing paper apart from socialist blogs that I have found. That's why I lurk on substack
NZ Herald brought by right wing millionaire as taken to task and to court by Ian Taylor. As the purchase of CNN in US. Even left wing papers like the Guardian carry stories about 'anti semitism' by the likes of Johnathon Freedman. Disgusting
Hate to disillusion you, but the Guardian lost any pretence of being left wing, long ago!
It's been very passive in its reporting, on the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. As Mick says, referring to MSM in Aotearoa, it reports the white colonisers perspective, because its readers "identify," more readily with their fellows, than with brown Palestinian people, being subjected to a genocide.
"Freedom of the press" (which is a but a specific expression of the more general concept of "freedom of speech") has no value in itself. We uphold freedom of speech and freedom of the press as a means to an end, that end being the promulgation of the truth.
But what does it mean when we don't get the truth from our media? It means that "press freedom" is not serving its intended purpose. It means that press freedom in this country is an empty vessel, devoid of content and effectively worthless.
The problem is that the people who control the New Zealand media are not committed to the truth and in many cases are actively hostile to it. Giving those people freedom to publish whatever they like can only harm the cause of truth. The press, and the media generally, become propaganda organs in the hands of the anti-democratic political elite, and journalists are reduced to being banal propagandists.
So what is the solution? I would say that the ethics, the structure and the personnel of media organizations must be decisively changed. Quite simply, the media must accept that its job is to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. No more propaganda. No more lies. Those who have abused "freedom of the press" through dissembling, obfuscation and outright lies have to go. Those who were purged from the New Zealand media because of their dedication to the truth need to be brought back and honored for their courage and commitment.