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Alternative Radio (Aust.) PO Box 780 Morwell Victoria 3848 Australia tel. 61-3-5134-8556 mob. 61-413-597-828 inquiries@araustralia.org |
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www.araustralia.org |
Alternative Radio (Aust.) PO Box 780 Morwell Victoria 3848 Australia tel. 61-3-5134-8556 mob. 61-413-597-828 inquiries@araustralia.org |
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America's war on terrorism may last 50 years, says Vice President Cheney, and may extend to 60 countries. A key element in any war is mobilising domestic support. The role of the media is to manufacture consent. According to CBS News anchor Dan Rather, the media are only too willing to go along. He says fear of being called unpatriotic cowers most journalists, including himself, into submission. A prevalent media convention is to focus on enemy crimes with laser-like intensity while never looking at our own. Terrorism just happens. There is no history or context. They, 'the evildoers' hate us. That's it. End of story. A journalist visiting from Mars, unconstrained and free from propaganda, might have a different take on the war on terrorism.
Noam Chomsky, MIT professor, in addition to being a pioneer in linguistics, is internationally renowned for his scholarship and activism on media issues, human rights and social justice. The Guardian calls him, "One of the radical heroes of our age." He is a regular contributor to Z magazine. His books include Propaganda and the Public Mind and 9-11. He is in such demand as a speaker that he is literally booked years in advance. And wherever he goes he draws huge overflow audiences, as he did on this occasion at New York's Town Hall.
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