[Media-watch]

[David Crouch]

Just a few thoughts:
 
My impression is that, if you go to any anti-war meeting or give out
leaflets on the street, there is enormous, silent indignation out there.
People really do feel betrayed. 
 
The difficulty is mobilising that feeling. I think the Sept 27 demo is going
to be crucial in this respect. The outcome of the postworkers strike ballot
could have an impact too -- the union has been brilliant on Iraq. 
 
As for the media, the situation is a little different from a year ago, when
so much of the media was parroting the government line. Now it's easier to
find serious comment in the press and on TV attacking the government and
exposing the US/UK role in Iraq. 
 
Essentially we've won the main argument that the war was wrong. Nobody
seriously believes that the US/UK went into Iraq to establish peace and
democracy and to fight terrorism.
 
Now we've got to win arguments about ending the occupation, and what to put
in Blair's place when he goes -- the second of these in particular is a
complex issue, you can't campaign around it in the same way. The media is
less of an obstacle to the anti-war movement than it was initially -- we've
made some real breakthroughs. The picture is complicated by the fact that
all the Murdoch press are attacking the BBC with their own right-wing
agenda. 
 
The people who control the media haven't changed their spots -- they are
still the same class-ridden and class-biased bunch of bastards that they
were. But I think the situation requires that media watchers also pay
attention to related issues, such as the appalling attacks on asylum seekers
in the press (which are trying to wrest back some of the ground lost to the
anti-war movement), islamophobia and combatting the rise of the BNP, what's
happening in Palestine, democracy movements in the Middle East and so on. 
 
All comments gratefully received
 
Dave
Media Workers Against the War 
www.mwaw.org <http://www.mwaw.org>  
London
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: YvonneMarshall [mailto:Brotherhoods at stevenston4.fsnet.co.uk]
Sent: 17 September 2003 00:21
To: media-watch at lists.stir.ac.uk
Cc: Neil Ferry
Subject: [Media-watch] 


Dear List-Members,
 
There is no attachment with this, it's just another rant.
 
Where is the indignation that spurred the establishment of Media-Watch ? 
 
Where is the calmly-expressed anger of the majority who opposed the UK
govt's stance on Iraq's invasion ? 
 
Where are the careful, patient analyses of the outpourings of the Hutton
Inquiry ? 
 
Was Media-Watch not established to provide a forum for people with
legitimate concerns about the predictable abuse of mass-media when 'war'
became inevitable ? 
 
Why have the voices dimmed and died ? 
 
Did you concern yourself with media-watch ? 
 
What were your feelings when you did ? 
 
What has changed between then and now ?
 
Is your life richer for having witnessed the travails of the New Labour
Project ? 
 
Who would you choose to play Lord Hutton in the soon-to-be-trailed
dramatisation of events ?
 
Who authorised the strategy designed to release Dr David Kelly's name to the
media ? Was it ;
 
A:  Pam Teare
B.  Geoff Hoone
C. Kevin Tebbit
 
How many Iraqi CIVILIANS are now deceased *as a result of the 'Coalition'
Action against Iraq ?
Is it :
 
A:   7,000
B:   15,000
C:   37,000
 
(*You can easily find sources which confirm any of these figures - go online
and do the donkey-work yourself.)
 
Purely personal note - I could, like many other folk, concentrate my time
and energy on the fantastically simple, straightforward pursuit of money. I
CHOOSE to get involved with projects like Media-Watch because I honestly
believe that there are many many intelligent, well-qualified, influential
people out there (even in a wee place like Scotland) who are utterly
scunnered about what's happening and want to make a difference. If you are
one of those people, or know someone who is, please show them this message
and ask them to help, in whatever way they can, to broaden debate and start
asking the questions that have to be asked (e.g. anything even vaguely
9/11-related) 
 
Scotland is sending young men and women to die in the Middle East. Scottish
people are entitled to ask why. 
 
The 'war' they are fighting has not yet been justified.
 
If you can help raise these questions, even in your own household, please
do.
 
Thank you for your attention,
 
Ian, X 
 
 
 
 
 
 



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