Thursday, April 07, 2011

The No-Truth Zone

by David Chibo,  Foreign Policy Journal, April 5, 2011

During WWI the Western Allies deliberately spread the soon-to-become-a-classic lie of German soldiers systematically impaling babies in Belgium and France on their bayonets and cutting the unborn children out of pregnant women. The lie helped persuade the Western public to support World (Imperial) War I, in which millions of soldiers and civilians would soon perish.

Modern marketing companies would label this story a “hook.” According to journalists, every big media event ideally needs a “hook,” which becomes the central element of a story that makes it newsworthy, evokes a strong emotional response, and sticks in the memory. An ideal “hook” may turn public opinion from being opposed to the war to being supportive of the war.

An example of a “hook” that soon generated momentum for the US involvement in the first Gulf War’s, “Operation Desert Storm” was a fraudulent report of the murder of Kuwaiti babies by Iraqi soldiers.

Continues >>

1 comment:

Nasir Khan said...

Wars of aggression are crimes against humanity but a windfall for war industries and corporate interests. To gain support for such wars imperial powers, presently the United States, have cleverly manipulated the public opinion both at home and abroad by resorting to false information, deception and lies.

What Mr Chibo calls the “hook” for such such stories in the media is a ploy to advance the state policies which otherwise people may object to. It also shows how the feelings and social consciousness of ordinary people are played upon.