The Truth Shall Set You Free

In a world where information is ubiquitous, where teachers can check a student’s work for plagiarism by a google search, it is no longer viable for mainstream news media to broadcast lies, or facts that don’t check out right.

So instead, they use two completely legit and seemingly ethical methods to brainwash, misinform, and contrive viewers’ opinions: blinds and pundits.

CABLE NEWS: ENOUGH!

Whenever you turn on the tube to watch the news, on any channel, you don’t need to wait long to figure out where the deception is.

Most media critics focus on the actual news being delivered, and on how it’s being delivered and the choice of words and tone used – they’re looking in the wrong place. The real deception is in the news that is not being reported at all.

Pick any day and you will find this problem to be ubiquitous. In the US, the media corporations give the viewers the illusion that the three main Cable news channels (MSNBC, CNN, and FOX) represent the semi-totality of the ideological spectrum, yet they all report the same news stories except with three different sets of opinions/commentary. This past week, and still ongoing, the major stories have been: the invasion of illegal immigrants, the anchor baby (with a special edition of terror anchor baby, comes with fries and coke), the mosque “at” ground zero, and Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s N word. Even if you don’t watch the news for an entire week, you’re bound to hear about some of these stories from friends and colleagues who did get exposure. That is if you haven’t watched them with a Stewart/Colbert twist, for those who would normally get a heart attack from looking at Soledad O’Brien’s facial expressions.

Saberi Makes It Big

The US-Iranian journalist who was imprisoned in a strange country under questionable circumstances has signed a book deal with a major publishing company.

Who said there is no balance in life?

Saberi’s recent exposure means mo’ money…

Visionary Palestinians Can Salvage the Israeli Wreckage

An Israeli settler and her 4 month old baby got into a serious car accident. Palestinians save her. And I have a vision of Israeli-Palestinian integration. Read full post.

Iran and Israel Get Journalist-Arrest Happy

A thought criminal at work? Right after releasing Iranian-American reporter Roxana Saberi, Iranian authorities continued their war on wordsmiths by arresting two more journalists, bringing the total number of journalists and bloggers currently held in Iran to 15, including two women. Six of them were nabbed earlier this month. According to the group Reporters Without [...]

The Art of Not Getting it: David Brooks on Israeli Public Culture

The natives found the cowboys’ rudeness understandable.For David Brooks, Israeli obnoxiousness is due to the fact that Israel is “a tough, scrappy country, perpetually fighting for survival.” That is the American Zionist’s impression to be sure, because Palestinians who see Israeli aggressiveness cannot treat it so cutely — it is violent and chauvinistic. Palestinians are [...]

A Suspicious Journalist and the Future of US-Iran Relations

On Saturday, an Iranian court announced that it had convicted Roxana Saberi of spying for the United States; she was sentenced to 8 years in prison. It all started with a bottle of wine… at least that’s what she told her father. There’s no reason to doubt the veracity of such a claim, but the [...]

Mada al-Carmel Issues the Second Issue of Jadal

In February, I used Kabobfest to advertise the issuing of Jadal’s first issue. I will repeat my shameless exploitation of my posting privileges now that the second issue is out. Mada al-Carmel, the Arab Center for Applied Social Research in Haifa, a unique research center that is attempting to create the first intellectual institution run [...]

Oh, New York Times – stop trying so hard to be “objective”

If the subject of Emily Jacir’s exhibition was any different, this NYT review would be all glowing with praise for an award-winner at the Guggenheim. However, here, the writer manages to disingenuously insert that Wael Zuaiter might actually have been responsible for the Munich attacks: “In the wall text that introduces the exhibition, however, there [...]

Arab Vegans: Get Medical Supervision!

…No it’s not an oxymoron. The article is titled: “For Vegetarians: Medical supervision is Necessary”. It opens: “It is rare for someone to give up the deliciousness of meat and animal products. His/her immediate environment may find this nutritional choice repellent. Vegetarians are a minority, but they have taken a nutritional choice different from the [...]