|
AT THE PRECIPICE
A Year’s End Message from TvNewsLies
31-December-2003
Just one short year ago, at the start of 2003, the handwriting of an illegal and immoral war was being clearly scribbled on the wall. Just one short year ago, as New Year’s revelers were cheering, US and British troops were massing in Kuwait and George W. Bush was regularly lying through his teeth. Just one short year ago, the nation was divided, the world was horrified, and somewhere around that time, the America we had known simply disappeared.
And just one short year ago, TvNewsLies was not even an idea in this editor’s head!
In January and February of 2002, I was busy marching. My anti war signs were larger, my voice was louder, and my anger was more fathomable than during the months before. And gradually, while I was organizing and mobilizing, something terrifying became apparent: I found myself surrounded by a coterie of voices relentlessly selling this unnecessary and unwarranted war to the American public. The messages were not coming from the White House. They were not coming from the politicians. They were not coming from the pundits. The selling of the invasion of Iraq, resplendent with music and fanfare, was coming from the TV News Networks!
As the reality of war grew nearer, I watched in open-mouthed horror as respected personalities like Wolf Blitzer and other “newscasters� became shills for their masters in Washington. Day after day, I became more and more amazed at the deceptive methods used by the “news� networks to terrorize and mislead a nation. Almost as one, all the networks used the same strategies: they reported half truths, they tailored important details, they distorted history, and they touted unsubstantiated claims. They cited quotes out of context, they repeated the pro-war mantras of each day, and ultimately they all became a unified, 24 hour a day infomercial for the war plans of the White House.
By March of 2003, the TV news networks had done a yeoman’s job of helping George Bush convince the American people that their very lives were in peril, and that only a pre-emptive, shock and awe attack on Iraq could save them from annihilation. On March 29th, 2003 the seeds for TvNewsLies were planted!
On that day I posted several articles about media deception on my personal web site. The response from visitors to the site was so encouraging that I felt catapulted into action. On April 11, 2003, TvNewsLies.org was launched. My goal was to try and counter media deception, - to somehow expose their duplicity and manipulation, and to provide access to news and pertinent information for those who logged on.
When the site went up, I hoped that a few more people would stumble across the site and find it informative. With some luck, and via word of mouth and e-mail, I hoped to attract around 100 visitors per day by summer’s end. Well, luck was with me, and we beat that goal by a long shot. As the year ends the site is nearing 900,000 visits. I suppose TVNL hit a nerve.
Tackling this job on my own has been a challenge and a great learning experience, and I hope I’ve achieved some of what I started out to do. I’ve worked hard to do what I set out to, but I know that the job is far from over. This next year will test all of us in cyberspace who work to counter propaganda and selective reporting with facts and documentation. This next year, 2004, may well bring the most telling moment in the history of this country.
I say this because, in a sense, the relative success of this site is a sad thing. This is a mission that should never have been necessary. While I am humbled by the response, I am saddened by the need to fight for truth in media. And, I am deeply concerned about what lies ahead in the coming year, because I truly believe that we are all standing on a very dangerous precipice:
I am absolutely convinced that the future of this country will turn on the next presidential election. And I am equally convinced that continued media deception will play a devastating role in keeping the American electorate uninformed and misled. That must not be allowed to happen.
With your continued support, TvNewsLies will continue its efforts to bring truth to the people!
At this year’s end, I want to take this opportunity to thank all those who have visited and encouraged the efforts of TvNewsLies. I want to express my appreciation for all of the kind words of support and for all the information passed along to me. I appreciate all of the recognition, the links to my site, the word of mouth publicity and the donations that have been vital for the continuation of this effort. And most of all, I want to thank all the extraordinary alternative news sites on the Internet from whose expertise and effectiveness I have learned so much.
We have to continue the fight. We all must work together to stay informed and to inform others.
The corporate media cannot be the sources from which Americans derive the facts they need to make informed decisions.
But, if we stand together, and go forward hand in hand, we may discover that the precipice is steep - but not insurmountable.
I wish you all a peaceful and healthy New Year.
Peace,
Jesse – Editor, TV News Lies
|
