• Investigations
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Cartoons
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Language
    • 中文
    • русский
    • Español
  • National News
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Elections
  • Civil Liberties
  • Environment
  • Health & Lifestyle
  • Media & Culture
  • MyMPN Announcements

Hypocrisy Of Free Speech: By The Powerful, For The Powerful, Against The Powerless

January 23, 2015 By Yasmin Ahmed Leave a Comment

It is crucial that we maintain some principles such as the freedom of expression, since the right is, by any means, essential to every individual. As much as we disagree with one another, this fundamental right should be upheld.

The problem however arises when this right is abused and the powerless minorities in an already toxic environment are affected by it. Charlie Hebdo was stigmatising Muslims and, in the West today, there is an apparent normalisation and standardisation of this discourse. In fact, political parties, in particular far right groups, are ‘Islamising’ every issue.

After the tragic events, we saw some of the hypocritical world leaders march for the same free speech which they often oppress. The King of Jordan, who sentenced a Palestinian Journalist to 15 years in prison last year; Prime Minister Netanyahu, whose forces killed 17 journalists in Gaza last year; Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Shoukry, who detained Al Jazeera staff as well as detaining Journalist Shawkan. Surely, if the UK government was any better and truly upholds absolute free speech it would not have forced the Guardian to destroy the hard disk containing the Snowden files either.

Filed Under: Civil Liberties, Foreign Affairs Tagged With: #JeSuisCharlie, Abdullah II, Al Jazeera, antisemitism, apartheid, Baga, BBC, BBC Question Time, Benjamin Netanyahu, Boko Haram, Charlie Hebdo, Edward Snowden, Egypt, France, free speech, freedom of speech, immigration, Islam, Islamophobia, Israel, Je Suis Charlie, Jean Sarkozy, Jordan, Jyllands-Posten, Leonardo, Leonardo da Vinci, Maurice Sinet, Mehdi Hasan, Netherlands, Nigeria, Olivier Cyran, oppression, Palestine, Paris, Paris Attacks, Question Time, racism, Sameh Shoukry, Shawkan, solidarity, Syria, Syrian refugees, terrorism, The Guardian, United Kingdom

Did Russia Commit The Sony Hack & Frame North Korea?

December 22, 2014 By David Seaton 2 Comments

Warning: pure speculation to follow.

It’s obvious that North Korea is behind the attack on Sony in retaliation for making “The Interview” … In fact it is so obvious that it makes me suspicious.

The North Koreans say they didn’t do it … I believe them.

I think they have been set up for the fall by a much more sophisticated attacker, one who doesn’t want to take “credit” for the attack. There are two prime suspects in that case: China and Russia. In my opinion it was the Russians. Here is a recent report of their work:

Filed Under: Foreign Affairs, National News Tagged With: Barack Obama, BBC, capitalism, China, Cold War, Corporate America, Cyberwar, DPRK, European Union, Fareed Zakaria, Financial Times, hacking, Hollywood, JP Morgan Chase, Kim Jong-un, NATO, North Korea, Reuters, Russia, security, Sony hack, Sony Pictures, South Korea, technology, The Interview, Vladimir Putin, Washington Post

Israeli Cease Fire Violations and Media Propaganda

November 24, 2014 By Matt Peppe 2 Comments

The role of U.S. mass media – and Western media in general — as a tool for disseminating propaganda was first argued by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky in their landmark 1988 book “Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.” Their analysis reveals a media propaganda system based not on “formal censorship” but rather “by reliance on market forces, internalized assumptions, and self-censorship, and without significant overt coercion.”

Although it does not consciously and overtly do so, Western corporate media serve the critical function of protecting the financial and business interests of institutional power.

“A propaganda model suggests that the ‘societal purpose’ of the media is to inculcate and defend the economic, social and political agenda of privileged groups that dominate the domestic society and the state,” the authors write. “The media serve this purpose in many ways: through selection of topics, distribution of concerns, framing of issues, filtering of information, emphasis and tone, and by keeping debate within the bounds of acceptable premises.”

More than 25 years later, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the BBC keep churning out work that continues to validate Herman and Chomsky’s argument in “Manufacturing Consent.” In no foreign policy story is this more apparent than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Filed Under: Foreign Affairs, Media & Culture Tagged With: Arthur Goldberg, BBC, Deir al-Balah, Edward Herman, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Jamal Abu Watfa, Jerusalem Fund, Kerem Shalom, Lebanon, Ma'an News Agency, Maa, mainstream media, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, New York Times, Noam Chomsky, Palestine, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Protective Edge, Resolution 509, Tel Aviv, United Nations, United Nations Security Council, Visualizing Palestine, Washington Post

The file does not exist View/Post/small_loop.php

About MyMPN

MyMPN is MintPress News' community site. Anyone can participate by writing a diary and commenting on others' diaries.

Content posted to MyMPN is the opinion of the author alone, and should not be attributed to MintPress News.

MyMPN will cease publishing on January 15, 2017. Thank you for your support of our work.

  • More about MyMPN
  • Report site problems and bugs
  • MyMPN Comment Moderation

Follow Mintpress

RSSTwitterFacebookGooglePlus

Our Latest Posts

In The Age Of Trump, Peaceful Revolt Is Our Only Option

By Kevin Patrick Kelly January 11, 2017

Hafizah Geter Gives Moving Poetic ‘Testimony’ At Medgar Evers College

By José Negroni January 10, 2017

Gonzo Journalism Rejects The Myth Of The Neutral Media

By Dr. Milena Rampoldi January 9, 2017

Aleppo: How The US Manipulates Humanitarianism For Imperialism

By Steven Chovanec January 6, 2017

Why One ‘Remain’ Voter Now Supports A Hard Brexit

By Tara Lighten Msiska January 5, 2017

Hawaiian Kingdom, American Empire: An Interview With Professor Keanu Sai

By Dennis Riches January 4, 2017

War Against Rape In Karachi: Advocating For A Rape Free Society

By Dr. Milena Rampoldi December 30, 2016

What’s In A Name? From ‘Al-Qaeda’ To The ‘Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia’

By Nu’man Abd al-Wahid December 29, 2016

Popular Tags

activism Africa American imperialism Barack Obama Canada capitalism Climate change democracy Democratic Party Donald Trump Egypt election 2016 energy fracking history Human Rights inequality Iraq ISIS Islam Islamic State Israel journalism MENA Middle East mining nuclear oil Palestine police poverty prison propaganda racism Republican Party Russia Saudi Arabia Syria terrorism Texas United Kingdom United Nations Wall Street War water

Sign up for our Daily Newsletter

Copyright © 2022 Mint Press, LLC