writer. journalist. musician.
Just before Christmas I produced this programme about the North Korea situation for the BBC World Service on The Inquiry. Since then, there have of course been significant developments, but nonetheless, I think it’s a fascinating listen, with input from Siegfried Hecker, Melissa Hanham, Gleb Ivashentsov, Sue Mi Terry, Jean Lee and Yanmei Xie.
This is the link to listen back on BBC iPlayer
In an article entitled, Nobody Knows the Identities of the 150 People Killed by U.S. in Somalia, but Most Are Certain They Deserved It, The Intercept highlight the general, quite terrifying acceptance of government spin with regards to foreign policy. Greenwald writes (in part attributed to Murtaza Hussain):
The words “terrorist” and “militant” have no meaning other than: anyone who dies when my government drops bombs, or, at best, a “terrorist” is anyone my government tells me is a terrorist.
Think about that, and consider what counter-opinion and counter-fact you weigh up each time you absorb another news bulletin attaching the same loaded labels. How balanced is your information? Do you question or challenge the language in its delivery?
You should.