The Truth Of What Is Going On In Syria

The public in those nations involved directly or peripherally in the Syrian war are not being told the truth of what is going on in that country, and have not been told the truth since hostilities began in 1011. We have tried to report this many times on our main news site The Daily Stirrer, which gets a respectable but unspectacular 10 - 15 thousand views per day (this blog is insignificant, after neglecting it for years we are trying to build it as a replacement for a platform that was very good for us but closed in December 2015 due to economic conditions).

Other blogger and new media news sites are doing great work in trying to get the truth out to the punters, but mainstream media, controlled by corporate investors whose interests are best served by collaborating with governments, have nothing to gain by telling the truth.

There is no great, universal truth on Syria of course, but many points of view representing different parties. Here's an interesting take on why the major print and broadcast news organisations are not reporting the facts of Syria's catastrophe.

The Deeper Truths Journalists Are Blind To
By Jonathan Cook, Information Clearing House, February 21, 2016
" - As I have found out myself, there is nothing media outlets like less than criticising other media publications or the “profession” of journalism. It’s not really surprising. The credibility of a corporate media depends precisely on their not breaking ranks and not highlighting the structural constraints a “free press” operates under.

So one has to commend the Boston Globe for publishing this piece by Stephen Kinzer, a former foreign correspondent, warning that the media is not telling us the truth about what is going on in Syria.

But those constraints are also why Kinzer glosses over deeper problems with the coverage of Syria.

This [most western reporting of Syria] is convoluted nonsense, but Americans cannot be blamed for believing it. We have almost no real information about the combatants, their goals, or their tactics. Much blame for this lies with our media.

Under intense financial pressure, most American newspapers, magazines, and broadcast networks have drastically reduced their corps of foreign correspondents. Much important news about the world now comes from reporters based in Washington. In that environment, access and credibility depend on acceptance of official paradigms. Reporters who cover Syria check with the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House, and think tank ‘experts.’ After a spin on that soiled carousel, they feel they have covered all sides of the story. This form of stenography produces the pabulum that passes for news about Syria.

This is more of the “cock-up, not conspiracy” justification for skewed reporting. If only there was more money, more space, more time, more reporters, the media would not simply spew the government’s official line. Guardian journalist Nick Davies wrote a whole book, Flat Earth News, making much the same claim – what he called “churnalism”. I reviewed it at length here. Journalists like this kind of argument because it shifts responsibility for their failure to report honestly on to faceless penny-pinchers in the accounting department.

And yet, there are journalists reporting from the ground in Syria – for example, Martin Chulov of the Guardian – who have been just as unreliable as those based in Washington. In fact, many of the points Kinzer raises about the reality in Syria echo recent articles by Seymour Hersh, who is writing from the US, not Damascus. But he, of course, has been shunted to the outer margins of media discourse, publishing in the London Review of Books.

Read all at Information Clearing House

In our small way we have tried to keep people up to date, hoping people will see our articles and reports and share them with their own networks. Here are a few examples.

USA Has Told Assad He Needs To Commene Handover Of Power In Syria by August Or Face Consequences

How Hillary Clinton Planned The Syrian Holocaust
We bring you evidence that the destruction of Syria was planned by the USA and Israel long before the US engineered 'spontaneous uprising'known as The Arab Spring ...

Turkey Blames Kurds, Assad For Terrorist Attack, Vows Swift Response

Has Obama Admitted Defeat In Syria?

Russia to deploy Ka-52 attack helicopters to Syria to protect Latakia air base

Welcome To World War Three Folks: It has kicked off in Syria.

Road To World War III: Turkey Shells Syria For Second Day As Saudi Warplanes Arrive

‘I’m back from Syria. The media are lying to you.’ Eva Bartlett

Hersh Bombshell: US Military Defied Obama, Shared Intelligence With Assad

Obama claims he brought peace to Syria as war intensifies

'It’s a Power Game': Erdogan’s Ultimatum to Washington Decoded

Road To World War III: Turkey Shells Syria For Second Day As Saudi Warplanes Arrive

Russia Wins: Assad Can Stay, Kerry Concedes After Meeting With Putin

In The War on Terror Freedom Is Not Winning

READ MORE ON: Syria ... Turkey ... ISIS ... Saudi Arabia