BATTLE OF COMMUNICATIONS

KIM PETERSEN—Many people distrust or have even turned away from legacy media. With the advent of the internet, an alternative media has cropped up. To the extent that people have given up on legacy media, then the alternative media may well represent a mainstream media for sourcing news and information. But is this media best depicted as an “alternative”? A more preferable name might be “independent media.” In this case, independent means not dependent on seeking profit beyond breaking even. In fact, many of these independent media editors and writers donate their time and efforts to provide relevant background information and reveal propaganda and disinformation. (Such is the case with this publication.)

TRT–Dr. Perlmutter’s testimony offers a rare and courageous insider perspective on the devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the complicity of global political and medical institutions, and the urgent need for truth and justice. His blend of medical expertise, frontline experience, and political critique provides a compelling call to action for the international community to reconsider its role in perpetuating violence and to support genuine humanitarian aid and peace efforts. The interview also underscores the critical importance of separating religious identity from political ideology to foster understanding and end cycles of violence.

JULIAN MACFARLANE–The Russian economy is not a de-industrializing, financialized market economy run by a few billionaires like in the US; it is a managed, industrial growth economy, in which many companies, if not owned by the country, are regulated. The first thing Putin did when he took office was to reverse privatization.

The Russian government offsets the effects of the Central Bank with a huge range of subsidies for every sector of the economy, public and private, including mortgages and rents. There are a lot of people with new houses, the high central bank rate notwithstanding.

MEDIA LENS—As mentioned in several of our previous alerts on Israel and Palestine, there is tremendous pressure on journalists working at BBC News to toe the Israeli line. Notably, since 7 October, use of the word ‘genocide’ has essentially been banned. Any time an interviewee mentions the word in a live setting, the BBC presenter intervenes to shut down the discussion. As one anonymous former BBC journalist said:

‘People [at the BBC] were terrified of using the word “genocide” in coverage. They still are. You will very rarely see it in any BBC coverage. And if an interviewee says the word “genocide”, the presenter will almost always panic.’

DD—The DD team comments on the latest denunciation of BBC bias in favor of imperialist operations, this time, the Israeli genocide, by many of BBC’s own journalists and creators. This is, however, only the latest and most outrageous manifestation of the BBC’s insidious policy of blatant omissions and distortions toward all reporting affecting the official Western imperialist narrative. Before the twisting and suppression of facts about the Palestinian and now the Israel-Iran war situation, the BBC had been actively collaborating with the rest of the Empire (esp. in the EU) distorting news about the Ukraine war, Julian Assange, the Yemen genocide, Russiagate, and the political and moral bankruptcy of Western elites, beginning with the implosion of British “democracy”, and the establishment of an Orwellian regime of thought control.