Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Jingo Again
CNN, which is usually at the less reprehensible end of the Republican-bought-and-sold mass media, has a piece up right now that reaches levels of jingoism I normally only expect from Fox.
In describing Venezuela's decision to refuse 'aid' from the US DEA - that is, Venezuela declined to allow a US government agency famous for its meddling in foreign affairs to operate from within its own boarders - CNN emphasizes that Chavez is "an ally of Communist Cuba" [emphasis added] and that "The United States...views him as a threat to stability in the region." There is no mention of the US's domineering policies and the actual history of DEA interference with local politics, let alone the US history of killing Latin American presidents.
This sort of article really pisses me off. First of all, there's the War On Drugs®, which is totally evil and counter-productive in every way. Then there's the overt bias from what claims to be an independent news source. I get to be pedantic and one-sided - I do this for free and all three people reading know that - but CNN ought to be expected to do better. Much better.
In describing Venezuela's decision to refuse 'aid' from the US DEA - that is, Venezuela declined to allow a US government agency famous for its meddling in foreign affairs to operate from within its own boarders - CNN emphasizes that Chavez is "an ally of Communist Cuba" [emphasis added] and that "The United States...views him as a threat to stability in the region." There is no mention of the US's domineering policies and the actual history of DEA interference with local politics, let alone the US history of killing Latin American presidents.
This sort of article really pisses me off. First of all, there's the War On Drugs®, which is totally evil and counter-productive in every way. Then there's the overt bias from what claims to be an independent news source. I get to be pedantic and one-sided - I do this for free and all three people reading know that - but CNN ought to be expected to do better. Much better.
