¡Desconecta con la aplicación Player FM !
Ep 207: US-Backed Killing of Journalists in Gaza and the Limits of "Freedom of the Press" Sloganeering
Manage episode 434209340 series 1500148
"Western World Observes Press Freedom Day," gloated the United Press International newswire back in 1961. "Trump v. CNN: lawsuit becomes test case on press freedom," declared The Guardian in November 2018. "The 10 Best and Worst Countries for Press Freedom," says US News and World report in 2022.
For decades, elite US media and government institutions have touted the sacred notion of freedom of the press. Our media, so we’re told, have the legally enshrined latitude and responsibility to criticize, to interrogate, to expose. According to this same high-minded rhetoric, freedom of the press preserves our media’s integrity and serves as a pillar of US democracy.
This all sounds well and good. After all, media’s ability to keep the public informed without constraints or compromise is intrinsically good and essential to any society - that’s kinda the whole point of this show. But there are far more limitations to US-based frameworks of freedom of the press than our media, and our government, let on. Far too often, the concept of press freedom is limited by liberal formulations of negative rights, and even those, selectively applied depending on short term US interests. As the US-backed wholesale destruction of Gaza by Israel enters its 10 month and more than 140 journalists have been killed in the assault –– many deliberately targeted by the Israeli military –– Western elite sanctimony over their alleged commitment to press freedom has been revealed as hollow, its ideological cracks and contradictions apparent for all to see.
On this episode, our Season 7 Finale, we examine lofty American conceptions of freedom of the press, especially as it emerged in the middle of the 20th century, looking at how US media organizations are more willing to award rights, sympathy, and security to those journalists and institutions who help prop up the usual State Department line.
Our guests are documentarian Kavitha Chekuru and journalist Hoda Osman.
324 episodios
Manage episode 434209340 series 1500148
"Western World Observes Press Freedom Day," gloated the United Press International newswire back in 1961. "Trump v. CNN: lawsuit becomes test case on press freedom," declared The Guardian in November 2018. "The 10 Best and Worst Countries for Press Freedom," says US News and World report in 2022.
For decades, elite US media and government institutions have touted the sacred notion of freedom of the press. Our media, so we’re told, have the legally enshrined latitude and responsibility to criticize, to interrogate, to expose. According to this same high-minded rhetoric, freedom of the press preserves our media’s integrity and serves as a pillar of US democracy.
This all sounds well and good. After all, media’s ability to keep the public informed without constraints or compromise is intrinsically good and essential to any society - that’s kinda the whole point of this show. But there are far more limitations to US-based frameworks of freedom of the press than our media, and our government, let on. Far too often, the concept of press freedom is limited by liberal formulations of negative rights, and even those, selectively applied depending on short term US interests. As the US-backed wholesale destruction of Gaza by Israel enters its 10 month and more than 140 journalists have been killed in the assault –– many deliberately targeted by the Israeli military –– Western elite sanctimony over their alleged commitment to press freedom has been revealed as hollow, its ideological cracks and contradictions apparent for all to see.
On this episode, our Season 7 Finale, we examine lofty American conceptions of freedom of the press, especially as it emerged in the middle of the 20th century, looking at how US media organizations are more willing to award rights, sympathy, and security to those journalists and institutions who help prop up the usual State Department line.
Our guests are documentarian Kavitha Chekuru and journalist Hoda Osman.
324 episodios
Todos los episodios
×

1 News Brief: Silicon Valley Patronage, How To Subtly Drift Right, and the New Conservative Media Ecosystem 35:09


1 News Brief: Media Continues Painting Musk's Far Right Coup as Good Faith "Cost-Cutting Effort" 24:30


1 News Brief: Trump's Anti-Migrant Terror PR Strategy, Dr Phil's ICE Reality Show & NYT's MAGA Assist 35:35


1 News Brief: Media Won't Say a Nazi Salute is a Nazi Salute and How MAGA Became Too Big To Fail 36:00


1 Episode 215: "Bipartisanship" as High-Minded Rhetorical Cover for Pushing Rightwing Policies 1:11:56


1 News Brief: NYT Bars Quakers From Using "Genocide" in Ad and Liberal Squeamishness Over the "G" Word 31:08


1 Episode 214: Fake Ceasefire Talks and Feigned 'Concern' - How US Media Helped Distance Biden From the Gaza Genocide 1:13:20


1 Episode 213: The Shallow, Power-Flattering Appeal of High Status #Resistance Historians 1:19:41


1 Episode 212: Gaza and the Political Utility of Selective Empathy 1:15:50


1 News Brief: Elite Media, Dems Blame 'Woke', 'Headwinds'––Everyone But Themselves––for Trump Win," 32:51


1 Episode 211: Bari Weiss, The 'University' of Austin, and the Silicon Valley-Funded Faux-Iconoclast Media Industry 1:04:50


1 Episode 210: Seller's Inflation and the Super Serious Economists Mocking "Greedflation" "Conspiracies" 1:18:13




1 Episode 209: Popularism and the "Poll-Driven" Democrat as Cover for Conservative Policy Preferences 1:00:50


1 Episode 208: How US Media Repackages Pro-Police Policies as "Reform" 1:20:32
Bienvenido a Player FM!
Player FM está escaneando la web en busca de podcasts de alta calidad para que los disfrutes en este momento. Es la mejor aplicación de podcast y funciona en Android, iPhone y la web. Regístrate para sincronizar suscripciones a través de dispositivos.