By John Hudson
In today's tour of
state-sponsored propaganda, China's
media mocks India,
the Pentagon launches a misinformation campaign, the Cuban Central News Agency
teams up with Occupy Wall Street,
and a Communist newspaper is a capitalist success story. We begin in China.
In China, Size
Matters
This week, China's regional foe India successfully
launched a missile capable of striking deep within China's
territory. China's media
couldn't let India bask in
its rocket glory so its state-run newspapers began bashing the Agni-V missile,
calling it a "dwarf" when compared to China's own missiles. "India should
not overestimate its strength," read an editorial
in the state-run English language newspaper Global Times. "For
the foreseeable future, India
would stand no chance in an overall arms race with China." An April 20 editorial in
the state-run Huanqiu Shibao newspaper mocked India's "backwardness"
and said its missile program was merely in "early childhood." Then
there's the Communist Party organ Renmin Wang,
which said the country's "very serious" social problems were
preventing the country from attaining its "cherished... dream of becoming
a major power." The Middling
Kingdom doth protest too
much!
The
Pentagon Wages a Propaganda War Against USA Today
In a strange story today, USA Today alleges
that in trying to report on a propaganda program carried out by the Pentagon,
the Department of Defense waged a separate propaganda program against USA
Today reporters Tom Vanden Brook and Ray Locker:
For example, Internet domain registries
show the website TomVandenBrook.com was created Jan. 7 — just days after
Pentagon reporter Tom Vanden Brook first contacted Pentagon contractors
involved in the program. Two weeks after his editor Ray Locker's byline
appeared on a story, someone created a similar site, RayLocker.com, through the
same company.
The fake sites and Twitter
accounts claimed the two reporters were in cahoots with the Taliban among other
things. The Pentagon denied it was involved. "I find it creepy and
cowardly that somebody would hide behind my name and presumably make up other
names in an attempt to undermine my credibility," Vanden Brook said. After
doing a little sleuthing, Gawker's John
Cook says he discovered the military contractor the Pentagon used to run
the misinformation campaign. Why the Pentagon thought this type of thing would
deter a reporter is beyond us. If anything, the Pentagon trying to use Twitter
to discredit you is just about the most ideal grist for a reporter to use in
stories for days, if not weeks.
Cuban
News Agency Teams Up with Occupy Wall Street
It's a match made in heaven—kind
of. Outside of advertorials
about Cuban cigars and rum, the state-owned Cuban Central News Agency
devotes its coverage to the so-called "Cuban Five," a group of five
Cuban intelligence officers convicted of conspiracy to commit
espionage and murder in the U.S.
It's a pretty convoluted case but suffice it to say the Cubans believe these
five are in fact "antiterrorists." As such, the news agency is delighted that
members of the OWS movement are taking up its cause. It reports today:
Alicia Jrapko, US Coordinator of
the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five, told ACN
news agency, via phone call, that among other activities they are carrying
out in the US
capital, several activists of the Occupy movement will join them on a
march in front of the White House.
“We will be accompanied by Danny Glover, Saúl Landau, Salim Lamrani and Wayne Smith, among other personalities, and we hope many others join us today” Jrapko said.
We're not quite sure what to make
of this but we'll keep our eye on Danny Glover this weekend in DC and report
back. Viva la revolucion?
Communist
Newspaper Is a Capitalist Success
The People's Daily has
been the Chinese Communist Party's newspaper since 1948. It's so pinko
commie the calligraphic title is a copy of Mao Zedong's original handwriting.
That's why last week, we
tipped you off that it was going public and now, it turns out, it's a
total capitalist success story. "The listed company will have an
initial market capitalization of $872 million, not far behind the $954 million
value of the New York Times Co.," reports Bloomberg BusinessWeek's
Dexter Roberts. The communist publication apparently went public so it
could raise capital for investments in its technology including its mobile
platform. As BusinessWeek's Roberts puts it: "Mao
Zedong may be tossing in his mausoleum."
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