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Tell Me Lies

Tell Me Lies

David Miller

(2003)

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Book Details

Abstract

Did the US and UK governments lie about weapons of mass destruction to promote an attack on Iraq? Did the media hold them to account or act as cheerleaders for war?

Tell me Lies reveals the systematic propaganda used by both the US and UK governments to convince us of the 'threat' from Iraq. It shows how we were deliberately misled into a war that has resulted in a humanitarian disaster in Iraq and threatens to create further instability and resentment of the US and UK throughout the Middle East.

Written by some of the world's leading journalists and commentators, it's a scathing indictment of the role of the mainstream media in legitimising government actions and undermining dissent. Critics, activists and journalists from both sides of the Atlantic explore alternatives such as the internet and Al Jazeera and provide analysis and guidance on resisting the media war.

Contributors include John Pilger, Noam Chomsky, Robert Fisk, Edward Herman, Mark Thomas, Mark Steel, and cartoonist Steve Bell amongst many others.
'If you suspect that the media have not told you the full truth about the Iraq War, read this book. It is a revelation'
Professor James Curran, Goldsmiths College, University of London
'Often entertaining and always informative ... challenges journalists to look closely at the role we play in reporting war'
Tim Lezard, The Journalist

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Contents v
Introduction 1
Part I: The Media War 13
1. A great betrayal 15
2. The lies of old 18
3. The case for civil disobedience 23
4. Crime against humanity 29
5. The unthinkable is becoming normal 34
Part II: Propaganda Wars 39
6. War is sell 41
7. Brainscrubbing: the failures of US public diplomacy after 9/ 11 52
8. Misreporting war has a long history 63
9. Psychological warfare against the public: Iraq and beyond 70
10. The propaganda machine 80
11. History or bunkum? 100
12. Spies and lies 108
13. No blood for oil? 115
Part III: Misreporting War 127
14. The minute it's made up, you'll hear about it 129
15. Reporting the war on British television 132
16. 9/ 11, spectacles of terror, and media manipulation 144
17. Look, I'm an American 157
18. Let the atrocious images haunt us 164
19. Normalising godfatherly aggression 176
20. Little Ali and other rescued children 185
21. Watchdogs or lapdogs? Media, politics and regulation: the US experience 195
22. The BBC: a personal account 204
23. Mass deception: how the media helped the government deceive the people 210
24. Covering the Middle East 215
25. Why the BBC ducks the Palestinian story 222
26. Black holes of history: public understanding and the shaping of our past 232
Part IV: Alternatives 241
27. Al Jazeera's war 243
28. Target the media 251
29. Turning my back on the mainstream 262
30. Inside the system: anti- war activism in the media 269
31. Disruptive technology: Iraq and the internet 277
32. The anti- war movement 286
Notes on contributors 293
Index 298