How to break the corporate media blockade

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Truth is the first casualty of war. Engaged in an unprecedented state of endless war to fight the phantom enemy of "terrorism," it has never been so important that Americans understand this. They must recognize that like throwing gasoline on a fire, fighting terrorism with military means only makes it worse. ISIS did not arise spontaneously. It is the result of the US government manipulating public opinion to support policies unthinkable before 9/11 and that have remained unquestioned. Americans have been duped into accepting the use of terrorists for proxy wars in Libya and Syria. The US is ultimately responsible for the atrocities being committed by ISIS and will bear the brunt of the blame for making the problem worse if it supports further violence in the region.

Mark Twain observed: "It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." Self-governing nations have the moral responsibility to understand why they are at war. That means seeking answers to questions beyond the superficial ones posed by the mainstream media. Despite the widespread distrust of most US news sources by both those who consider themselves liberal and those who consider themselves conservative, we continue to get most of our information from these corporate-funded sources whose main goal is profit, not enlightenment. News is therefore framed to reinforce self-serving myths that increase profit industries connected to war and the police state apparatus that supports it.

There are many reasons that the news industry has become stenographers for politicians and the economic elite most represent. Concealing the abuses of corporate power maintains advertising revenue and profits the six megacorporations that ownmost of the media and have interests in many other industries. Failing to cover the issues during political campaigns leaves a void they can fill with enormously profitable campaign ads. Omitting important information about world events and providing superficial analysis of what is covered keeps us ignorant of the real goals of US foreign policy, which can only be understood by studying the underlying power structure of the US and the world. That information is not taught in school and is not talked about in the corporate media but must be sought after.

Comprehending how we are being lied into supporting chaotic global violence requires understanding how certain powerful interests control information. Few people realize that one of the CIA's duties is influencing media for propaganda purposes. Various sources have documented a network of media corporations that are CIA fronts, both in the US and overseas. A prominent German media figure admitted to being a CIA employee for years, stating that this was common practice in both Europe and the US. While its authorization to propagandize is legally restricted to foreign media, the CIA has exercised extensive influence over US media since its creation shortly after WWII, when America's empire building experiment began in earnest. Those who doubt this should read about the LATimes reporter who last year admitted letting the CIA edit his work. There is also the story of how investigative reporter Gary Webb, whose work revealing how CIA drug trafficking in Iran-Contra led to a drug epidemic in LA, was persecuted in a CIA-led disinformation campaign in the press that cost him his career, his marriage and his life, in a reported suicide.

We now know that claims of WMDs in Iraq were false, as were similar claims in Syria. Seymour Hersh, who uncovered much of the hidden truth of the Vietnam War, revealed the lies about Syrian chemical weapons. Robert Parry, who gave us the facts about Iran-Contra, is now trying to wake up up to the fact that the US is supporting a fascist government in Ukraine. It is not a coincidence that both are no longer New York Times reporters. The Times has set the standard for a media that parrots government lies without question.

The hope for democracy in America lies in getting the truth out. That will on happen when more of us open our eyes to how we are systematically being deceived by a global economic elite who regard the world as their chessboard, and people as their pawns.