punditman says...Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. Some things never change. Punditman once wrote a thesis about media bias and conflict in Central America. In this regard, it seems Big media still understand their assigned roles.
by William Bowles
by William Bowles
The devil lives in the small print, the devil in this case being the BBC in its coverage of the coup d’etat that ousted President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras on 27 June, 2009.
Take the following para from a BBC piece titled ‘US treads careful path on Honduras’ (30 June, 2009)
“So while Washington's reaction has been strong and swift, when it comes to statements, its actions have so far been measured.
Now you may wonder why the BBC chose the word ‘measured’ to describe the US’ response to the military coup d’etat? Not only why but how? The following para explains,
“This is a signal that Washington is not keen to use its clout to help Mr Zelaya return to power, shying away from any action that could be seen as interventionism in a region where the US has a long, complex history.”
But ‘measured’ is not a word that describes the US administration’s response. Obama simply stated that the Honduras coup is "not legal." And note that the US interventions, both direct military and covert over the years, for example, US support for the Contras in Nicaragua, the overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile, the attempted overthrow of Chavez in 2002, are described by the dissembling BBC as “long [and] complex [sic], which is the BBC’s standard method of covering up the crimes of Empire.
In a related BBC piece with the title of ‘'Mistimed coup' in Honduras?’ we read,
“Recent events in Tegucigalpa, with hundreds of protesters chanting the president's name have proved that he has his fanatical supporters.”
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