MEDIA ROOTS – The U.S. corporate media avoids contextual analysis of complex issues solely to attract more viewers and obtain greater advertising revenue. By promoting caricature and sensation, the establishment media avoids critical analysis of the political incentives which motivate modern conflict. Translation helps overcome U.S. media’s deficiencies by allowing narratives to cross linguistic boundaries. Dr. Nasr Ad-Din al-‘Aiadi’s chapter … Read More
MEDIA ROOTS – The Pentagon and corporate media actively promote the War on Terror meta-narrative, which restricts our society’s ability to view war. As an educational activist, I’ve decided to start translating Arab political scholarship in order to present a necessary alternative narrative to the U.S. public. The preface to the book Wars: Press Coverage in Arab Media is a specific text I chose with … Read More
MEDIA ROOTS – According to neoconservative Robert Kagan, the USA has been involved in military conflict abroad 70 percent of the time since the end of the Cold War. Many times, these foreign wars need to be “sold” to the U.S. public in order to galvanize the populace against a common enemy (e.g. Noriega ’89, Saddam ’91, Bin Laden ’01, … Read More
MEDIA ROOTS — Early last Sunday, an unhinged U.S. Army Sergeant walked more than a mile, from village to village in rural Afghanistan, broke down the doors of three homes, and methodically murdered at least 16 Afghani civilians—nine of them being children. The U.S. Department of State issued an uncharacteristic apology, given how a formal apology was never issued, nor … Read More
MEDIA ROOTS — Various official claims of military victory and success have been pronounced as the continuing occupation of Iraq by U.S. mercenaries festers and causes misery for Iraqis. Even after having allegedly withdrawn all U.S. troops from the country, the Pentagon wants another $3 billion of taxpayer money for its imperialistic adventures, despite the astronomical costs already incurred. MR … Read More
