MEDIA ROOTS — A pair of internet archivists who call themselves ‘Neuro Linguistic Programming’ have uploaded Part Three of US corporate media print publications from the immediate days and weeks following 9/11.  The duo plans to post more multiple full issues of Time and Newsweek as well as other timely magazines that are filled with blatant fearmongering and propaganda about terrorism.  They have been releasing most of the archives starting from October, 2001, but they say the next two pieces will be from the week right after 9/11. 

Following 9/11, news media accelerated at an amazing rate, and most companies soon adopted internet versions of their paper or magazines.  Before this was commonplace, many interesting pieces of information printed about that day most likely were never reprinted again–due to false information or just abandonment by the propagandists.  As we know, many government narratives and unfounded claims about 9/11 were re-printed without any journalistic investigation.  Also worth noting is how candid some of the reporting is, where journalists admitted things like ‘patriotic bias’ clouding their ability to do actual journalism. 

Part Three, ‘Closing In: Afghanistan War Propaganda’ featured below, gives us a look at a TIME magazine issue (all pages about non ‘War on Terror’ subjects have been omitted) about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.  The issue also includes a transcript of the Bin Laden ‘confession tape’, explaining to the reader why this is irrefutable ‘proof’ of his involvement in 9/11.  Considering that the faultily translated tape was admitted to be a sting operation orchestrated by the CIA, we encourage readers to focus on this particular section, since it aims to halt lingering doubts about the official 9/11 narrative.  We hope that these archivists continue this fascinating project, it could uncover aspects of the ‘War on Terror’ that most journalists and researchers have completely forgotten about.  Above all, it reveals the extent of the conditioning the American people were subject to immediately after our nation’s traumatization.  They have put the issue up in PDF format which can be downloaded here as well as a slideshow (see below).

Check out previous installments, Part One, ‘The Terrorism Survival Guide’ here and Part Two, ‘How Scared Should You Be?’ here

Robbie Martin for Media Roots

***

Note:  The slideshow of the full Time issue ‘Closing In’ looks best at full screen by clicking the box in the right corner.  Click play to start.  Click the pause button to stop the slideshow from progressing automatically on the right corner.

 ***

MEDIA ROOTS — A pair of internet archivists who call themselves ‘Neuro Linguistic Programming’ have uploaded Part Two of US corporate media print publications from the immediate days and weeks following 9/11.  The duo plans to post multiple full issues of Time and Newsweek as well as other timely magazines that are filled with blatant fearmongering and propaganda about terrorism. 

Following 9/11, news media accelerated at an amazing rate, and most companies soon adopted internet versions of their paper or magazines.  Before this was commonplace, many interesting pieces of information printed about that day most likely were never reprinted again–due to false information or just abandonment by the propagandists.  As we know, many government narratives and unfounded claims about 9/11 were re-printed without any journalistic investigation. 

Check out Part One, ‘The Terrorism Survival Guide’ here.  Part Two, featured below, gives us a look at a Newsweek titled ‘Biological & Chemical Terror: How Scared Should You Be?’  The featured photo is a man wearing a gasmask, and the entire issue focuses on bio terrorism.  Throughout the magazine, that question is addressed repeatedly, and all answered the same way: be absolutely terrified.  We hope that these archivists continue this fascinating project, it could uncover aspects of the ‘War on Terror’ that most journalists and researchers have completely forgotten about.  Above all, it reveals the extent of the conditioning the American people were subject to immediately after the traumatization of our nation. They have put the issue up in PDF format which can be downloaded here as well as a slideshow (see below).

Robbie Martin for Media Roots

***

Note:  The slideshow of the full Newsweek issue ‘How Scared Should You Be?’ looks best at full screen by clicking the box in the right corner.  Click play to start.  Click the pause button to stop the slideshow from progressing automatically on the right corner.

 ***

MEDIA ROOTS –  Our very own Abby Martin, the founder and editor-in-chief of all of the content on this website has been over at Russia Today (RT) America this past month learning the ropes of live TV journalism.  Abby has over 2 hours of live content broadcast on every Wednesday and Friday at 4, 5, 7 and 8 EST.

Recently, the network has been giving Abby bigger guests like Sibel Edmonds, Alex Jones, a fugitive from hacktivist group Anonymous and even retired generals.  Interview guests who come on TV shows have certain expectations, either they will be walking into a predetermined  partisan hackery ‘lion’s den,’ knowing that they will have to argue from within the left vs. right box with a TV host who is basically a skilled (or not so skilled actor).  So what does a combative and hard hitting interview look like these days in a world where questions are complete softballs, and ‘hard’ questions seem cultivated, manufactured, or even staged?  Can you remember the last time you watched a TV news special and watched a TV show host outside of the paradigm of partisan hackery have a meaningful argument with a guest? I sure can’t.

Luckily we have Abby Martin on our side, asking tough questions that come from the heart, not from a page or a talking point.  In a single day, Abby makes two ‘retired’ generals red faced and flustered by challenging their dogmatic narratives.  Usually a TV news reporter has a certain level of deferrence and authoritative ‘respect’ towards a sitting or ex military officer.  Abby very calmy throws that rule book out and speaks to these men as if they are normal everyday citizens, who spread dangerous and divisive baseless propaganda.  Both generals also try to inject their own agenda (we suspect it’s a think tank talking point) of saying that military spending isnt the main problem, instead they claim that entitlement programs, like welfare and food stamps, are really what’s bringing our economy down.

At Media Roots we would much rather have our tax dollars going to help poor and starving people instead of killing muslims and Arabs thousands of miles away in foreign countries.

Later that day, she had the chance to interview a member of Anonymous.  Instead of butting heads with him on the generic point that Anonymous is ‘criminal’ or hurting our image across the world, Abby asks him several challenging questions that have rarely if ever been asked of an Anonymous member.

“How do we know you’re not an FBI informant?”

“How do we know you’re really in Anonymous when the point of the group is to remain Anymous?”

“Don’t you think the government could use Anonymous coordinated attacks as an excuse to launch the war on cyberterror, further squashing civil rights of all Americans?”

He tries to answer as best he could, and you can tell that this man has never encountered questions like this before, forcing him to think outside of the predetermined ‘fixed’ argument that usually happens on these TV shows.

After having shows like Hardball, Crossfire, Hannity and Colmes forced down our throats for years, we’ve forgotten what truly combative hard hitting interviews look like on the news.  We’ve been accustomed to the equivalent of a WWF wrestling match between people with ‘opposing’ viewpoints in which individually reinforce a false paradigm, but when matched together solidify said paradigm into nearly inpenetrable propaganda for the general public.

Luckily Abby is here to start changing that direction and bringing back the fourth estate into live TV interviews.  Don’t stop what you’re doing Abby… you’re just getting this party started!

Robbie Martin for Media Roots

***

Watch these excellent interviews below: 

Abby Martin interviews ex Army Colonel about Defense Spending.

Abby Martin’s interview about Pentagon spending turns into a debate about the threat of Iran.

Abby Martin Interviews Commander X of Anonymous

MEDIA ROOTS – Video documentation by independent media outlet Rogue Media exposes how police officers and county deputies from across Minnesota have been picking up young people in Minneapolis to participate in a DRE drug training program to “recognize drug-impaired drivers.”  Multiple participants of the program claim that the officers provided them with incentives such as free cigarettes and food in order to take illicit street drugs. 

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has been present at Peavey Plaza in Minneapolis since April 7th, and the OWS activists appear to be the primary targets of the DRE program.  Some of the participants claim they’ve even been offered free drugs by cops to become informants and snitch on other Occupy activists.

 Rough Cut Documentary about the Minnesota DRE Program

***

Image by Johnny Firecloud

MEDIA ROOTS – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been widely criticized for its invasive procedures, most notably their nationwide implementation of naked body scanner machines.  Many Americans feel the TSA is an enormous waste of tax payer’s money, and that their safety measures are just a form of “security theater” that don’t really make us any safer.  One engineer turned blogger decided to expose the inefficient agency’s failed body scanners.  Jonathan Corbett, engineer and president of Fourten Technologies, put the $87 million scanners to the test and exposed their inability to detect metal objects when placed in insewn pockets.  He joins RT TV to discuss his upcoming presentation to Congress about his explosive findings in an attempt to rid of body scanners from airports.

Abby Martin interviews Jonathan Corbett, the blogger who exposed the failures of the body scanners.

***

This is another RT TV interview about the TSA with Anthony Randazzo, director of economic research at the Reason Foundation.

Abby Martin interviews Reason’s Anthony Randazzo about the TSA’s incompetency.