Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
February 29, 2016

#BREAKING News As Propaganda

For your daily media competence training:

The hint that the above AFP #BREAKING tweet was nonsense is the use of the word may. Like in "#BREAKING Sky may have fallen". There is also the rhetoric redundancy in "have starved to death".

But notice the 217 retweets which likely will have caused many secondary retweets and many, many more viewer impressions.

Three hours later ...

The #CORRECTION is of course not #BREAKING. People searching Twitter with the hash-tag #BREAKING to take a quick look at recent news will of course never see any relevant #CORRECTION. You can simply make up whatever nonsense you like to distribute into a #BREAKING news stream, preferable with one of the agencies or other prominent accounts. You will then get a huge distribution. Later you issue a #CORRECTION which exculpates you from the error but will not be read by anyone.

But in this case of the "UN rights chief" claiming something may have happened it was surely really just a clerical error or a misunderstanding. Right?

Posted by b on February 29, 2016 at 17:54 UTC | Permalink

Comments

BREAKING!: Millions may have contracted "MUMI" virus.

"MUMI" = Made Up Mass Information

Posted by: Maxcrat | Feb 29 2016 17:59 utc | 1

BREAKING!! I may have broken some wind, did you hear or smell?

Posted by: Santa | Feb 29 2016 18:04 utc | 2

The subjunctive voice is your friend.

Posted by: ruralito | Feb 29 2016 18:24 utc | 3

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein - a Jordanian prince - one of those Saudi ilks being the UN Human Rights Chief - am I surprised ?
And Agence France Presse when "France was miffed to have been left on the sidelines by the Russian - US bilateral negotiations." according to Matthew Lee from ICP
http://www.innercitypress.com/syria25demistura022616.html

Posted by: Yul | Feb 29 2016 19:01 utc | 4

So ( mostly in the West ) the Russians won nothing with the BS recent " peace" deal, except to being propagandised and lied against as being starvationists and peace destroyers. With O chance of peace

Posted by: tom | Feb 29 2016 19:25 utc | 5

same ole' same ole'... msm = propaganda... to expect anything else is to be disappointed..

Posted by: james | Feb 29 2016 19:28 utc | 6

MILLIONS DIE!

in history.

Posted by: chu-teh | Feb 29 2016 19:51 utc | 7

Are all the so-called "news" published in the USA just right-wing zionist neo-con propaganda? I have given watching news on TV here in the USA. I trust RT.com, Moon of Alabama, xymphora, cannonfire, cluborlov and a few other web sites. Local TV news is just depressing overload of crime, sports and weather. If anyone knows of a daily newspaper published in English that tells the truth, please let me know... Thanks. J.

Posted by: james k. sayre | Feb 29 2016 19:56 utc | 8

I call this a vicious manipulation of the information.
The trouble is that there is no international legal body that could sanction that sort of deviancy. The MSM take advantage of their immunity ( 'Freedom of expression") to spread lies and throw people against each other's throats. They get away with it ( remember the infamous Judith Miller of the NY times about false scoops on Iraq nuclear weapons.. she should have been jailed)

Posted by: virgile | Feb 29 2016 19:59 utc | 9

ISIS infighting in Raqqa:

Dutch battalion of Moroccan fighters in Raqqa: 8 executed and dozens incarcerated

Posted by: Oui | Feb 29 2016 20:09 utc | 10

One COULD construct a meme that the tweet was incomplete and omitted the words "...but for UN aid" from the end.
However, I'd like to see the weasel meme which makes the appearance of the US Ambassador to Russia "among" a crowd of anti-Putin demonstrators seem pro-Russian, or even diplomatically wise.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Feb 29 2016 20:35 utc | 11

#BREAKING Erdogan may have gone mad!

Turkish president Erdogan tweets on the official Twitter account of the Turkish Presidency:

Turkish Presidency ‏@trpresidency Feb 28

“I Neither Obey Nor Respect Constitutional Court’s Ruling” tccb.gov.tr/en/news/542/39…

This did not go well with the public. Even his own supporters are critical. Like @eczferas ‏who tweets: @trpresidency my dear president - i respect you more than i respect my self but wished if you didn't say because they will use it against us

The issue is the two Turkish journalists who were jailed in November and now released (awaiting trial) by Turkey's Constitutional Court. The journalist had revealed something about how Turkey works hand in glove with the Islamic State. The Western media was careful not to reveal to their readers what the journalist had found out. Something about "alleging that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government tried to ship arms to Islamists in Syria. This can hardly be news. The US does it openly all the time!

P.S. - In case Erdogan decides to remove the tweet, I saved a screenshot here.

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Feb 29 2016 23:05 utc | 12

@12 Petri Krohn

Thanks for all the links ... still no real report of Erdogan's supply of Da'esh/ISIS. I wonder if the actual report in question has been translated? Very apropos, adds real value to this thread!

Posted by: jfl | Feb 29 2016 23:25 utc | 13

Poor man's word play for the ignorant. Twitter is a perfect platform for this type of shite. Shameful to be fair.

Posted by: MadMax2 | Mar 1 2016 0:48 utc | 14

#BREAKING Turkey switches sides, joins fight against ISIS.

The Turkish daily newspaper Daily Sabah writes today quoting Reuters:

Turkish military pounds Daesh positions in Syria with artillery fire

The Turkish military targeted Daesh positions north of Syria's Aleppo province with artillery fire as part anti-Daesh coalition efforts on Monday afternoon.

Turkish broadcaster NTV reported that approximately 50 to 60 rounds of howitzer shells were fired into Syrian territory.

The cease-fire in Syria does not include Daesh, Nusra Front and other al-Qaida affiliates.

The Turkish military had earlier targeted Daesh positions with F-16 jets.

The operation took place while there was an ongoing Cabinet meeting in Ankara in which ministers discussed anti-terror measures.

Daesh militants had attacked the Syrian town of Tel Abyad controlled by the YPG militia at the Turkish border as well as the nearby town of Suluk on Saturday.

While a U.S. and Russian sponsored "cessation of hostilities" came into effect in Syria over the weekend, the U.S.-led coalition and Russia reserve the right to continue attacks against Daesh or the al Qaeda affiliate the Nusra Front.

Funny! Kurdish sources and even Western mainstream sources are telling, that the Turkish artillery was targeting YGP positions in support of an ISIS attack that had been launched across the border from the Turkish side.

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Mar 1 2016 3:09 utc | 15

#BREAKING Saudi bombs bring peace and stability.

The Telegraph writes today:

Saudi Arabia is bombing in Yemen to bring peace and stability

Contrary to misinformation, the Saudi intervention in Yemen is intended to help the country and protect civilians there.

(Never mind the typo in the lede. I corrected it for you. Saudi Arabia is not yet attacking Syria.)

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Mar 1 2016 3:37 utc | 16

Mind you, Navi Pilay, his predecessor, would have said the first version. What is it about UN human rights commissioners? Only Mary Robinson actually took an interest in human rights. The rest seem to just suck up to their paymasters, endorsing their every depravity, while throwing the book at their opponents. The UN Human Rights Commission has become little more than a Genocide Licensing Authority.

Posted by: Bob Jackson | Mar 1 2016 4:29 utc | 17

@16 Petri Krohn

David Cameron backs 'brilliant' arms deals with Saudi Arabia... hours after Europe says we should ban them


Mr Cameron said he was proud of the "brilliant things" BAE had sold to the Middle Eastern country such as the Eurofighter Typhoon.

The Saudi government has bought £3 billion of UK aircraft, arms and other defence products in 2015.

"I can see the planes being built right behind me here. We’ve got more work to do in Saudi Arabia," Mr Cameron told the assembled BAE employees.

Oliver Sprague from Amnesty International told the Guardian: "The ‘brilliant things’ that David Cameron says BAE sells include massive amounts of weaponry for the Saudi Arabia military, despite Saudi Arabia’s dreadful record in Yemen.

“Thousands of Yemeni civilians have been killed and injured in devastating and indiscriminate Saudi coalition air strikes, and there’s strong evidence that further weapons sales to Saudi Arabia are not just ill-advised but actually illegal."


The Cameroon just can't get enough of that peace and stability, can he? Death, devastation, destruction ... and deceit, are all the Anglo-Americans - the 5 eyes of Oceania - have left for sale, and they're gonna sell same till they drop!

Posted by: jfl | Mar 1 2016 7:41 utc | 18

You bet Le Monde made an article from the AFP cable yesterday
And there was no word there about Yemen or the Saudis as head of the HR council

Posted by: Mina | Mar 1 2016 9:56 utc | 19

social media as agent of propaganda..esp with a clueless drone population

Posted by: brian | Mar 1 2016 21:15 utc | 21

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Feb 29, 2016 10:37:48 PM | 16

you mean:
BREAKING Saudi bombs MAY bring peace and stability!

Posted by: brian | Mar 1 2016 21:16 utc | 22

Wow,the hell bitch wins the black antisemite Southern vote,almost loses Mass.and the MSM crows!
The only possible dem voting state is Mass,the rest are all rep strongholds.
And the MSM ignores it.
A fiasco,and no,there are no free from Zion MSM in America.
Go Bernie,who won Minn,Colorado,Oklahoma!and Vermont 86 to 12!Holy moly.And the MSM say he's dead.What wankers!
And congrats to Donald Trump,our only hope in kicking out Zion from America.

Posted by: dahoit | Mar 2 2016 14:59 utc | 23

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