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Tag: media

The sincerest form of propaganda

While propaganda is best sold to people who don’t realise what they’re being sold, its also best sold by people who genuinely believe what they’re saying. The immense, sophisticated system used by the establishment to guarantee the public succumb to its narratives, creating consent for its otherwise unacceptable actions, is so effective that many professionals are completely taken in by it. Although journalistic failings should be called out, a lot of nuance and complexity is often thrown out in many…

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What is really happening in Tigray, Ethiopia

  The first thing you need to know is that anyone who tells you they know exactly what is going on in Tigray and northern Ethiopia is probably not the sort of person you should be listening to. If you’ve been paying at least passing attention to events you’ll know that there has been fighting between the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian Army since last November. Numerous accusations of crimes against humanity and human rights abuses have…

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I checked the headlines on China’s role in Afghanistan. This is what I found

After ten days of scanning the coverage of China’s potential role in Afghanistan, it’s clear that there is one voice missing from western media reports: the Afghans themselves. In no article did anyone consider the concerns of the Afghan people, what they might want or expect from a future where China will certainly play a prominent role. This only echoes the US led intervention, where, as always the local people only ever play a walk on part in a plot…

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Why everything you think you know about international affairs is wrong

  Disinformation, trolls, bots, propaganda!!! The tweets and headlines complain. “Our enemies are subverting our democracy”, shout the politicians. “Use the media you can trust”, say the editors. If at any point up till now the thought of Russia or China popped into your head, go stand in the corner, face the wall and think very hard about what a bad, little child you’ve been – unless you’re Russian or Chinese, then you’re entitled to worry about what your own…

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Afghanistan – the illusion of doing something

The first post in a new category of subjects, international affairs. How could the Taliban win so easily? We just needed a few more months! We just needed a few more years! We’re abandoning the Afghan people! We’ve been inundated by these plaintive voices in recent days, many, genuinely well intentioned but many not so, although the media wouldn’t have given you that impression. These questions arise from a complete failure to understand what has been happening and realise we…

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Syria and the confidence crisis

I’ll be honest and declare that this post isn’t really about travel, so you may well be asking yourself what it’s doing on a travel blog. I doubt if my answer will be entirely satisfactory but I think you deserve more than me excusing it by saying, “it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want”. If there is one link to travel it’s that having been twice to Syria in 2005 and 2006, I have many great memories of…

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What we dont know about Ukraine…… or anything

Is it possible to know less about what is going on in a country after you have visited? I certainly came away with this impression on leaving Ukraine. Sure, I learnt a bit about the history, food and the lengths of skirts but what about the big stuff in the news? As with other controversial geopolitical issues such as Israel/Palestine, Syria, Turkey and the Kurds, you only have to read the comments sections on many internet news sources to know…

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Bangladesh: Let’s not hear it for the girls

Being the kind of guy that my government would denounce as a lefty liberal wuss I would normally praise with great fanfare a country that had managed to produce, not only a female prime minister but a leader of the opposition as well and particularly so when it’s a Muslim country. But, alas in this case, the two ladies have decided to take on all the characteristics that male leaders the world over have excelled in to ensure that they…

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African beauty and the beast

The photo above of an advertising hoarding for a popular skin cream is, in some respects unremarkable: yet another product to beautify the skin. But this is West Africa and even a generous interpretation would we hard pressed to describe the model as even mixed race. If this was some lone, anomalous advert it would not be worth more than a brief mention but it is typical of marketing for beauty products in the region.  Of the dozens of ads I have seen,…

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