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August 07, 2007
Propaganda consumes valuable time
Rather than update my previous post on the Scott Beauchamp affair, I just thought I'd note here that it has been abundantly confirmed that the Beauchamp allegations were utter bunk. Glenn Reynolds has a roundup here. Beauchamp's tales seem to have been accepted on faith, and I agree with Bill Quick: None of the MSM challenged Beauchamp's fantasies when they were first published. And why would they? Scott's lies fit the the story they want to believe, and tell. The challenge came from the right blogosphere and, once again, the blogosphere was the New Media venue that got it right.Notice that despite Beauchamp's own retraction, TNR has still not retracted the story. QandO notes that they're on vacation! In a comment I posted in response to criticism, I questioned the manner in which TNR claimed to "verify" Beauchamp's claim of dog torture: I don't like to speculate about unverifiable anecdotes which devolve into propaganda along narrative lines, but unless Sanchez has invented the claim about the military's investigation, Beauchamp's allegations have been found to be bogus.Nothing that Beauchamp said would have changed my mind on the war one way or the other. But it's irritating to think that lying antiwar propaganda managed to get spun as legitimate journalism. Unfortunately, ignoring propaganda doesn't make it go away. My hat's off to many debunkers -- bloggers like Ace -- who don't ignore it, so that I can. UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds has more, including reports that TNR is trying to weasel its way out of Beauchamp's earlier retraction. Ann Althouse examines both sides and concludes "there's a big fight on." I guess there always is. I predict that few if any minds will be changed. Propaganda wars don't work the way they once did. MORE: "Why is there a market for lies?" Don Surber asks. As he explains, it's what some people want to hear. (Via Glenn Reynolds, who has another roundup.) "Affirmation, not information," says Tom Maguire. Here here! posted by Eric on 08.07.07 at 12:19 PM |
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