The Ugly Face Of The Empire
By Sorit Gupto
22 September, 2005
Countercurrents.orgMedia tycoon, Rupert Murdock , speaking at former US president Bill Clinton's Global Initiative Forum on peace and development, in New York, has revealed that British Prime minister Tony Blair has complained him privately that the BBC's coverage of Hurricane Katrina carried an anti American bias. He further added that , Tony Blair was in his visit to India, where he had turned on the BBC world service to see the happenings in Hurricane affected New Orleans. Murdock was quoting as saying in a transcript posted on the Clinton Global Initiative website .
" and he said It was full of hate of America and gloating about our troubles."
The former US president said to have also agreed that BBC's coverage was lacking.
Hurricane Katrina, and its subsequent devastation, has suddenly removed the carpet and exposed the filth , that accumulating for past several decades below the glowing carpet. The Carpet of Empires wealth, its progress, and development, its might of dominance, and it's power of hegemony.
Suddenly the people, world over come to know that below this carpet there is filth of loot, arson, rape , state apathy and above all the racial discrimination and apartheid .
World over the people saw the people crying for food, for shelter, for Government help. Some time people get confused whether these hapless people belongs to the 'greatest' empire of the world or they belong to the country of any third world, the under developed, poor nations, ravaged by war , corruption and inefficient government?
For four critical days, Washington proved incapable of mounting any credible effort to rescue the tens of thousands of largely poor and working class New Orleaneans who were left to their fate in the city's flooded streets, many of them losing their lives not to the surging waters, but to the lack of food, water or medicine.
And suddenly the city had been inundated with troops, federal agents and cops of all descriptions, turning it into one of the most heavily armed camps on the face of the globe. Combat-equipped soldiers and police wearing helmets and flak jackets are going door to door in the city to enforce a mandatory evacuation at the point of a gun.
In other cases, however, the official assertions are belied by televised images of cops and troops kicking in the doors of homes and dragging people away in plastic cuffs.
The New Orleans debacle exposed America's "heart of darkness" to the world as its leaders allowed their own tens of thousands of Americans to suffer or die. The first 11 days of the disaster have revealed the political truths about present-day America. First, for all the talk about beefing up "homeland security" against an alleged terrorist threat, the US government has developed no serious civil defense plans to protect the American people from mass disasters, either natural or man-made.
The disaster also exposed the true face of the empire which is covered under the image.
Once it comes out and exposed to the world over , no doubt, it disturbed the emperor and his associates.
That is why it is becoming just impossible for them to swallow the truth, and best way to denounce the truth is to give it a bad name. Name it biasness, unconfirmed, hype whatever you like.
We first experienced it during the Iraq war, where, to face the world wide opposition of the war, we suddenly realize, media tycoon Murdock comes openly in support of Bush, Blair and their plan to devastate an Independent and sovereign state called Iraq.
Murdoch is lucky enough as he hires 175 editors and, by remarkable coincidence, they all seem to love the nation which their boss has chosen as his own.
During recent ,Iraq war, The empire , has invented various tactic of war and at the same time it has evolved a thing called embedded journalist. The first official declaration of State-military-media conglomerate.
Some how, media has been disassociates itself nowadays form the above collaboration or at least not so much closely associated .That is disturbing. This is really disturbing for the emperor.
In present day order, this new collaboration has to walk side by side . Instead of just a mere reporter, empire needs embedded journalist.
Do not go for the truth. It is the image which counts. It is the opinion which matters.
Blair thinks that the reporting and coverage by the BBC on Katrina victims is biased, it is anti US, simply because it has exposed the reality.
Empire does not need watch dogs, It actually needs beauticians who can hide the wounds and scars form it's ugly face . Journalist fraternity is caught in between Line of Control and the Apartheid Wall. Their master are telling them 'the do's and don'ts'.
In other words , there are just two options are left before today's journalist fraternity.
Either go for the truth and earn bad name or be the part of the Media-State-military conglomerate and become a manufacturer of conscience.
