Opinions
2024.03.17 18:43 GMT+8

Lee Camp: U.S. media manufactures consent for war, death, destruction

Updated 2024.03.17 18:43 GMT+8
First Voice

Editor's note: On February 4, multiple reporters from U.S. news outlet CNN, during their interview with British newspaper The Guardian, criticized their network's coverage on the Israel-Gaza war as "skewed by a systemic and institutional bias," which amounted to "journalistic malpractice." Why is CNN suddenly experiencing internal strife? After these brave journalists spoke out for Palestine, what changes should the American media make? American Jewish comedian and writer Lee Camp shared his insights on this topic in an interview with CGTN Opinions. The views expressed in the video are his own and not necessarily those of CGTN.

It surprises me in that our media is heavily slanted for manufacturing consent for war, death and destruction.

The Guardian's recent report alleges that CNN has engaged in "journalistic malpractice" by favoring Israeli perspectives while neglecting the suffering of Gaza residents.

Shockingly, these stem from CNN's own staff. It was actually even more important than The Guardian saying it was CNN staff. A certain segment of CNN staff have penned an open letter talking about how their network CNN is heavily in favor of Israel during this genocide we're witnessing in Gaza right now.

I say that as a Jewish person, but this is genocide. What we're witnessing is horrific, with 27,000 to 28,000 people killed as of February 2024, and 70 percent of those women and children. It really is horrific and it's not ending.

I'm surprised actually that CNN staff, one of the biggest news networks in the world, are willing to put their jobs at risk to speak out about this. This is a network and a staff that has "manufactured consent" for so many wars over the years that should not have happened like Iraq, like what's going on in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, but this is too much.

A crane lifts the CNN sign onto a flatbed truck in Atlanta, March 4, 2024. The famous symbol will be refurbished and reinstalled at the Techwood campus by the Warner Brothers studios in Midtown Atlanta. /CFP

This is the one where they really are seeing the truth that our media – and it's not just CNN but this happens to be about CNN – but our media in the United States is heavily in favor of Israel, longtime ally of the United States. The United States is continuing to ship tens of thousands of bombs to rain down on children, even after October 7, 2023.

So, it doesn't surprise me because who can look away from this horror show?

But it surprises me in that our media is heavily slanted for manufacturing consent for war, death and destruction. And this almost never happens. You almost never see a large group of workers at one of these media entities stand up and say this is not right.

We have a corporate media system in the United States that our government likes to pretend is separate from our government. But in fact, they're all connected to the same entities, the same massive corporate powers.

They're all putting out one level of propaganda for the U.S. state, for the corporate state, and for corporate America. And so, you really don't see that much difference on big issues like Israel or on big issues like Wall Street or the big banks. It's all very similar.

Same with our Congress. Our House of Representatives voted 412-1 to continue supporting Israel during this genocide. Our Senate voted 97-0 to continue essentially the same.

So, Israel has been running this propaganda show for years and years, and I guess you can't really have a successful apartheid state with millions of people living in open-air prisons, without immense propaganda trying to justify these crimes. And they are crimes. This is a straight-up genocide.

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