Greenwald’s critical look at media’s coverage of Paris terror attacks

The last few days have seen wall to wall coverage of the gruesome terrorist attacks in Paris, France. Reporters are live on the scene; experts are being trotted out to provide the viewers analysis and rationale for these senseless killings. A lot of interested parties are taking this opportunity to forward their agendas and views. The average media consumer is being bombarded by facts and opinions and directed to believe a particular narrative but not Glenn Greenwald. He believes that the level of propaganda is at its highest level since the PR campaign to justify the invasion of Iraq after 9/11.

Glen Greenwald may be a polarizing figure but this interview from the Democracy Now show is very clear, insightful and raises some good points. Who conducted these attacks? Why did we have another failure from an intelligence apparatus flush with resources? How was ISIS/ISIL allowed to get this powerful? Why is this tragedy is being used/abused to forward agendas? Why are reporters not asking any tough questions?

It would be well worth the reader’s time to watch the interview of Greenwald conducted by Nermeen Shaikh and Amy Goodman. It should  provide some deeper analysis and facts – more than what the talking media heads are.

(The interview with Glenn Greenwald starts a few minutes after the initial news report on the Paris attack.)

“As France and Belgium move to expand state power in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, top U.S. officials have renewed a push to defend mass surveillance and dismiss those who challenge it. On Wednesday, FBI Director James Comey said intelligence and law enforcement officials need to have access to encrypted information on smartphones, despite no evidence that the Paris attackers used encryption. Meanwhile, others have used the Paris attacks to criticize NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden.”  (Democracy Now)

“The problem is, is that there are a lot of journalists in the United States who, as we all know—anyone who lived through the Iraq War knows this—who have used their role in life as being mindless servants to military and intelligence officials in the U.S. government. And their careers, in their view, are advanced when they kneel down and crawl on their hands and knees over to these officials and get whispered into their ear what they’re supposed to say, and then they go and print it. “ (Glenn Greenwald)

Collage of French newspaper front pages after the Paris terrorist attacks