People are losing trust in mainstream media because of perceived biased coverage of the Gaza genocide. If that erosion of trust is real, why isn’t it prompting wider public re-examination of historical cover-ups and contested narratives — Watergate, Iran–Contra, Iraq, even shifting beliefs about who “beat” the Nazis? If we don’t question how past information was shaped, what’s the point of preserving evidence (e.g., Gaza genocide evidence recently removed from YouTube by Google)? Won’t this all be forgotten in a few years, the same way all those previous events are no longer discussed?

What’s stopping a sustained, constructive public inquiry into these parallels between past cover-ups and current information control? Where are good, constructive places to discuss these issues without falling into unproductive conspiracy spirals?

  • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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    1 day ago

    the difference is that sources defining the tiananmen protests as a massacre are funded by the state department (both directly and undirectly) which has a long, storied and undisputed history of peddling propaganda; including my government’s own public admissions of doing so.

    • Eldritch@piefed.world
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      1 day ago

      Huh, today I learned that the US state department runs/funds the UK government and the BBC. Alternate reality history is fascinating.

      • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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        1 day ago

        ever heard of the “special relationship” between the two countries that enable them to work together in arenas like this one and usaid literally funded several foreign “media” agencies like the guardian before trump shuttered it.

        • Eldritch@piefed.world
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          13 hours ago

          Ever heard that if you swapped Lenin for Trump and the West with the deep state. You’d be indistinguishable from a magat. There’s no such thing as perfect governance. Not in the United States, UK, and certainly not in China.

          This need to turn every failing for your in group into a conspiracy theory against them. is the signature of a weak mind not concerned with facts or truth.

          The United States literally has been in war with the UK at times. Admittedly, it’s been a while. They’ve never been an indivisible unit. And right or wrong the UK had a front row seat to watch the goings on in China for many decades from Hong Kong.

          If China wanted to be taken seriously, perhaps they shouldn’t “checks notes” imprison a journalists for talking to a diplomat. Or generally assign government minders, to control what journalist have access to. Perhaps especially, they should be more open to foreign press. Then it wouldn’t always be the CCP’s position and everyone else’s. But who am I kidding. Of course, it’s everyone else’s fault. The entire world all in on a deep state plot to make you look bad.

          • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
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            46 minutes ago

            Ever heard that if you swapped Lenin for Trump and the West with the deep state. You’d be indistinguishable from a magat.

            Wow, if you change the words in a sentence, it changes the meaning of the sentence? What a compelling argument?

            Man, if you change the word “force” to “ghost of Adolph Hitler”, Starwars fans are indistinguishable from Nazis!" I’m sure this is very meaningful!

          • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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            5 hours ago

            that magat characterization makes sense if you were aware that magats perceive the world through intentional misinformation that’s perpetually reinforced in the west by the likes of fox news (for red maga) and the likes of the state department (for blue maga).

            also any conspiracy theory is not necessary when the accusations have been confirmed multiple times during congressional hearings by the likes of the state state department and it’s ngo’s when they publicly admitted (on the record btw) that they intentionally peddled propaganda to the public.

            your centuries old examples of us-uk belligerence feels cherry picked when better examples like the suez canal incident makes it clear who’s calling the shots.

            the us hegemony takes the cake when it comes to journalism when you consider that its proxy in the middle east alone has literally bombed to death more journalists that china could ever fantasize about and the likes of julian assange, francesca albanese, or any of the 9 icc judges can attest how much impactful sanctions are than government minders.

            the only fault lies with the american government and the people who believe what they say when the american government has publicly admitted themselves that they’ve intentional misinformed the public; this fact alone make red maga less culpable for the world’s woes than the liberals.