Mainstream media bias at its most appalling
In a dire example of bias – and recklessness – in the so-called ‘mainstream’ media, Sky News responded to video of UK soldiers using an image of Jeremy Corbyn for target practice by regurgitating nonsensical smears about ‘well bounded’ concerns about the Labour leader’s ‘security credentials’:
Jeremy Corbyn was recently the target of a violent assault by a right-wing attacker – obstinately trivialised by the media – and another right-wing extremist who killed a Muslim man at the same mosque admitted he had hoped to kill Corbyn.
Yet Sky allowed Tory MP Mark Harper, unchallenged, to cover the Tories’ desperation at their own incompetence by regurgitating the security smear – and then followed it up by repeating the smear over footage of soldiers firing at a picture of Corbyn.
Media smears have real-life – and sometimes fatal – consequences. Author Liam Young summed it up succinctly on Twitter:
SKWAWKBOX comment:
The Tories – and the Establishment that backs them – are truly terrified of Jeremy Corbyn. It is no excuse for such recklessness.
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Stupid is what stupid does .
We’ve had the murder of Jo Cox, the jailing of a neo-nazi who plotted to murder another Labour MP, and now British Troops promoting the assassination of the leader of the Labour Party. We have a right-wing broadsheet and rag press that is also feeding a frenzy of nationalist angst. And a right-wing political class that is doing the same.
Still no doubt there will be a sham inquiry and a slap on the wrist.
Perhaps when we get to power we could send these shits on a 2 yr tour of Syria /Afghanistan , Somalia enter your own choice etc etc
Let’s hope that the officers in command of these soldiers are held to account for allowing and/or encouraging this culture to develop under their command.
Having served in the army I strongly believe, from my own experience, that this type of thing just doesn’t happen unless the perpetrators believe that it would be condoned by their leaders,
That was my immediate thought Steve,followed quickly by the realisation that nothing will be done to the “Officers” responsible.I regard it as an indicator of what passes for thinking in the higher echelons of the British Army,and is more serious than the left seems to realise.I am not talking coup here by the way,but I am talking about a mindset that is the breeding ground for such a coup.
History has taught us that dehumanisation and normalisation is where it begins.
A coup? Do you think that they will do that before military union? Hungarian officers giving the coup de grace to victims of Scots firing squads. It’s too late so I am off.
Don’t fall for the line that these squaddies are simply victims of the higher echelons. The whole thing is a package – but they’re part of that package, and have made choices.
RH 03/04/2019 at 10:11 pm
Don’t fall for the line that these squaddies are simply victims of the higher echelons.
I really don’t think there is anything in my comment that indicates that I have. However having said that it must also be recognised that it takes a good deal of moral courage for a soldier to speak out against something of this nature once a culture is established.
If these soldiers’ commanding officers did not know they were using an image of Jeremy Corbyn in this shocking way, they are grossly incompetent. If their officers did know, this is even more concerning, for they are openly complicit.
Either way they have absolutely no valid excuse.
There’s some very sick, anti-Corbyn comments below the Twitter links on SkyNews, etc. Hopefully not left by serving soldiers or veterans.
The irony being that the soldiers using the picture of Corbyn as target practice in this video could one day end up on the streets, homeless, forgotten by the Ministry of Defence, suffering PTSD, suffering mental health issues or physical injuries and battling against a Tory government or council that’s busy having them evicted or slashing their benefits.
“I’m told that…”
So, no effort to verify such a claim then.
Can you imagine the outrage there would be if Momentum activists or any other pro Corbyn group had used a photograph of Theresa May for target practice?
Moreover the Armed forces are unlike the rest of us. They are fully trained in armed combat and if they go off the rails they have the capacity to do serious damage which makes this type of behaviour such a major concern.Lets hope the army brass carries out a thorough investigation into this disgusting incident and takes appropriate action. Furthermore the MSM the Tory party and elements of the PLP must take responsibility too. The demonisation of Jeremy Corbynr and the lies and smears they spread about him incite hatred of him and his supporters. Inciting hatred in young men with guns could have led them to a lot worse than shooting at a photograph.
Absolutely!
But I doubt whether there will be a serious investigation.
Here’s some snippets of information from several news sources:
BBC News website
It is believed the clip first circulated on Snapchat before being posted on Twitter.
The Sun
The bullets are hardened wax paint balls and not metal. The non-lethal rounds are used for cheap target practise.
Sources said a range of images are used at the facility to keep squaddies entertained {Oh right, like a large poster of Jeremy Corbyn….. just the sort of thing you would take with you to Afghanistan, NOT!].
It comes days after an elderly Para was told he would face charges over deaths on Bloody Sunday.
Corbyn has been a vocal supporter of the IRA and is a known pacifist.
(Ends)
Interestingly, and quite unusually for the Sun, they decided not to put a Comments section. But then one can understand WHY!
On the Mail website it says:
A link to the footage was shared on Twitter by former soldier and Military Cross recipient Trevor Coult, who also wrote ‘Not looking good for a Labour leader’ alongside a laughing emoji on his post.
Unlike the Sun (which rarely gets many comments anyway), the Mail DID decide to have a Comments section, and for obvious reasons – ie so that their shills (and Tory Central Office shills and the so-called Integrity Initiative no doubt) can post their vile and abhorrent comments, further ridiculing and/or dehumanising Jeremy. In a word, dissemble their Hate-mongering against Jeremy and the left. And I have no doubt whatsoever that the Mail – as it often does – has manipulated the up-votes for the obvious purpose:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6881001/MoD-launches-probe-British-Army-soldiers-shooting-Jeremy-Corbyn-target.html
Just checked the Daily Express, which not only comes out with some garbage about the military using pictures of celebrities as target practice, but also has a comments section in which the hatemongers – and apologists – are out in force ridiculing and dehumanising Jeremy. But at least they haven’t doctored the up-votes (at the time of writing anyway):
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1109105/Jeremy-Corbyn-british-army-video-shooting-guns
Afterthought: I wonder what the commenters – the shills – would have been saying if it had been a large poster of Theresa May……
PS I happened to catch most of PM’s Questions today, and in response to a question one of her backbenchers asked her, she said “Don’t believe everything you read in the press”. Well there’s an admission for you!
I then watched the 1.00 O’clock BBC News, and of course the main story was about JC getting together with Theresa May re finding a solution to the Brexit impasse (supposedly!), and they showed a clip from PM’s Questions of some Tory MP (who I’m not familiar with) ranting about TM asking a “Marxist” to help her sort it out, and then, unbelievably, their political editor, or whoever (the one whose always standing across from the Houses of Parliament) then referred to Jeremy as a Marxist too! I hope the LP have complained in the strongest possible terms.
I mean I only watch BBC News occasionally, but I’ve never heard any of their journalists do THAT before. Has anyone else?
The offending BBC Tory was Norman Smith, who’s been doorstepping Mr Corbyn, getting snubbed, then inciting hatred across Twitter.
https://twitter.com/Wirral_In_It/status/1113435701134155777?s=19
Has anyone seen anything in the Groan?
Interesting that the journal of broken record pounces on any fake antisemitism story in order to imply linkage to Labour and condemn violent rhetoric – but I’ve noticed nothing on this story.
As a sidelight on the suppression of the Palestinian story : I was in hospital yesterday. Whilst being monitored in Recovery, I was chatting to a student nurse from a Palestinian family. We were – of course – chatting about Israel/Palestine in relation to her family, who had been originally exiled to Jordan, and thence here.
The qualified nurse in charge then drew attention to how much my blood pressure had gone up during that discussion : we then got into discussing why. But the most significant thing was how this nurse – obviously intelligent and aware – said how little she knew about the whole issue.
Thanks MSM
The UK needs an overhaul more than ever. Ever since the election of Corbyn as leader, the mask has truly slipped off on the nasty and dangerous face of the establishment. Those who think we have a functioning, pluralistic and democratic society needs their head examines.
Quite bloody right. Our society sees children murdered and do nothing. Yellow Jackets, Syria, Venezuela God help us. We are getting mugged off and paying for it. Our foes and their placemen have no rules. Time for us to get smarter. Its just begun. Regards
If you haven’t already read it have a look at Jonathan Cook’s Blog
https://skwawkbox.org/2019/04/03/video-sky-news-responds-to-soldiers-shooting-corbyn-effigy-by-repeating-security-concerns-smear/
Steve has inadvertently linked to THIS page, but if you scroll down there’s a link to the Jonathan Cook article that Steve posted earlier. And the Jonathan Cook article is absolutely superb, and essential reading!
Oops! Thankyou Allan
https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2019-04-03/corbyn-army-target-practice/
Thanks for that link : as always, Jonathan Cook is coolly forensic.
Sorry Allan but
” I mean I only watch BBC News occasionally, but I’ve never heard any of their journalists do THAT before. Has anyone else? ”
I don’t know I never watch the BBC because i’ve cancelled the Licence some 6 yrs ago cos of their bull shit . How about perhaps doing the same , kick em where it hurts and stop paying the Bullshit Broadcasting Corpcrapation
Yes, rob, but the BBC News and political programs are one thing, and everything else is another thing – ie sports and documentaries AND of course University Challenge (I once knew the answer to one of the questions!). And of course if you don’t have BBC, then you can’t keep an eye on their News and political programs and, as such, draw attention to their propaganda bias when it arises. Apart from which there are other people in the household anyway!
Allan , Understood and appreciate your dilemma re the rest of the household ( never did get any Qs right on UC ! )
Here is one from Off Guardian to digest re Labour. Is it related to this? Yes but who gives a fook at this point.
mark commented on BREXIT: ‘The People Have Spoken – The Bastards’.
Frank Lee The whole brouhaha around Brexit has amply demonstrated the under-hand tactics used by the losing side post-2016 referendum. There seems no dirty trick that the PTB and their useful idiots will not employ in their ongoing campaign to keep the UK in the prison of the EU and keep the sinking ship of … Continue reading BREXIT: ‘The People Have Spoken – The Bastards’
Just imagine if Trump (whatever you think of him) had been negotiating this deal. We would have been out by now with whatever we wanted, with the EU paying US £40 billion.
Instead, we had this bunch of no hopers constantly kowtowing to Brussels, instantly complying with whatever ludicrous demands were made, coming out of every negotiation stripped down to their underpants.
All we are seeing now is a game of smoke and mirrors to cover up the hard fact that Brexit has been sabotaged and the Referendum result has been stolen. There will be continuing protracted furious mock battles about minor issues of no real importance, accompanied by mass produced hysteria in the MSM.
But all that matters is BREXIT IS NOT HAPPENING.
We will be staying in the Customs Union and the Single Market.
We will continue to be subject to EU political control and regulation, and the jurisdiction of the European Court.
We will not be able to conduct trade deals with the rest of the world.
We are NOT leaving the EU.
There will be pitched battles about whether to give the EU £39 billion or £40 billion, and a legion of peripheral issues to throw up a smokescreen to obscure the constitutional coup that has taken place.
This is the way things happen globally now. Any election that produces a result you dislike is obviously fraudulent, corrupt, rigged, stolen, illegitimate, or hacked by the evil Putin. As in Georgia, Ukraine, Venezuela, and elsewhere. We all live in a banana republic now, or a banana republic without the bananas. Just stage some kind of coup. Find some stooge to declare himself a rival president. Stage street violence and mob rule, AKA “People’s Democracy”, to overthrow an elected government.
This was our one chance to unchain ourselves from the stinking corpse of the EU, but the traitors in Westminster (and especially the traitors in the “Labour Party”) have deliberately blown it. They never intended to implement the Referendum result in the first place, and have worked tirelessly since the moment the result was announced to delegitimise, sabotage and undermine it. Jezza or no Jezza, I for one will never vote Labour again. They have kicked in the teeth the millions of traditional Labour voters across hundreds of constituencies they claim to represent. It may be some small consolation to know they will pay a very heavy price for this, and the sham democracy we live under has taken off the mask and shown its ugly true face.
It looks like we will continue to be chained to a corrupt, arrogant, dysfunctional, anti democratic, failing EU Superstate now going hell for leather to complete the process of centralisation and bureaucratisation, and which is totally incapable of reforming itself.
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Or we could just end this farce by revoking Article 50 and staying in the EU so that we can continue to have a say in the regulations governing us.
Frank Lee: “Because facts really should be scared”
“Just imagine if Trump (whatever you think of him) had been negotiating this deal. We would have been out by now with whatever we wanted, with the EU paying US £40 billion.”
So… presumably if we ask Mr. Amstrad to take charge of Parliament and run it properly – like a business – UK Ltd will be fixed in a week and those evil furriners will beg us to come back and lead them to a neoliberal utopia somewhere over the rainbow where the leprechauns hide their gold… right? 🙂
Great stuff. Regards
“Off Guardian” is only the reverse image of the MSM. It isn’t a real news site.
Actually – I sometimes think that ‘Off Guardian’ might be a set-up to make the Guardian look good.
The hits on the JC target looked like airsoft – hard plastic balls around 7mm dia. The size of the pistols indicated that too. Paintball pellets I’ve seen are bigger and fired from much bigger ‘weapons’. Even though they wouldn’t break and spread on a paper target I believe they’d tear it more.
Could be wrong – hadn’t even heard of airsoft until someone brought one to work.
Kids will be kids – and those ones definitely need more practice.
Punishment doesn’t fix stupid, need better education to do that. Not just those few squaddies but at Sandhurst.
The ranks of the army do tend to appeal to the Tommy Robinson follower type anyway and army macho culture doesn’t exactly breed deep thinking. The army would deny that and say that it’s changed but it hasn’t changed in its attitudes, just in the skill sets it requires.
Officer culture still draws on and harks back to that of the upper classes in days of empire so very few left wingers there.
You won’t hear Corbyn praised much in the Officers’ Mess with them all dressed up and waited on by obsequious stewards bowing, scraping and genuflecting.
Citizen’s Army with short term conscription, real education, travel, exam/performance-based promotion and no foreign adventures (of the political, ‘defending British interests’ kind).
Jonathan Cook, as usual, has an interesting and perceptive view.
Media smoothed way to Corbyn target practice
3 April 2019
It is time to stop believing these infantile narratives the political and media establishment have crafted for us. Like the one in which they tell us they care deeply about the state of British political life, that they lie awake at night worrying about the threat posed by populism to our democratic institutions.
https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2019-04-03/corbyn-army-target-practice/
Conclusion: When the ‘protagonists’ did this AND filmed it AND posted it on social media, they undoubtedly knew that the MSM would pick up on it, as they have of course, so I can’t help being suspicious. As I said before, in effect, who on Earth would think to take a large poster – or any poster at ALL – of Jeremy Corbyn with them to Afghanistan. It doesn’t make sense of course. And why would you film it and post it on social media knowing that it would almost certainly be picked up by the MSM and, as such, lead to you being reprimanded for doing so. Unless of course senior officers were in on it and you knew that you would just end up getting a slap on the wrist.
The point is of course that the military is held in high regard by most people, and we shouldn’t overlook the possibility – despite all the initial condemnation – that it was a premeditated and contrived ploy to try and influence public opinion to some degree (I’m not sure if this is what Steve/SB was hinting at when he finished by saying that: ‘The Tories – and the Establishment that backs them – are truly terrified of Jeremy Corbyn. It is no excuse for such recklessness’, but it certainly fits a pattern).
Will the columnists in the press – and especially the Tory press – be talking the episode down during the next few days and minimising it – ie ‘It was no big deal, the guys were just having a bit of fun’, or whatever, along with the talking heads on radio stations and on various TV programs like the Press Reviews or whatever, and will we ever get to hear what sanctions were taken against the ‘protagonists’, or will it just quietly fade from ‘view’ and nothing more heard about it again.
NB I haven’t checked them out yet – and I will if I can – but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the hate-mongering shills have been busy leaving comments in the Telegraph and the Times playing it down AND attacking Jeremy as a friend of the IRA etc (and possibly – to a lesser extent – the Guardian and the Independent, depending of course on whether they have a Comments section, as such). On their websites, that is.
It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if the State WAS behind it.
Without detracting from the rest Allan, I’d guess putting up posters is probably still part of ‘winning hearts and minds’.
If so a large format printer will presumably be available to the army ‘in country’.
Been away from the news today, didn’t even know it happened in ‘Gan (“You weren’t there – you don’t know, man”)
I wonder if they’ve ever posted any of them on social media before now. I doubt it somehow.
Tony Greenstein sums up the atrocities committed by the Israeli State perfectly:
https://azvsas.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-great-return-march-celebrates-its.html
And Tony is in full flow in this denunciation of the Guardian, and well worth reading:
https://azvsas.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-guardians-zionist-journalist.html
Just seen the video with sound on a bigger screen – too loud for airsoft I think and can see paint splashes, sorry for previous reply.
BBC mentioned 3 Para in Colchester earlier too, thought they’d said it happened there.
Saw JC interviewed, think he could have made more of the fact this all comes from the right and that the hatred is being fomented by MSM and Tories – and the likely level of tabloid ranting had the target been of May’s ugly mug.
I posted this before, but it somehow seems appropriate to post it again now (for anyone who didn’t check it out first time around):
https://www.rt.com/shows/renegade-inc/454097-kids-school-veterans-uk/
I just checked out the Telegraph (I signed up for two free articles a week several months ago), and this is a snippet from the article (which doesn’t have a Comments section by the way):
Trevor Coult MC, founder of the charity For Our Veterans, said he “felt sorry” for the soldiers.
“They are under extreme pressure and they’ve found a stupid way to blow off some steam.
“I would ask – is it any wonder that they are using a picture of Corbyn, after his comments on Bloody Sunday last month? The feeling among the troops, I’m afraid, is that this man despises the Parachute Regiment.”
(Ends)
Well I don’t know what Jeremy said, but I’m sure he doesn’t despise them, and I’m definitely getting an uneasy feeling that this is/was all a set-up. The article actually starts by saying that the guys involved may be thrown out of the army, and the headline to the story is in fact ‘Soldiers who used Jeremy Corbyn’s face as target practice ‘face being thrown out of the army”, although what with it being the Telegraph, it could just as easily be disinformation, as I haven’t read that in any of the other coverage I’ve checked out. But just imagine if that DID happen, and just happened to happen in two or three weeks from now, just prior to the local council elections. Hmm.
I’m beginning to wonder if these guys were set up.
Good points Allan and the inference is that it’s all JC fault if these poor innocent guys get kicked out of the army and loose their careers , Telegraph shite insultingly obvious .
Even if not a set up it’s being nicely spun by the bastard MSM into yet another attack on Labour .
Tell me Allan does it make good arse wiping fodder or is that best left for the S*n 😉
Let’s not forget the media when a marine shot an injured man. We were told that we can’t understand war. That argument answers more than it explains. Best wishes.
The BBC Radio and TV did the same. I have not been on internet since last Monday so could not post here until now. The remarks about anti-Semite Marxist made in the House again Corbyn was not even challenged by Corbyn and should have had the Tory female MP Caroline someone or other expelled from the Chamber by Bercow. I monitored and immediately let Corbyn’s PR person know by Text, and he passed it on to the Broadcasting PR office for Labour who were raising complaints. Unfortunately the BBC takes no notice of Labour PR complaints at all, whereas they used to sit up a little with Mandelson and Campbell. That was of course, because the BBC still contained one or two right wing Labour types. Mandelson and Campbell were status quo New Labour disguised Tories’ -supposedly with a human face- (New Labour were largely privileged types, corrupted by power, who promised to maintain the privileges of the rich but redistribute a little to keep the plebs happy…and they won over middle England and got the MSM support , because of the spin. However, 9 Tory years ( it was Tory in Policy even in coalition era) has seen Tory boys entering the BBC News and Current Affairs, at exec level, hiring other Tories to match Tories already employed -including Murdoch executives in key hnire and fire positions, and revolving doors straight from Downing Street communications into the BBC. In that scenario there will need to be an awful lot of weeding ou com the day – truth and reconciliation not deserved (and does not work anyway). Media Academics and Skawknox needs to keep a monitoring log of transgressions since Corbyn became leader.
Should read: ‘weeding out come the day’