PD,
I like your post.
TheEnforcer,
I know EXACTLY what Alex is referring too. It's all in the story telling though. Everyone is acting in their best interest and we'd be insane to think that Clinton or Bush or Reagan or Carter would not make statements in their best interest. That's all though. If you want to use worlds like "spin cycle", "propaganda", and "stonewalling" you're painting a certain picture and making a leap of faith. "meticulously worded briefs"? Those damned scammers! What is the author trying to convince me of?
Everyone is acting in their best interests; Chirac, Blair, Bush, Putin, Democrats, Republicans and it is all on the news here. The BBC is not covering the secret european meetings and CNN ignoring them. If you want to read what the white house is saying, you can read it on the BBC website also. Are they part of the white house news cycle too?
Alex may try and skirt around it now but he said "As soon as you leave the US and start looking at other news sources you start to see that there are at least 2 sides to every story". Well, in the US we have a two party system that keeps that in check very well. World events are political events and in America opinions are often split down party lines. Some make fun of the "tabloid-like news shows" of FOX, CNN, MSNBC but we can turn on the television at any time of the day and watch interviews with congressman, former presidents, and leaders of other countries. Much of them have opinions that differ from the white house position. Our television news shows create airwaves of dissent.
Alex's contention is that we don't receive balanced converage in America because we have a lack of information resources, our media is controlled by the white house, and in his exact words "The point has to do with the control of the news media by the politicians".
I argue that we DO receive balanced coverage precisely because of the two party system. People participate in that system, the politicians do, and do does the media.
There is no major issue regarding the US/Iraq situation that is NOT being covered by FOX, CNN, etc. I've heard the BBC covers news differently and in my experience it doesn't. It's the same old song and dance. Yes, the format and style is different - in the same way that FOX and CNN are drastically different from each other but the news is the same.
Alex is one of those people that turns on one of those news talk shows with one liberal and one conservative and gets so upset at what the conservative says that he thinks the show is anti-liberal biased - despite the fact that there are two hosts - one on each side.
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