disinformation | live from bosnia: the atrocity exhibition

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live from bosnia: the atrocity exhibition
by Alex Burns (alex@disinfo.com) - December 16, 2000

When J.G. Ballard wrote 'The Atrocity Exhibition' (1970), a wicked satire on America's fascination with barbaric nightmares, he presciently foresaw that the media would play an important role in monitoring the resulting 'institutionalized disaster areas'. Ballard's Vision became reality during revelations after the Persian Gulf War which highlighted close links between the Kuwaiti royal family and 'Hill & Knowlton', a major US public relations firm hired to coach the 'incubator babies murder' testimony that whipped the American public into frenzied war-mongering.

On August 15th, 1992, an ITN news-crew led by Penny Marshall shot footage of a reputed Bosnian Serb concentration camp at Trnopolje. The resulting images of emaciated and imprisoned dissident Fikret Alic and other Bosnian Muslims became indelibly etched into the public's mind, sparking moral outrage which eventually led to NATO intervention in the Balkans during 1999.

Except, according to former 'LM' ('Living Marxism') editor Mike Hume, Marshall's footage did not reveal a Nazi-like death camp, but was in fact staged. The Trnopolje camp was, Hume claimed in an 'LM' article, actually a refugee camp, and Marshall's team had filed the material under intense pressure to 'scoop' the world press for the expose.

Hume and 'LM' lost a libel suit filed by the vast ITN network in March 2000, raising important questions about media ethics and how the 'military-entertainment' complex (coined by Australian academic McKenzie Wark) is used to dupe the general public.

Think that scenario sounds a little too far-fetched or conspiratorial? The blueprint for influencing global media networks in both the Persian Gulf War and NATO intervention in the Balkans was inadvertently laid down (as just one publicly verifiable example) in a 'Psychological Operations' (PSYOP) position paper for 'Military Intelligence Review' titled 'From PSYOP To Mindwar: The Psychology Of Victory', co-authored by specialist Michael A. Aquino (who doesn't necessarily agree with the way his techniques were subsequently misused). Military analysts ignored his 1986-87 'National Defence University' paper 'PSYOP: The Ethical Dimension'; both papers strongly argued against deployment of PSYOP against domestic populations. The dynamics of the mass media's political economy which the ITN lawsuit spotlighted have also been analyzed by Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Hermann, Bertram Gross, George Soros, and others.

The libel suit has probably bankrupted 'LM', a small left-wing publication, which is faced with a US$500 000 legal bill. Despite the British High Court dismissing the majority of the 'LM' expert witnesses, the case received very little mainstream media coverage (a sign that media moguls, editors, and journalists adhere to habitually numbing editorial formulas?). The unreprentant Mike Hume has just released footage of the camera crew that shadowed Marshall's team, enabling the interested public to judge this debacle for themselves.

The distinction between propaganda and news is increasingly a tenuous one, but it becomes even more disturbing when libel laws are used to muzzle investigative reporting and marginalize dissident viewpoints.

The end result, according to Susan D. Moeller, is 'Compassion Fatigue': public apathy induced by Americanized homogenized international news coverage. The 'LM' libel case is an objective sign that J.G. Ballard's projected 'benevolent psycho-pathologies' have finally arrived. And now you're infected.

ITN Vs. LM
The vast contents of this web-site on the ITN vs. LM (formerly 'Living Marxism') libel case was recently 'pulled' offline during court proceedings. Scandalous!

But Does It Matter?
In this 'Emperor's Clothes' article (March 19th, 2000), Phil Hammond conveys the long-term implications of the 'Living Marxism' libel lawsuit.

The Fatal Flaws Underlying NATO's Intervention In Yugoslavia
A series of articles and responsive commentaries by former 'United Nations' personnel and freelance journalists on how the US media demonized the Serbians during NATO intervention in the Balkans.

US Army 'PSYOPS' Specialists Worked For CNN
This 'Trouw' article (February 21st, 2000) by Abe de Vries reveals some little trends in US media information dissemination, from a leading Dutch newspaper.

The Information War
Australian scholar McKenzie Wark dissects the emergence of the 'Military-Entertainment' Complex in an article that originally appeared in the journal '21.C'.

Why Don't We Care?
This article (December 14th, 1998) is a promotional item for Susan D. Moeller's excellent book 'Compassion Fatigue: How The Media Sell Disease, Famine, War, And Death' (Routledge, 1998), the natural outcome of manipulative media campaigns. A highly recommended book!

The Truth Vs. ITN And Reuters
The original 'LM' article regarding 'doctored' photographs used to generate public support for NATO intervention in the Balkans, and the subsequent 'Reuters' news agency analysis. Decide for yourself if 'Living Marxism' was spreading misinformation or courageously revealing the truth!

English Libel Law: A Disgrace To Democracy
Unrepentant former 'LM' editor Mike Hume vents his anger about manipulation of the libel trial proceedings: "The court threw out all of our expert witnesses, including John Simpson of the BBC and a leading QC. The judge's summing up was so one-sided that it made ITN's overpaid barrister redundant."

The Tears Of The Mighty
Jared Israel's searing article (March 16th, 2000) for the 'Emperor's Clothes' web-site analyzes the process by which Penny Marshall's ITN news gathering team may have duped the public by staging footage of a Serbian death camp.

Judgement!
Details of a documentary containing footage taken by a camera crew that was shadowing the ITN investigative team on the day that Penny Marshall took footage of a supposed Serbian death camp. Purchase the film and decide the truth for yourself.

Emperor's Clothes
Features dissident commentary from worldwide media analysts and academics about geo-political flash-points, including Kosovo, the Seattle 'World Trade Organization' protests, and more. Chilling exposes on how the political economy of the mass media influences public perceptions.

What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream?
Excellent article by dissident scholar Noam Chomsky on the political economy and values-systems underlying mainstream mass media. Useful background research to understand why ITN and Reuters challenged 'Living Marxism' magazine.

Propaganda And Control Of The Mass Media
RealAudio excerpts from a Noam Chomsky lecture CD reveals the history and mechanisms of how propaganda works within the mass media, including the pervasive influence of Edward Bernays.

Necessary Illusions: Thought Control In Democratic Societies
Excerpts from and summaries of Noam Chomsky's seminal book 'Necessary Illusions: Thought Control In Democratic Societies' (South End Press, 1989). Invaluable background material for understanding the libel case issues in a broader context!

LM Online
The OFFICIAL web-site for 'LM' (formerly 'Living Marxism' magazine), featuring articles and commentaries by Mike Hume and others.

AntiWar
A libertarian web-site devoted to building international opposition to 'New World Order' forces and geo-political interventions.

Stratfor
One of the finest news sources on geo-political flash-points available, packed with precise and accurate analysis. Highly recommended.

The Atrocity Exhibition: Table Of Contents
Chapter excerpts from 'The Atrocity Exhibition' (1970), the classic novel by J.G. Ballard that presciently foresaw how the media would shape institutionalized disaster areas.

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