But what if thats not what Merkel meant? Its noteworthy that few if any of these pieces referencing Merkels statement stressed the words actually attributed to Merkel–that Putin is in another world. Thats because those words dont convey what the the White House spin did: that Putin was not in touch with reality. One phrase suggests that someone has an entirely different point of view, while the other suggests that that person is delusional. The attraction of the latter point was raised in a remarkable piece by McClatchys David Seibel (3/5/14), who noted that the Merkel remark was too good to ignore and became the reporting line for every talking head and commentator for the next several news cycles. A little too good, perhaps. Seibel writes: Die Welt, the German newspaper, reported that the chancellery was not pleased with the reporting on the conversation. They claim that what the chancellor said was that Putin has a different perception on Crimea, which is why she is pushing for a fact-finding mission on the matter. He added: So if Merkel didnt portray Putin as unhinged, why would the unknown Obama aide tell the New York Times she did? Because in the world of propaganda, successfully portraying your adversary as being crazy, without any rational backing to his actions, makes it unnecessary to try to understand the complexities or sensitivities of the issues. If Putin is crazy, then thats enough. We neednt think any further about what he has to say. And if the New York Times says hes crazy, thats good enough for the dozens of reporters whove come along since, repeating the comment to their millions of viewers and readers as if it was a confirmed statement. Good work. Its unusual to see someone at a mainstream US media outlet write so clearly about how it is so easy to become a megaphone for propaganda in this kind of crisis. Itd be nice to see the New York Times explain whether it thinks it acted as such a megaphone.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 17:35:25 +0000
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