| This study is dealing with a highly lethal,secret and contentious problem i.e.counterinsurgency(COIN)covert drone war in Pakistan and its media coverage in the US.The phenomenon of covert COIN Drone War is mind boggling that how in this age of information revolution a war can be covert despite the fact that the war is being fought all over the globe and has killed hundreds of innocent people yet nobody knows.Why is it so?Is it an eyes wide shut phenomenon?We are living in Post-truth and Fake News era.To see what is wrong and what is right,a deep analysis of different media systems is required to unearth the truth/different perspectives about covert COIN drone war in Pakistan.Alternative media is challenging the credibility of mainstream media.Hence,this study has taken both the media i.e.mainstream(Liberal-The New York Time and Conservative-The Wall Street Journal)and alternative media Democracy Now to study the covert Drone War phenomenon.The theoretical lenses used for this study are Anne Morelli's War Propaganda Principles and Social Responsibility Theory of the Press.The study time span is of 10 years i.e.from June 2004 to June 2014 because the US started drone war in Pakistan in June 2004 and lowered down drone attacks in January 2014.Pakistan shares a porous border with Afghanistan.After 9/11,US President Bush told Pakistan that either Pakistan is with the US or with the terrorists and demanded Pakistani land and air space for war in Afghanistan.According to American media,after the US invasion of Afghanistan,Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda militants have allegedly shifted in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area that has become the "most dangerous place in the world" as President Obama once said.US gave civil and military aid to Pakistan to fight these alleged militants yet according to the US government,CIA officials and US media,Pakistan is playing "double game" with America i.e.accepting the US money to fight against these alleged militants but using them against the US in Afghanistan and India in Kashmir.US says that Afghan war cannot be won until they do not manage Pakistan.Pakistan is both an ally and enemy of the US.Pak-US relationship is a cat and mouse game according to the US officials and media reports.Taliban militants are attacking on Pakistan because these militants are under American attack in Afghanistan and in the tribal areas of Pakistan through Drone attacks and US special operation forces.Since Pakistan is a nuclear country hence it is the narrative of the US mainstream media that Pakistan is under terrorists' attacks and Pakistani nuclear weapons may go into the hands of terrorists who wants to destroy America hence before Pakistani nuclear weapons go into the hands of terrorists,control Pakistani land and nukes and make the world safe.Fear and terrorism tag campaign against Pakistan in the US mainstream media is intense beyond expression.Such kind of fear mongering and false journalism is against the journalistic norms of the US i.e.Social Responsibility Theory of the Press.It seems that US mainstream media is running a fierce propaganda campaign against Pakistan under Strategic Communication to attain defense objectives despite the fact that Pentagon claims that it has "no hot pursuits into Pakistan." If this is the case then why the New York Times publishes an editorial on January 5,2018 under the headline'Pakistan,the Endlessly Troublesome Ally' and put the same blame of "double game."Pakistan's foreign minister says on January 3,2018 that history tells Pakistan that never trust the Unites States.Expressing the New Year resolution in his first tweet of 2018,President Trump vows to deal with Pakistan with tough hand and labels Pakistan as liar,supporter and facilitator of terrorists/terrorisms.Media has lot to do in the Drone War and"War on Terror" because literature says that "War on Terror" is a symbolic war and media is providing legitimacy to this war and Drone War that is an extension of "War on Terror."Mass communication literature and American history shows that since colonial America till to date,media has a strong impact on American mind and politics.19th century French historian,diplomat and political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville notes in his legendry work Democracy In America(1835)that Americans do not have "deep thoughts" hence their media is "superficial and transitory" but when many media say one thing,then media has power to channelize the attitude and opinion of people as they want,hence media is powerful.Another scholar named Lowrey says that like French press,American press is also elite oriented and is under the control of powerful people.President Lyndon B Johnson considered himself the editor-in-chief of the newspapers.President Reagan believed in spreading false,dreadful,fearful and scary stories in the press and when reporters founded holes in the stories another huge flux of false stories would be put into the media.Media has made Americans so dumb that Columbia Journalism Review notes that the people of America are not only unaware of their rights but also "39%" Americans want Congressional control over press to cover national security issues.Ryfe is of the view that the relationship between journalism and public cannot be understood without understanding the public because public is the "keyword";if people are the keyword then they are the base element in the bonanza of mass communication hence they are the target.For example,in 1915,Congressman J.Hampton Moore demanded an investigation against J.P.Morgan's purchase of 25 most influential newspapers to protect his business interests against people's welfare.The effort to control media by the powerful and rich people is not new.In the recent literature,this effort is described and explained under Indexing Theory i.e.filling media content with the official story.A new generation of scholars are exposing the truth.For instance,Robert W.McChesney writes a book Rich Media,Poor Democracy(1999).McChesney says that people have no power,and media is the part of the money-making system and does not say anything about rich people who are deceiving the system.There is a saying in China that says that "Say nothing,earn a fortune"["?????"].The American mainstream media is fully acting upon the Chinese words of wisdom.US Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson once said that "It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error;it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error" because for Thomas Jefferson "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance" But is the media vigilant?Are the American people vigilant?Chinese proverb says that "Doubt is the beginning,not the end,of wisdom" ????????,??????[—?????].Are American Skeptical?Yes,to some extent they are.Many do not trust their government but Americans cannot understand what is going and why is it going on?Cummings(1939)writes that American people lack "general habits of analysis,attitudes of skepticism,and many similar qualities" this is why when on October 30,1938 they heard of "alien invasion" thorough media,they believed it.American government and institutions have made people DUMB to the extent that on August 2,2017,NASA announces earth protection job from aliens as 'Want to Protect Earth from Aliens?NASA Is Hiring' and a 9 years old kid applied for the job.However,the root of the problem is not journalism because American journalists are ignorant too because they are the product of the same system.Legendry American journalist H.L.Mencken saw American newsrooms in 1920 and wrote that "It is this vast and militant ignorance...that makes American journalism...vulgar,and...disreputable."Literature informs that it was the General Education Board's policy for country schools from 1880 to 1925 that laid the permanent foundation of American ignorance.In fact,the Chairman of the General Education Board,Frederick T.Gates writes in his article,'The Country School of Tomorrow'(1912),that"We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or of science.We are not to raise up from among them authors,orators,poets,or men of letters." Today,the results are visible in American universities.Bosch(2018)publishes an article in Nature and notes that American universities are producing "narrowly focused researchers"("specialists")but not"critical thinkers." The Center for American Studies(CAS)at Christopher Newport University,USA,admits that American universities are not providing quality education in political and military "issues" and this is an "appalling educational trend." This is the reason that American journalists and people are easily duped and cannot understand the story behind the story and rely on official sources.And the story behind the story of current"War on Terror" and Drone War is America's permanent presence in Afghanistan.In April 1904 Sir H.J.Mackinder,director of London School of Economic and the founding father of Geopolitical school,gave a "Heartland Theory" and said that the power which would control "Asia-the great pivot[Central Asia]-would be the most powerful state in global politics." Where there is politics,there is media.There is no war but media has to keep the war momentum until the US controls the "great pivot"-"Heartland." The US has once again emerged as a propaganda state on war footings and is completely unaware of its social responsibility to the people of world.Thematic Analysis and Thematic Discourse Analysis are the methods used to study the data.Thematic analysis is utilized to analyze and classify patterns within data.It describes data with rich detail and interpretation.The concept of Thematic Analysis came in 1973 when Gerald Holton,Harvard University professor of Physics and History of Science,wrote a book Thematic Origins of Scientific Thought:Kepler to Einstein in which he developed Thematic Analysis(TA)"as both perspective and tool for the historiography of science...." For this study,Thematic Analysis method of Virginia Braun and Clarke(2006)is employed.Virginia Braun and Clarke(2006)say "A theme captures something important about the data in relation to the research question,and represents some level patterned response or meaning within the data set." This study is based on both inductive and deductive thematic analysis i.e.data and theory driven.Inductive themes are strongly linked with the data whereas theoretical(deductive)is more analytical and provide details about the different aspects of the data.In this study,Thematic analysis is done at semantic(explicit)and latent levels.Latent analysis goes deeper than semantic analysis by identifying the underlying ideas.This level of thematic analysis follows constructionist perspective that overlaps thematic discourse analysis.Hence thematic discourse analysis is also used in this study to explain the data.Findings are interesting.The New York Times' editorial policy in covering and explaining the "covert" Drone War by making it a part of US democratic system is highly deceptive and against the journalistic values described in the Hutchins' Commission.The Times claims to be a liberal newspapers and history keeper of America yet in its every role Times is playing a highly unhealthy role for American people,democracy,world peace and journalistic standards.Being a liberal newspapers Times believes in liberty,equality justice,democracy,human rights,rule of law,equal opportunity for all,gender equality etc.This study of Times' editorials is reached on the conclusion that Times does not care about such values.It is not only distorting American history but also it is hiding,twisting,and manipulating facts.It is not a newspaper rather it is total propaganda machine working for Military Industrial Media Money Security Politics Complex,which is a system.Times is part of the system.The system of wars,kill and help.Under the liberal cover,Times is extending the agenda of Pentagon's global wars by giving a perception that wars will bring peace,prosperity,justice and equal opportunity for all and killing the innocent people overseas through drones will make US more secure.Times not only supports drone wars but also favors US imperialism and wants to drag Pakistan into the American "War on Terror"started by President Bush.Times admits that the cost of war is too high for the US and it is facing challenges in Afghan war because of Pakistan.Hence,drone war is the solution because drones are cheap.It is not easy to understand the editorials of Times.Their journalistic writing and coverage styles of events is based on Orwellian "Doublethink" and rejection and denial of their own words and even in one sentence they may say two different things.In one paragraph,they write one thing and in the next they reject or spin it.They create mental chaos.Instead of helping people to understand what is going they spin facts and confuse the reader to the extent that the reader cannot understand a thing.But one thing is striking,they make headlines of editorials very catchy,very simple,very straightforward,very informative,less wordy which may give reader a complete idea that what might be written in the editorial but sometimes headline is full of terror and hate and inside the story is different.Times is indeed not trust worthy and part of system of wars and money.Times is the master of deception and propaganda.After the death of an American citizen(Anwar al Awlaki)in a drone strike,Times turned against the US government's pro-war policy and gave the impression to be a socially responsible media outlet.The story behind the story is that whenever the US government comes under national and international pressure because of its illegal wars and killings of innocent people around the globe,Times become anti-war and US retreats from the wars under the pretext that US gives value to human life and listen to the people because people are supreme.Times in fact saves US from humiliation and keeps US legitimacy as a democracy for further propaganda of supreme US values.Times has the capability to deceive people with their eyes wide open.For the Wall Street Journal Pakistan is a nuclear and a Muslim country that makes Pakistan automatically a US enemy.The Journal calls Pakistan "Global Headquarters of Terrorism" that supports and promotes terrorism as it state policy and each and every Pakistani is a terrorist because they protect Al Qaeda and Taliban.The reason behind protection is of sharing the same religion i.e.Islam.This is why when Pakistan army makes a peace deal with Taliban,Journal considers it unacceptable because the editorial members are of the views that Pakistani army wants to make peace with Taliban because of sharing Islamic faith.Journal has no time to understand the situation that why Pakistan is making peace with them.However,when the US army makes peace with Afghan Taliban,Journal appreciate the US army for being wise.When Pakistani army does the same thing,the Journal calls Pakistani military a terrorist army.The Journal wants to engage Pakistan in an endless war and wants Pakistan to kill its own people and wants a civil war or social uprising or violent social movement in the country that the country and its law enforcement agencies are unable to handle.So that a justification could be provided to the world that Pakistan is under Taliban attack,there is social unrest in Pakistan,there is no law and order hence get the Pakistani nukes and take control over the country to make the world safe.The Journal tells the world in very clear words that "War on Terror" will never end and"welcome to War" because it is a war of necessity.Additionally,drone war that is playing a magical role in the "War on Terror" is very dear to the Journal.The Journal proudly says that the US air power like B-52 bomber is spreading liberty and democracy across the globe.For the Journal,Drone War is legal,justified,and necessary and need of the time.Along with drone war,Journal wants more intervention in Pakistan through CIA,US Special Operation Forces.Those who talk about peace,the Journal's editorial has written one word for them i.e."NONSENSE." The Journal is involved in weaponized journalism and coercive mass communication under pure defense and strategic agenda of military industrial complex.In the war momentum of mainstream media,Democracy Now(Alternative Media)is a sane voice.It is a voice,which is speaking on the behalf of people.It is a voice,which is doing journalism according to the American journalistic values.It is a voice,which is not screaming,shouting and making people afraid from the unknown enemy.There is no smell of bombs and human blood in the war coverage of Democracy Now.There is no graphic and abusive language.It does not raise the blood pressure of a person.It does not confuse and deceive the news consumer.It does not give a shut up call to the news consumer.The coverage of Democracy Now of drone war makes listener ponder deeply that why the US government is doing what it is doing.Democracy Now has no agendas other than one agenda i.e.welfare,safety of the common people,American and non-American alike.Democracy Now,wants an informed citizenry thus it presents both side of the stories and let the people decide instead of exploding information and propaganda and ideological bombs into their heads.It can be safely said that Democracy Now is doing journalism according to the social responsibility theory of the press.It is providing people good and healthy information.It is even trying to reach to war zone areas and talk to those journalists who are in the field and get their first hand opinion and let them speak without asking them tricky questions.It even verifies information from other sources.In short,Democracy Now is trying to give true information to people,instead of making them mentally sick or ultra-nationalist who are devoid of any rational thinking and just want to defend their country without thinking whether the country is doing right or wrong.Democracy Now encourages critical thinking and the habit of doubt.It tells its listeners that do not believe what you read or hear rather check,verify,and re-verify the facts and learn from scholars instead of journalists despite the fact that Democracy Now takes a lot of input from independent journalists but it gives equal chance to everybody to speak and present their point of view.It helps people to make an informed and sane judgement.The coverage of Democracy Now gives an impression that America wants to take Pakistan down.America wants to keep immense pressure on Pakistan and only time will determine that till when Pakistan can take US pressure before it dismembers into pieces.The above findings are significant and meaningful and have serious practical implications.These findings are directly linked with Edward's Said Orientalism.Said exposed the hypocrisy of western media that how western media has created the picture of East(Orient)into the heads of people.According to Said,the western media has fixed Orient into certain frames for example thieves,savages,misogynists etc.These frames are fixed into the minds of people.Said's Orient is a lens;it must be used before news consumption.The same lens is used in different shades and colors in the editorials of mainstream media(liberal and conservative)to influence the public opinion not to favor the democratic process but to keep fueling the war momentum for illegal wars.Mainstream media has made people mentally sick by keeping them in constant fear of unknown.Mainstream media is doing this all under the generic flagship term called "Propaganda."US media is not helping people to become a nuclear society rather it is creating ideological walls between them i.e.Red,Blue,liberty,equality,justice,nationalism,patriotism,valor,flag,superiority,power,authority,US victory,US economy,US army etc.These Red and Blue values are nothing but a psychological trap made according to the personalities of people and have largely divided them in only two categories i.e.Red and Blue.When a message is crafted in a tricky way which supports the agenda of the agenda setter but crafted in a way that satisfies ideological values of both Red and Blue then they support it and consensus is created.The same trick can be used in a different way by crafting a message which goes against their ideological values hence there will be no consensus.The genius behind the message crafting is the one who is pulling the strings and Red and Blue cannot understand the story behind the story.Edwadrd Bernays calls that genius an invisible government in his book Propaganda(1928).Walter Lippmann's Public Opinion(1922),calls that genius a shepherd who is directing the herd of lambs(people).In today's world that shepherd has become a wolf who is eating lambs with or without justification because survival of the fittest is the law of jungle.Mainstream media is strong and they axe managing public opinion since colonial era and they are the master of propaganda and call themselves the harbinger of truth whereas their only currency and hidden value is deception.They are playing with the hidden desires of people and this is why people cannot understand them.The solution of this problem is in Chinese proverb i.e."Doubt is the beginning,not the end,of wisdom,"[“????????,??????”]. |
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