When the Press Presses for War" by Mumia Abu-Jamal

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WHEN THE PRESS PRESSES FOR WAR
[Col. Writ. 10/25/01] Copyright '01 Mumia Abu-Jamal

    It is often surprising what comes to mind when one
thinks of the press.  We often think of it as a daily necessity,
as our window to the world, as an impersonal, sometimes
faceless acquaintance, whom we deal with daily.

    We rarely think of the press as a multi-million dollar
industry, which, by its very power, wealth and burgeoning
influence, has become a virtual branch of government.  Or,
perhaps worse, as a subsidiary to a multibillion-dollar
multinational corporation.

    Lastly, we may, rarer still, never come to see the press
as the private possession of one person, or a small group
of persons, for such a thought shocks us.  For most of us
have come of age hearing, seeing, or reading of the press
as "a public service."

    Seen this way, most of the nation's commercial media
begins to resemble a tool, an institution, indeed an agency
of the wealthy classes.  This is a dangerous thought, for
it shatters any illusion that the press is an instrument of
democracy (Ask any reporter if he ever told his boss, the
editor, what *he* wanted to cover, as opposed to what
his editor wanted done, and you'll learn that no newsroom
is a democracy!).

    You see the true nature of the press clearest in times of
war, when any notion of dissent is snuffed into silence.  In a
case that is as shocking as it is silly, a number of newspapers
around the nation have withdrawn the hilariously brilliant
"Boondocks" comic strip, done by a young man named
Aaron McGruder.  As was the case of its predecessor strip,
"Doonesbury," the "Boondocks" strip takes on political,
cultural, and social issues of the day.  In one banned strip,
the central character, a pint-sized, perpetually petulant
radical boy named Huey Freeman (who bears a rather
striking resemblance to the late Black Panther founder,
Huey P. Newton) calls up the FBI's Anti-terrorism hotline,
and asks, "Is this the FBI's Anonymous Anti-terrorism
hotline?"  A voice on the line promptly replies, "Yes, Mr.
Freeman, this is the FBI's Anonymous Anti-Terrorism
hotline.  Whatcha got?"  Huey is stunned for a second,
then yells into the phone, "ANONYMOUS?!" The FBI
guy responds, "C'mon, Huey! You know we've been
buggin' your phone for years! Whatcha got?"

    This is funny stuff.  But apparently, thousands, perhaps
tens of thousands (or more!) won't see it to know.

    Many years ago, when the Zulus and the Lakota Sioux
were fighting against encroaching white imperialism in
their homelands, both indigenous empires scored
impressive military victories over imperialist invaders.
They are known to history as the battles of Isandhlwana
and Little Bighorn.  The press described Sitting Bull as
a "savage" and Zulu King Cetshwayo as a "bloodthirsty
barbarian."  (When Custer slaughtered hundreds of
Cheyenne men, women and children at the Black
Kettle Village on Washita River, killing even ponies,
I doubt any newspaper in America called him either
a "savage" or a "bloodthirsty barbarian").  The daily
press criticized the British and American militaries
for daring their "inferiors" to beat them, and whipped
them on to more brutal, violent, and punitive attacks
on Lakota and Zulu peoples and lands.

    This imperialist training of the press in the 1800s
can be seen today in the way the media whitewashes
massacres, ignores or distorts history, and demonizes
any opponents of the empire.

    As the old saying goes, it's a 'free press' -- only
if you own one.

Copyright '01 MAJ


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only when lions have historians will hunting cease to be glorified

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