RT: Spin-a-war : Media spin: the deadliest weapon of = all?

Media spin: the deadliest weapon of all?

On this page every Wednesday you = will find an=20 account of an armed conflict from the past =E2=80=93 = recent or distant=20 =E2=80=93 that went down in history not in the way it = really happened=20 but in the way it was portrayed by the media.

Spin is older than the media itself. It is as old = as the=20 notion of news. Stories have been spun ever since news = began=20 to circulate through word of mouth. Rumour and = speculation=20 were added to information; ideological presumptions = were=20 attached too, until the news was transformed, often = giving=20 contradictory messages.

The effect of ancient spin can easily be seen in = the=20 descriptions of the same events in different = chronicles, and=20 this is as true for Western culture as Eastern. For = example,=20 the Grunewald Battle is described differently in the = accounts=20 of the Teutonic (German) Order, in the Polish = chronicles and=20 in the accounts of the Russian principality of = Smolensk. The=20 ancient chronicles of Burma and Siam draw different = pictures=20 of the wars fought between the two nations over = several=20 centuries.

In our time, spin thrives in an age where most = people get=20 their information from television, radio and = newspapers. In=20 Israel, the majority thinks their country won the = recent war=20 against Hamas. In Gaza, Hamas celebrates victory = despite=20 taking heavy losses.

The internet has changed the world. It provides an=20 opportunity to look at events from a different angle. = But then=20 again, we all have views of our own, whether or not = they have=20 been formed by the media. And so, we choose the = websites we=20 visit according to our views, limiting our horizons as = we do=20 so.

Spin is not a tool of psychological warfare. = Rather, spin=20 is an integral part of human nature, because a human = brain is=20 built to receive, process and project information, and = that is=20 why most thoughts are true but every spoken word is a = lie.

But the natural character of spin doesn't cancel = the fact=20 that when someone wants the public to think in a = certain way=20 about a certain event, and that someone has enough = money,=20 power and influence, the natural effect of spin can be = multiplied to become a potent weapon. And it can be a = most=20 destructive one, capable of killing the truth, of = changing the=20 way events are recorded and go down in = history.

Here on = this=20 page we will do our best to un-spin the armed = conflicts=20 that were shown to the public as having gone on in one = way but=20 in fact had been fought, won and lost in quite another = one.

Evgeny Belenkiy, RT.

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