Sins of omission

I want to share with you an article by Normal Solomon entitled, "The Silent Media Curse of Memorial Day". Solomon looks at what the news media doesn't tell us about war. Here is just one example:

Aldous Huxley observed about "triumphs of propaganda" long ago: "Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth." I thought of that comment the other night while watching a TV network. No, it wasn't Fox or MSNBC or CNN. It was PBS -- the "Frontline" show, airing a report about Iran's nuclear program. Every word of the May 24 broadcast may have been true -- yet, due to the show's omissions, the practical effect was to participate in laying media groundwork for a military attack on Iran.

"Frontline," let's remember, is supposed to be a quality show on a quality network. But predictably, the reporting bypassed key elements of nuclear proliferation dangers in the Middle East: No mention of the Israeli nuclear arsenal, now estimated at more than 200 warheads. No mention of Mordechai Vanunu, imprisoned for 18 years by the Israeli government for exposing Israel's stockpile of nuclear bombs, now facing the prospect of a return to prison for daring to speak to journalists. No mention of the U.S. government's plunge forward with development of new nuclear weapons, in violation of the same Non-Proliferation Treaty that Iran is now condemned for skirting.

High-tone media outlets claim to excel at providing context. But context is exactly what "Frontline" did not offer the viewers of its report on Iran's nuclear development. Such "silence about truth" is a prerequisite for the kind of self-righteous hypocrisy that's likely to propel a military assault on Iran.

We will be subjected to this dynamic over the Memorial Day weekend: reports that are true in what they do say but deceptive because of what they don't say. I suggest that we all pay attention and repeated ask the question: What is not being said here?