pdotb reviewed When Genocide Wasn’t News by Martin Lukacs
Illuminating
5 stars
Content warning Gaza, genocide, canpol
Starts with a quantitative analysis of Canadian media, illustrating both the quantity of reporting on Palestinian and Israeli deaths, as well as the emotiveness of the words chosen. Not a huge surprise that the National Post is the worst, followed by the Globe and Mail, but even the supposedly 'progressive' Toronto Star fares poorly. Much of the rest of the book is accounts of individual journalists' experiences inside newsrooms, facing pushback and stalling when trying to propose stories or changes of emphasis. There's a powerful account of the effects of HRC, including quotes from the major journalists' unions, and also illustrative stories of how the truth can be distorted to create conspiracies. The first chapter mentions Herman's and Chomsky's 'Manufacturing Consent', and it's hard to feel that's not what's going on in Canada.