TBRNews.org claimed to obtained Secret Media Control Memos

posted by ewing2001 on Sunday August 03, @02:06PM

Sophisticated Hoax or is more behind this story?
"Memos" ignored 9/11 Report and related stories about Cleland, Graham + Co.

Note: There are many other entries dating from January, 2002. To read these, please click here

TBRNews.org -July 22, 2003

During the middle of March, 2003, tbrnews received an email from a man who claimed to be a mid-level executive with a major American television network. He stated in this, and subsequent, emails that he was in possession of “thousands” of pages of in-house memos sent from his corporate headquarters in New York City to the head of the network’s television news department. He went on to say that these memos set forth directives about what material was, and was not, to be aired on the various outlets of the network.

This individual claimed he was developing serious doubts about the strict control of media events and decided that he would pass this material along to someone who might make use of it.

There was the question of his job security. If someone published his name, it would be certain he was not only fired but blackballed throughout his profession.

If tbrnews.org would agree to protect his identity, he would send us these alleged thousands of pages of notes, going back to 2001.

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The proof of the pudding is in the eating so we accepted his caveats and he then sent to us by disk the pages he spoke of. All are on corporate stationary, signed or initialed by the senders and again, signed or initialed by the recipients in the news division.

It was always possible that this material consisted of a very involved hoax or was something designed for the news site to use and then have it revealed that it was not original. It would not be the first time that spurious disinformation had been sent to us in the hopes that it would be used.

There were not “thousands of pages” of memos but a total of 1,497 separate pages involved. Many of them consisted of short memos while others ran to a larger format.

Naturally, someone could easily have obtained correct in-house network letterheads, made copies of them and prepared false memoranda but the sheer size and depth of the collection was impressive.

If these memos were true, they showed with a terrible clarity that at least one part of the American mass media was strictly controlled and that the news was so doctored and spun that it might as well be official news releases from the White House and Pentagon.

The best way in which to ascertain whether or not these documents contained original information was to check the dates of issuance and compare the information with subsequent news stories.

This was a terrible, time-consuming chore but by selecting random memos and looking through the archives of various national newspapers, checking AP releases and so on, the results indicated that indeed, news was being managed.

However, it was also possible that someone else did this and was preparing these after the fact and making the memos conform to published material.

That having been said, we insisted on absolutely current memos so that we could then check these against future publications. If, for example, a corporate fiat was to show certain pictures or spin a story in a certain way, it would be relatively simple to simply read the press or watch television news to see if these suggestions were implemented.

It was both shocking and gratifying to note that this proved to be the case in a preponderance of cases and so we began to put these up, either in toto or, more often, in excerpt and watch as ordained news was created before our eyes.

When a corporate order states, for instance, that certain pictures should be shown with accompanying commentary and the memo predates a published story by a week or more, then it is more than likely that the memos are not inspired guesswork but genuine.

When tbrnews put up the first two pages, there were two basic forms of public response. One was to thank us for exposing something many people believed; that the American media was controlled and not free. (That much can easily be ascertained by reading the websites of various reputable foreign publications such as the Swiss NZZ, the British Guardian, the Canadian Toronto Globe and Mail, Reuters News Service and the Jerusalem Post. What any viewer can see on these sites is certainly not reflected in the American media.)

The second response consisted of irate, and literate, statements to the effect that all of these items were just stupid hoaxes and should not be believed. “I believe,” one writer who claimed to be a Professor of Journalism at an Ivy League college said, “these are just disinformation designed to discredit American journalists whose reputation for honesty and integrity is certainly beyond question. You are performing a great disservice in repeating these politically-motivated fictions…”

This is certainly a true statement because if it became generally accepted that the American media was only a mechanical parrot for various political organization, it would no longer be either believed or watched. If viewers turned off their television sets, the networks would lose huge amounts of advertising revenue, reporters would be laid off and people would turn instead to the Internet for their news.

Tbrnews receives many emails on a daily basis but the input on this subject has been so great that we have decided to expand the articles, irate journalists and professors to the contrary.

In the final analysis, it is always up to the reader to make up their own mind as to the truth, or fiction, of what they read. The media has an opposite view of this.

It is fairly obvious that the average Americans get their news either from TV, mostly, or from the print media. If someone in East Peoria, Illinois sees something on CNN, the Voice of the White House, they have no reason to question it. And don't. The establishment does not worry about the lone man with a website that, as in our case, reaches perhaps 100,000 people at a time when they have control over NBC, CBS, ABC and CNN that can, an do, reach millions a day.

What to they care about people who email messages back and forth? Even if a Pentagon plan to nuke North Korea were up on the net, all that would happen is that some would say, "See, I told you so!" while others would say "Oh shame! You are questioning our Glorious Leader and putting our Brave Troops in danger!"

If some astronomer had absolute proof that a three mile wide asteroid was going to hit this planet in ten days, do you think any of the mass media would ever mention a word of it? This would cause mass panic and the last thing the establishment wants is a public that is out of control. They would find out the target area and keep away from it, along with their friends and members of their families. The rest of us would be either squashed or roasted alive but they don't care about us only so long as we pay our taxes without complaint.

If the honesty of the American mass media is brought into serious question, perhaps the establishment cannot jam their lies down the public's throat with such ease.

Walter Storch

"Authoritarian government required to speak, is silent...Representative government required to speak, lies with impunity". – Napoleon

Part 14

Note: As indicated in the last posting, we are now providing more detailed material.

(July 17) The White House is now moving into a bunker mentality, very much like Nixon during the end of the Watergate business. With mounting Iraqi opposition and facing a very capable guerrilla movement, supplied by Syria and Russia, the US has run into the stone wall we all predicted. His personality will not permit the President to withdraw in good order; the neocons and the oil people will simply not let him. Bush is stuck between the rock and the proverbial hard place…serious growing unrest in the troops coupled with very low morale, growing death tolls, lack of rotation, real fear of being fatally attacked are all leading to a situation that our Pentagon source informs us could actually erupt into open mutiny. Couple all of this with the terrible economy, the insistence of the Bush people on insane tax cuts (to help out corporate America), the obvious right wing political and religious fanatics supporting the President and we have the makings of serious, probably fatal, domestic problems. The fear is that a frantic Administration could connive at some kind of domestic terrorism if and when they perceive the President slumping badly in the polls. He already is and it looks like it might go like the economy. Today, a 65% favorite; tomorrow matching Davis’ 20%.

( July 20) We have to sit on stories of serious physical abuse of Iraqi citizens. Most sensitive (and we put the blackout on this subject) are the numerous rapes and sexual assaults against Iraqis. Interesting are the unreported but fully known homosexual rapes…the real problem here is that US GI minorities are mostly responsible for these and Bush needs these votes in November so on with the lid…we don’t think they can keep this shut up for too long…the Okinawa syndrome all over again.

(July 21) Blair may well fall from power as a result of the growing anger in the UK…as usual, Bush has blamed the CIA for the yellowcake nonsense and now that Tenent is fighting back with strategic leaks, he is blaming his only real ally, Britain…the same problem Bush has with everyone…promise everything, deliver nothing. Sound bites followed by forgetfulness. This is going to cause serious internal problems in Mexico when the PRI realizes that Fox won’t get support from Bush. The President does not realize that there is a ready-made war on our southern border…best part is that the troops won’t have so far to go this time….plans to activate the National Guards and send them off to Iraq to relieve the serious morale crisis in our troops there will certainly backfire. The weekend warriors are a military comic routine and would be sliced to pieces by grinning Iraqi guerrillas. When they start sending young convenience store managers home in rubber bags with their genitals cut off, there will be hell to pay in Middle America…

Some other samples from the "Memos":

"Speculations of the actual nature of SARS are not under any circumstances to be permitted. Keep in mind the currently in- place rules following the outbreak of "Legionnaires Disease." (March 30)

"If this gets any credence, it could wreak havoc with the US cattle industry, not to mention the fast food and restaurant business. Mad-cow has been in the US before and kept very quiet. Let's see if we can't repeat this now." (May 24)

"Regarding North Korea, it is urgently requested by the White House that any reference to the President?s determination to remove the existing leadership of that country be downplayed. It should be mentioned as an "option" rather than the intention of the President." (April 19)

"Re. Enormous amounts of US currency found in Iraq. Under no circumstances, it has to be stressed, should any mention of amounts in excess of the publicly stated $600 million be made. And absolutely no mention of the possibility of these $100 bills being counterfeit." (May 3)

"The decision to proceed against Iran has been taken." (May 25)

RECENTLY A CHANGE OF TONE

In July, the memo writer starts to distance himself from Bush policy in Iraq, which is becoming a quagmire like Vietnam. He implies that "our circle" predicted this from the start. This suggests that his master may be the Rockefeller-CIA-CFR elite network..

For the first time, the writer urges a "completely neutral position" in case Bush goes the way of Richard Nixon. On July 12, he tells the executives to follow the example of "bellweather" New York Times. On August 1, the New York Times described Bush's performance at a recent news conference as "vague and sometimes nearly incoherent.... [he gave] rambling non answers."

On July 17, the writer says, "The White House is moving into a bunker mentality, very much like Nixon during the end of the Watergate business." The elite media may be getting ready to dump George W. Bush. Why would they report every U.S. casualty in Iraq when they have blacked out Afghanistan?

Iraq may be Bush's Watergate. He may have been tricked into invading Iraq, just as Nixon was tricked into sanctioning Watergate. The whole affair from Sept 11 to the Iraq war may be designed (like Vietnam) to bleed the U.S. taxpayer, destroy American morale and undermine the US's stature in the world.

Info: TBRNews.org was created in October 2002.

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Registrant State/Province:Arizona

They are selling a new book on secret US intelligence military reports on the Iraqi War