Selling the War Narrative…
The other day the news started putting up satellite images of what is being called – in no uncertain terms – a mass grave in Ukraine. Eva Bartlett went to Mariupol and appears to have located it:
Western Claims of Russian Mass Graves Near Mariupol Another Fake News Hoax–I Know, I Went To See
In every war, the government cranks up its propaganda and the media dutifully repeat it — spewing out the half-truths, exaggerations, and blatant lies of official spokespeople and anonymous sources — while critical perspectives are dropped, vilified, censored, and suppressed.
With rare exceptions, “the news” must fit “the narrative.”
In the Ukrainian war, the less than objective United States uses all sorts of information produced by less than objective Ukrainian official sources to promote their narrative. In a story about all the weapons the United States is shoveling into Ukraine to fuel this war, CNN actually reported on this last week:
…Last week the US agreed to provide Kyiv with the types of high-power capabilities some Biden administration officials viewed as too much of an escalation risk a few short weeks ago, including 11 Mi-17 helicopters, 18 155 mm Howitzer cannons and 300 more Switchblade drones. But much of that support hasn’t yet come online — and the Switchblades are mobile, one-time use drones that would also likely be difficult to track after the fact.
“I couldn’t tell you where they are in Ukraine and whether the Ukrainians are using them at this point,” a senior defense official told reporters last week.
…Because the US military is not on the ground, the US and NATO are heavily reliant on information provided by Ukraine’s government. Privately, officials recognize that Ukraine has an incentive to give only information that will bolster their case for more aid, more arms and more diplomatic assistance…
“It’s a war… Every public statement is an information operation, every interview, every Zelensky appearance broadcast…” said a source familiar with western intelligence…
Every public statement is an information operation… The news must fit the narrative.
Eva Bartlett’s journey to where the mayor of Mariupol is pitching a “mass grave” story being uncritically plastered across the western world is a reminder of that fact.
