In the first half of this week’s show, Mickey and Project Censored intern Reagan Haynie speak with investigative reporter Alan MacLeod of MintPress News. MacLeod explains that a number of former high-ranking US military and security officials are now executives or board members in the video-game industry, notably with the firm that make the “Call of Duty” game, Activision. He also notes that game’s portrayals of assassinations of foreign leaders as normal, and concludes that games like these are carefully designed propaganda/recruitment devices.
Next, media analyst Nolan Higdon takes the corporate press to task for its refusal to fairly present alternatives to official doctrine about the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures needed to cope with its fallout. Finally, in light of Press Freedom Day, Project Censored associate director Andy Lee Roth explains the multiple ways that journalism truly is the lifeblood of democracy, and journalists serve the cause of human rights, including freedom of expression.
Notes:
Alan MacLeod is a senior staff writer at MintPress News, and the author of two books on journalism. He writes extensively about media bias, propaganda, and fake news. He discusses his recent article “Call of Duty is a Government Psyop.” Reagan Haynie is a graduating senior at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She has been Project Censored’s academic intern this past year.
Nolan Higdon is a lecturer in education at the University of California Santa Cruz campus. He’s also the author of the book The Anatomy of Fake News and other works of media analysis. His most recent dispatch on media and politics about the failures of the Fourth Estate using Covid-19 is No Turning Back.
Andy Lee Roth is Associate Director of Project Censored, co-editor of the Project’s annual volume, and co-coordinator of the Project’s Campus Affiliates Program. He has published widely on media issues, including hist most recent article, The Lifeblood of Democracy.