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by cameronh90 1565 days ago
You always need to take anything in 'opinion', 'editorial' or 'analysis' sections with a grain of salt.

That being said, bias does not automatically imply propaganda. Naturally someone raised in the UK/US is going to have a Western interpretation of actions and bias, but in most cases these are beliefs genuinely held. I'm sure as a British person I could find many areas where I disagree with you, and our particular views are coloured by cultural biases - but that does not make them propaganda IMO. Tech articles often contain ridiculous statements around encryption and the dark web, but it's most likely lack of understanding than propaganda.

I would say propaganda requires intent - usually to achieve a political aim at the behest of the government. Genuine propaganda is hard to conclusively find within the BBC - though I personally suspect some of the covid reporting contained a type of voluntary propaganda.
1 comments
msravi 1565 days ago
> I would say propaganda requires intent - usually to achieve a political aim at the behest of the government.

This is most certainly present, and is glaringly obvious when you're seeing events unfold firsthand and look at the reportage in western media very deliberately leave out happenings that don't tie in with the narrative being peddled. It definitely isn't just bias. It's wilful propaganda, with malicious intent.

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cameronh90 1565 days ago
Having known journalists, I think it's better to apply Hanlon's razor. Most articles are likely to be being written from some office in London by people who have no direct experience with the issue in question, and the primary metrics they'll be optimising for will be page views.

For example, a writer for the Express won't write an article about how the British Empire screwed India because it will annoy the readership. It's not propaganda, it's people who don't know what they're talking about desperately fighting over shrinking advertising revenue.

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car_analogy 1565 days ago
> Most articles are likely to be being written from some office in London by people who have no direct experience with the issue in question

And they will use government sources, adding little more than stenography to whatever message their government wants to push.

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