'Journalism' As Propaganda: Reuters Withdraws Cropped Anti-Israel Photos, Inserts Biased Anti-Israel Captions Instead

After having to quietly pull cropped and photoshopped images that hid jihadist violence on the Mavi Marmara, images that were edited in explicit violation of their ethics guidelines, Reuters is now quietly reissuing the full undoctored photos.

Cropped Image-Reuters 1_doomsday_604x341

And adding this kind of crap in the captions:

Pro-Palestinian activists hold down an Israeli commando on the Gaza-bound Turkish ship Mavi Marmara in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea early May 31, 2010. Israeli marines stormed the Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza on Monday and nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed, triggering a diplomatic crisis and an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council.

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“Activists” were “holding down” the Israelis who “stormed” their “aid ship.” That’s a second stab at objectivity, from a media outlet that’s theoretically overcompensating for the functionally doctored propaganda they just got caught publishing.

We’re in the midst of a solidly theorized cycle of populist scapegoating, wherein global populations in confused decline are seeking a readily identifiable victim that can be pinpointed as the source of all their problems. Eliminate the scapegoat, the psychology goes, and you eliminate all the problems. Eliminate Israel, the hope is, and you eliminate Muslim discontent all the way from Afghanistan to the capitals of Old Europe.

Can you imagine how surreal the backlash is going to be when they find out they’re wrong? At the very least this much, right?

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