Enemies of Reason Poundshop potshots at the media moral maze.

China gets its inspiration from the Mail

Clearly the Chinese government are big fans of the Daily Mail. Presumably having read Alison Pearson blaming Fiona McKeown for her daughter's death, and Mad Mel Phillips blaming McKeown for her daughter's death and Shannon Matthews for her daughter being abducted, they're blaming the Dalai Lama for people being arrested, imprisoned and beaten up in Tibet.

Well it makes sense, doesn't it. Blame the victims. It's all their fault for being victims. It's not Shannon Matthews's abductor who was responsible for Shannon Matthews being abducted; it was her mum's fault for having had children by more than one man. It wasn't Scarlett Keeling's rapist and murderer who was responsible for Scarlett Keeling being raped and murdered; it was her mum's fault for having had children by more than one man. See? Simple, isn't it. That's the logic of the Daily Mail - and also, as it turns out, the Chinese government. Not the most likely bedfellows, you might think, but it just goes to show.

So, who to blame for violence? The world's leading non-violent protester. Simple. But not to worry, the BBC will give you most of the story and not really challenge what you say - hooray! This media manipulation business is even easier overseas than it is in totalitarian communist states...

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has accused the Dalai Lama of masterminding the recent days of demonstrations against Chinese rule in Tibet's capital, Lhasa.
Mr Wen said the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader's claim of "cultural genocide" was "nothing but lies".
The Dalai Lama denied he was behind the unrest and said he would resign from the government-in-exile if it worsened.

So do we get an impartial report? Well, the first source quoted is the Chinese governmnt:

"There is ample fact and plenty of evidence proving this incident was organised, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique," he said.

And the evidence is...? Oh, sorry, none. But this isn't a problem to the BBC. They're happy to report lies from the US military, from the British government, with no evidence to back them up because of 'national security'. It'd be a bit hypocritical not to take the same kneeling-down stance to the Chinese government as well.

So there we are. If someone has a crime committed against them, it's their fault. A territory invaded? It's their fault. A daughter murdered? It's your fault. Aggressors are exonerated; victims are responsible for the aggression against them. That's the news narrative we have nowadays.

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Related posts:

1. That Mail hypocrisy in full
2. Mark Speight and the Mail