Its ultimate aim is to convince the public, make them realise how evil the enemy is, and set the stage for the inteference, sedition or support of national terrorism, so as to achieve the goals of perpetuating a never-ending arms race and armed conflicts. To all of this, a noble reason is bestowed.
In their news reports, the American media is becoming used to "excluding" or "including" the issues.
As the United States is seeking the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the current Yugoslav conflict, its media has vilified the Serbs in its one-sided reports, ignoring the massacres of the Serbs by Croatians, Bosnians and Kosovo Albanians.
Three years ago, the American media worked closely with the US government, and labelled the Kosovo Liberation Army as "terrorists". But today, they are seen as "fighters for a just cause". This arbitrary change in labels stems from the fact that three years ago, the United States had wanted both Croatia and Bosnia to secede.
If then it had included Kosovo, an inherent part of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia would have given strong opposition, and the problem of Croatia and Bosnia would not have been solved.
However, the above problem has already been resolved, and Yugoslavia can now be disintegrated even further. To give legitimacy to its present cause, the US has transformed
former "terrorists" into "fighters for a just cause".
The US assigns labels on others according to its own strategies, and the media can lend support to such efforts with the necessary images and news angles. This is selective misinformation. In an era where the media is highly sophisticated and the people's memories are short, it is becoming increasingly easy to use the media in the manufacturing of consent.
In the media age, the structural control of the media, and the moulding of fixed models of argument and rhetoric through the media, are equivalent to moulding political agenda and public opinion. Control over the media means control over ideas, language and the way people discuss particular issues.
Most of what have happened in Yugoslavia can be
explained from the angle of how the media creates language and the way we think. The incident of the "accidental" missile hit is but one example.
美國媒體變恐怖主義傳聲筒
● 南方朔
媒體的責任是報導事實，但作者認為美國媒體的選擇性報導方式，已使它淪為政治的工具，在戰爭中更助長了恐怖行動的擴張。
美國的三枚飛彈，同時“誤擊”中國駐南斯拉夫大使館，引發大陸學生及民眾的示威抗議運動。非常值得注意的，乃是美國對整個事件的報導模式及其使用的語言。
其一是“排除模式”。美國媒體一向對別的事情喜歡雞蛋裡挑骨頭，但對自詡“聰明的武器”卻三枚居然都那么準地“誤擊”，連最起碼的懷疑精神都告失去，寧不使人嘖嘖稱奇。
稍微有點常識的人都知道這絕非誤擊，而是準確地擊中目標。因此，美國媒體應當提出這樣的問題：為什麼以中國大使館為打擊之目標？為什麼會三枚飛彈同時那么準確地“誤擊”？但對這些如此明顯的問題，它們卻毫無興趣。
這就是一種“排除模式”，不去問不該問的問題，一則在國際上逃避責任，另外則是在國內誤導美國人民的思考模式。美國媒體的這種“排除模式”，早已發展成一種不必媒體老闆交代即會自動出現的新“政治正確”。
※本文作者：佚名※