How media manufactures consent on Ukraine vs other wars

The media is a bedrock of free societies but that same media is also used to distort our perceptions and influence our thoughts and feelings. Russia's siege on Ukraine is the largest conflict to face the European continent since World War II, yet humanity in general has hardly seen any peace since then. Whether its Israel's criminal occupation in Palestine, or Saudi Arabia's illegal war against Yemen (which is fought with Canadian arms), or the famine in Afghanistan fuelled by US sanctions, there is plenty of conflict and human suffering going around right now. But which wars get elevated to our attention is largely determined by the media.

The war in Ukraine is obviously significant and dire in how it is re-igniting threats of nuclear war that have not been seen in over 30 years. The answer to the other conflicts not getting enough attention is not to ignore the obvious danger Russia's aggressions have to humanity. The answer is to hold the media accountable, and to be more intentional with our sources of news and information. It is to be skeptical of what we read, watch, and listen to, no matter the source, and to use our ability to think critically to sus out the bullshit. It is to harness our curiosity and our empathy to seek out the truth beyond the veil of biases.

All of us have an agenda, and corporations allow the worse of us to apply our most exploitative, least sustainable, profit-seeking agendas with the protection of corporate liability. The corporate media is no exception. Krystal Ball explains this further and how it is applied to global conflicts in this short clip from Breaking Points.