this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2024
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ok, but serious question and I'm not trying to cause conflict but an actual conversation. How do you decide what is reliable and what is not when faced with two opposing sides? I agree that just calling anything conspiracy theory is negative and not helpful. But am I to just decide that "imperial core" is bad and all other media is the "truth"?
I've gone through the links before that you've posted in the past. All I know is fucked up shit went down just like any protest of which the ruling class doesn't like. Am I just to believe your links? The "wiki" page you linked states,
it just completely dismisses any complaint that was happening during the time as Carl Zha's video explains the lead up to it. It doesn't help that his reflection is from when he was 12 and living in another area. He even states at 24:70, "One of the deal(s) they made with the Chinese people is ok, you can do whatever you want as long as you don't challenge the government." He goes on to state that the reason the protests needed to stop was because of the economic collapse in the soviet union and fear of it happening in China, not because it wasn't a worthy cause or change didn't need to happen on a governmental level.
Does western media blow protests out of proportion? Absolutely, just look at the Gaza protest coverage. Seems like the state media was doing the same thing with "snipers" being the reason to shoot into occupied residential buildings and a "malfunctioning vehicle" killing 11 by running them over at the square itself. Whether it's been skewed or not, all of this just seems like brushing everything under a rug with some "normie" and America insults thrown in.
It ain’t easy; there’s no silver bullet.
Of course not.
I think you’re further along in answering your own questions than the vast majority of Westerners, who take just about everything the media says about international goings-on at face value.
The only reason so many normie Americans know about the Tiananmen protests/riots in the first place is because the American propaganda machine has made them known, to be understood in the way the Council on Foreign Relations wants them to be understood.
ok, I already got and agreed with the sentiment that propaganda media is the norm for America. My question is, how are you determining what is or isn't propaganda being put forth by the media companies and articles you are presenting? Anyone can just say it's the truth because they agree with it (look at qanon and general right wing media). What makes the reporting valid to you besides it's apparent point of country origin?
Personally, I just have no clue. I know tragedies occurred and every side will skew the truth for their own perspective (this isn't even malicious sometimes, just seeing a situation play out differently i.e. police forcefully but respectfully removed citizens vs police brutalized and forced citizens to flee the area). I wasn't there, so I wont argue any specific events but I don't just inherently trust one news source over another.
It's all propaganda. The term itself means pushing an agenda by propagating information. Separating fact from fiction requires following the sources any given outlet uses to support their claims. Part of the reason so many communists distrust western mainstream media so much is due to shady sourcing. A recurring issue, for example, is relying on anonymous (i.e. unverifiable) sources.
Another thing to consider when looking at this stuff is cui bono: who benefits? While a source pushing an agenda isn't necessarily presenting false information, they are inclined to frame facts in a way that fits their narrative. Which facts do they include and which do they leave out? Which facts do they emphasize and which do they minimize?