Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Large USA Daily Links To Scoop's War Coverage
Editorial By Selwyn
Manning – Scoop Deputy Editor
One of the USA’s largest daily newspapers has published links to www.scoop.co.nz’s un-sanitised and uncensored images of this US-UK invasion of Iraq.
The San Francisco Chronicle, audited as North California’s largest newspaper, published a front-page pointer to its article titled: "Who Cares About Dead Iraqis? - Body counts, Rummy's plan, and the grisly stuff they don't want you to see. Mark Morford."
The column hight-lights how the US public is being kept from seeing the killing of innocents, of children, of mothers, the elderly: those killed by the hands of Uncle Sam and his British friends. The publication links to Scoop twice in the column’s crescendo.
Columnist Mark Morford writes: “No, it's not easy to find the truth, to see the real numbers or to see the true pictures of war. But there are some honest reports trickling out. Ghastly scenes of a brutalized people. A handful of reporters actually reporting on something other than troop movements and food supplies. But you have to really look…
“And there are pictures. True images of war available. You need a steel stomach and hardened nerves to view them, but they are, in a way, required viewing, something almost everyone should see, especially those who wave flags and think we are so righteous and good and helpful.
“You won't see them on CNN, or on GOP-lickin' Fox News, or even on this Web site. It's just too much. But if you want to know what Bush's little war is really inflicting, you might want to take a look. Here's just one site [links to http://scoop.co.nz], from New Zealand, that's collected a number of such grisly images from foreign presses. Also includes photos of dead U.S. soldiers. Warning: Graphic content. Warning: Perspective altering. Warning: Breakfast ruining.”
[Column links to: scoop.co.nz/mason/features/?s=warimages ]
Morford continues: “Oh sure they're all brutalized. Or dying. Or mutilated. Or burned. Or bleeding. Or emotionally devastated at the loss of their entire families to a U.S. attack.
“Sure they're all, you know, dead. But hey, at least they're liberated. All hail.” The column concludes.
This is significant. Scoop can confirm it is providing graphic material, at unprecedented rates, to an influential and sizable audience in the USA. Scoop’s US traffic surged throughout Saturday April 5 [NZ time] with around 850,000 hits for the 24 hours, or more relevant around 8000 pages viewed per hour.
In an editorial published on March 27, Scoop said: “The founding purpose of information sharing is to empower individuals to make informed choices. If publishing these images causes those who would otherwise send more to their deaths or support the killing of innocents to consider the true consequence of their decisions, then publishing is justified.”
This continues to be our purpose in publishing this horror, uncensored and un-sanitised.
As our editorial stated: “To sanitise the reality of warfare is abhorrent to those serving the public interest. To censor images of capture, of death, as a consequence of war, is wrong. If Scoop were to do so, it would be subscribing to the glitzy rah rah top-gun Hollywood-façade-style of reportage that the mainstream United States based media has become obsessed with.”
May this ‘informed’ USA audience feel compelled to be uncompromisingly active in arresting its country’s aggression, that so deceitfully occurs in the name of peace, and in reality are acts that are loathed by a clear majority of this world's citizens.
For Reference: The San Francisco Chronicle column. http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/ The Chronicle’s front-page: http://sfgate.com/chronicle/ - north California's largest newspaper. Further Reference: Scoop War Images Feature Page - http://scoop.co.nz/mason/features/?s=warimages Scoop’s editorial justifying publishing these horrific images - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0303/S00261.htm
Scoop
Scoop Independent News
Scoop is NZ's largest independent news source; respected widely in media, political, business and academic circles for being the place on the internet for publishing "what was really said", and for the quality of its analysis of issues.
Bill Bennett: Another Pacific cable for NZ by 2026
Suze Wilson - The Conversation: Luxon’s Leadership Test; What Would It Take To Win Back Unimpressed NZ Voters?
Gordon Campbell: On The Coalition’s Awful, Not Good, Very Bad Poll Results
Ian Powell: Policy Vacuum Enables For-profit Corporate General Practice Ownership By Stealth
Gordon Campbell: On Iran Killing Its Rappers, And Searching For The Invisible Dr. Reti
Peter Dunne: MPs Unusually Quiet On Pay Rise