Millions of Americans were horrified to watch their President appear on the live TV with Donald Trump last week, as Joe Biden fluffed his way through the debate, speaking incomprehensibly; repeatedly mumbling, slurring and forgetting his words.
Biden off the ball
Audiences were stunned by the disastrous performance from ‘the most powerful man in the world’ – who, ironically, was campaigning to be re-elected for another four years – as he appeared before the nation so thoroughly confused and out of touch with reality.
But why the national, indeed global, sense of shock? Did no one know of Biden’s increasing mental failings? There have been literally dozens of public appearances over the past year or two – each captured on video – of the President showing similarly disturbing signs of serious cognitive failure, including several since his debate disaster).
Yet the vast majority of these embarrassing blunders were not shown on mainstream media. Any evidence of memory loss, dementia or other cognitive decline was covered up or flatly denied, while both media outlets and Democrat politicians regularly pushed the line – some continue to even still! – that Biden is “sharp as a tack”, “on top of his game”, and “on the ball” (e.g., watch this disturbing video clip). As The Telegraph put it, "liberal-leaning journalists have provided cover for years – hitting Trump, praising Biden and downplaying the president’s physical decline", until "at the June 27 debate, the evidence became irrefutable."
... both media outlets and Democrat politicians regularly pushed the line – some continue to even still! – that Biden is “sharp as a tack”, “on top of his game”, and “on the ball”
Reform rumblings
Media bias, cover-ups and misinformation, of course, are not new to us. We’ve witnessed similar scenarios on our own shores in the past couple of weeks. There have been claims of overt media bias conducted by the British press against Nigel Farage and his Reform party. Initially, Reform’s election campaign was largely ignored by much of the UK media, in the hope that voters would overlook them in favour of more ‘acceptable’ political parties. But after Farage voiced his dissatisfaction at the media bias – for example, not being allowed on BBC Question Time to debate with other national leaders – and as his popularity continued to grow, sections of the media notched up the attacks against him.
While a Channel 4 investigation into Reform captured canvasser Andrew Parker making overtly racist remarks, it transpired that this man was an actor, who used a ‘rough dialect’ rather than his natural accent, and that he had both engaged in undercover filming and worked for Channel 4 before. Then came claims that a company called 'Lee Sorrell Media' had sold the undercover footage to Channel 4 in an attempt to thwart any retrospective audit trails linked to Parker. Farage insists the whole affair was a stich-up and raised an official complaint against Channel 4 News for ‘electoral interference’. But Ofcom (along with Essex police) has declared it will not investigate the case. Instead, thankfully, Ofcom-Watch, the new campaign group set up to monitor Ofcom, has instructed a senior barrister to lead an independent inquiry into the matter).
Whatever the truth of the story, the damage to Farage and the Reform Party was already done – all media outlets headlining the sorry saga, and in the process succeeding in smearing Reform and causing some voters to turn their allegiance elsewhere.
Hunger as a weapon
Perhaps an even bigger story of media misinformation in recent weeks has been the allegation – widely accepted as fact – that Israel has been running a campaign to deliberately starve the people of Gaza. This story was promulgated by the United Nations and has been repeated ad nauseam across global mainstream media for weeks on end.
This story was promulgated by the United Nations and has been repeated ad nauseam across global mainstream media for weeks on end.
As recently as June 25th, The Guardian was telling its readers that “For many months now, it has been no secret that one of America’s closest allies has been using hunger as a weapon against a civilian population.” Just last week, the BBC ran the headline that a ‘”High risk” of famine in Gaza persists’.
While hardly gaining widespread coverage, a report released on June 4 by the UN-linked IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) uncovered several flaws in the original data published in March, leading them to amend their original claims. Ultimately, the IPC concluded that they cannot consider the situation in Gaza a “famine.”
Indeed, what may come as a complete surprise is that only 3% of the residents of Rafah were poorly fed in May, according to the United Nations. In Khan Yunis and the central town of Deir al Balah, that figure stood at 6%. The biggest challenges were faced by those who had failed to evacuate from the north at the start of the campaign; there, 13% were found to be hungry. Overall, the overwhelming majority of Gazans had “acceptable” quantities of food.
In particular, in discussing food trucks and other methods of aid entering the area, the IPC had, for whatever reason, neglected to include, in their original calculations, commercial and/or privately contracted deliveries and World Food Program deliveries to bakeries in northern Gaza.
Overall, the overwhelming majority of Gazans had “acceptable” quantities of food.
Astonishingly, back in 2022, despite billions of dollars of aid money being poured into the Gaza Strip, 14% of the population faced hunger. The reality would appear to be that provisions are better now than they were when Hamas was in charge.
There has been no apology from the media for their mammoth misinformation campaign. Instead, the new line, spun by the UN and amplified by the BBC and others, is that Gazans face “catastrophic levels” of hunger.
Telling the truth
A Gazan resident recently told the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, Jake Wallis Simons, that “Food is available, everything is available … Meat, chicken, vegetables. It is not aid. It is coming from Israel, brought in by private people through the Keren Shalom crossing and sold to us as a business. The prices are much better, just a little bit higher than before the war.”
This was a relief, he added, as for seven months, Hamas had been stealing humanitarian aid and selling it to the population at exorbitant rates. Now, he said, goods are being bought and sold as normal.
Even the Palestinian Authority’s own TV reporter in the Gaza Strip said that central Gaza is ‘overflowing’ with products and that what prevents the PA’s public employees from buying food and other necessities is the fact that they “can’t take their money from the banks because Hamas is acting as if the ATMs are their ‘private property” and no one else can make withdrawals.”
Hamas had been stealing humanitarian aid and selling it to the population at exorbitant rates. Now, he said, goods are being bought and sold as normal.
In evidence presented to The Jerusalem Post in early June, two Columbia University Professors – Awi Federgruen and Ran Kivetz – analysed available data. Their findings demonstrate that “sufficient amounts of food are being supplied into Gaza,” and that it is “a myth that Israel is responsible for famine” in the Strip.
This ‘myth’ has had enormous consequences, for it resulted in the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants (since postponed) for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister on the grounds that Israel is “causing starvation as a method of war including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies [and] deliberately targeting civilians in conflict.”
The Columbia Uni research demonstrates that “250 truckloads” is sufficient “to feed the entire Gazan population, in accordance with a normal diet in North America.” They note that Israel regularly halts offensives for four hours a day to facilitate these deliveries. However, food is not consistently distributed once it reaches Gaza, and is often sabotaged and stolen by Hamas.
The suffering is real
Shockingly, weeks after this revealing new data was released, some media outlets are still referencing outdated, invalidated claims and referring to ‘famine’ in Gaza. There have been longstanding claims that major media outlets such as The New York Times and CNN (in America) and, especially the BBC (see here, here, here and here), have been engaged in seriously biased reporting on the Israel/Hamas war.
Shockingly, weeks after this revealing new data was released, some media outlets are still referencing outdated, invalidated claims and referring to ‘famine’ in Gaza.
None of this is to negate the levels of suffering by Palestinians living in Gaza, including the hunger faced by thousands. Instability and war invariably cause upheaval, danger and food shortages. Assuming the re-assessed statistics are a tad more accurate, well over 300,000 Gazans (15% of the population) remain at the ‘catastrophe’ level. The situation, unquestionably, is serious.
The reality, however, is vastly different from the suggestion of an orchestrated campaign by Israel to use hunger and famine as a weapon of war against the Gazan population.
Truth is important
A Gallup poll (albeit from America) shows that nearly four in ten citizens have zero confidence in the media. This constitutes a new record in distrust. It appears that many media outlets, even those formerly considered bastions of objective coverage, have, at least in part, abandoned balanced, fact-based reporting for journalism that pushes a more biased, political agenda.
It appears that many media outlets, even those formerly considered bastions of objective coverage, have, at least in part, abandoned balanced, fact-based reporting for journalism that pushes a more biased, political agenda.
Truth is important. Disinformation surrounds us. The world is tainted with deception. Remember, this can come from any side of a given argument – not just those causes that we personally dislike.
So, as we seek to follow the One who is the Truth, the onus is on each of us to seek to be alert to media misinformation, bias and cover-ups on either side of the debate – whether that relates to Israel, to American or UK politics, or indeed, to any other issue that arises.
