South Africa Unrest - News Embargo by US MSM

Firstly, best wishes to our South African members. Here's hoping you are safe, and that this social unrest is soon brought under control with minimal disruption and harm to life & property.

I do not consume MSM. It's garbage, not news. We have reached a place in modern society where mass consumer media no longer continues to hold the pretense of informing the public. The BigMedia firms are about shaping and molding opinions, programming you how to think, not dissemination of facts. In Ye Olden days, the place for opinions was in the Op-Ed section of a publication, or "Letters to the Editor", or similar editorial segments on broadcast media. No longer. Now, every sentence, every article, every segment, is an opinion piece, the lines between editorialism and journalism have been erased.

This is likely not any kind of Earth-shaking revelation to most of you.

As I have been monitoring the happenings in South Africa, both from accounts posted by members here and smaller news outlets, I decided to conduct an experiment. As some relatives from my wife's side were in town (avid consumers of MSM), I quizzed them on their knowledge on the unrest in South Africa. "Have you heard about the riots and violence in South Africa?". The blank stares and puzzled expressions told me that they'd not had that incorporated into their programming runs from their MSM of choice (MSNBC). But this is not a left-right news bias situation (more on that shortly).

To set the table, let's get one thing straight. South Africa IS important nation, albeit not a global superpower or one of the top players on the world stage. So any and all thoughts that might attribute the lack of reporting on the unrest in South Africa due to it being an unimportant country should exit your mind right now.

We've already had many members speak about the great attraction as a tourism center that South Africa provides for the continent. That's only part of South Africa's economy. You can read up more on the economic data of South Africa on Wikipedia, but just some bullet point material on South Africa's economic profile:

* second largest economy in Africa
* "most industrialized, technologically advanced, and diversified economy on the African continent" (gov.za)
* world's largest producer of platinum group metals, gold, chromium
* is among the G20, and is the only African member of the group
* best selection of universities of any African nation, bar none

Hopefully this helps illustrate the point that South Africa is not some backwater, insignificant place. It ain't.

So then I ask: WTF is going in the US MSM, when very severe social unrest is racking such an important country

So I visited the web landing "front pages" of CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, at ~10am on July 15th. I performed a word search on "South Africa" on each respective site.

CNN - 0 hits
MSNBC - 0 hits
Fox News - 0 hits

I am confident that each of the "news" outlets above have some story on the SA unrest buried deep somewhere on their site, but ...... again WTF. The most modern, prosperous country on the African continent is at risk in devolving into chaos and strife.

I will leave it to our members from SA to correct me if I might be over-sensationalizing the picture on the ground, but I'm sure many have seen the threads here, and it's seeming like the SHTF moment is not far off, if not already a reality in some pockets of the country.

So one more time: WTF is the US MSM doing here?

You're telling me that the civil strife in South Africa is of lesser importance and worthy of awareness than some of these front page stories?

- CNN - "Top generals feared a Trump coup, book says" - I count no less than 8 "stories" on the January 6th riots
- MSNBC - "Why Allen Weisselberg jumped ship — and why it won't save the Trump Org."
- Fox News - "Retired investigator says Biden nominee misleading Congress, played ‘active role’ in eco-terror group"

Again, I am sure that there is some token mention of the situation in SA on the above sites, but "they" are not putting this news out front and center, and are in my view deliberately keeping this story off of the radar of those that frequent those "news" outlets.

I can't be bothered to sit in front of the Boob Tube to survey the "news" segments of the MSM broadcast channels, but suffice it to say that it must be similarly barren on South African news if my MSM extended family had no idea about events there.

If we've established that South Africa is an important player, definitely on a regional scale in Africa if not the international scene, and we've also found that the MSM coverage of the unrest in South Africa is not just sparse, but practically non-existent. then what remains to answer is:

Why the US MSM news embargo on South Africa?

I have some gesatational thoughts on "the why" but am still sifting through them and trying to form a more concrete theory. Perhaps some ATS members have more well-formulated opinions on "the why", and I'm especially interested from our SA members on what their thoughts are to this.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

An important question. My bet is that it complicates too many narratives.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

In general.

US-based MSM coverage of other countries has been declining in quality for years. The decline appeared to accelerate during the years of the Trump presidency due to the American media's fixation on Trump ... everything else faded to insignificance for them.

One example of the decline in general was the disappearance of the "International Herald Tribune" in 2013. Okay, it was a printed newspaper, but so far as I know, no attempt was even made to migrate it to a digital format.

To your OP; I am therefore not surprised at the lack of prominent coverage of events in SA. The American MSM has been failing the country for years and this is only a recent example.

Cheers

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

CNN frontpage

CNN world

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

CNN frontpage

CNN world

Typically, they get around to putting some info on such ongoing events when ignoring it gets to obvious. I'm not impressed.

The last time that I intentionally went to CNN's website for news was in 2008. There had been a major earthquake in China and having just moved back to the US from central Asia, I wanted to find details. I went to CNN's website and had to dig several layers deep for any information (and it was sparse) on the earthquake.

CNN's lead story that day (this is back in 2008, mind) was, "I Am Of The Third Gender."

Yeah, well, at that point I fully understood that the second "N" in CNN did not stand for "news."

There is also the fact that for most Americans, what happens past the end of their driveway doesn't matter. Sad, but true. This, I think, has partly to do with closed-mindedness and ignorance on the part of many (most?) Americans, and partly to do with the fact that 'mainstream" media sources send the message that it is so.
:

I get the feeling South Africa will be a single domino that starts a much larger conflict.

Just in time for August.

Take heed folks. South Africa is a harbinger. If it can happen there it can happen anywhere. Military + Police are standing by and taking very minimal action to protect people or their property. Expect that here as well.

YOU are your own first responder. Never forget it. Your life, your family's lives and your community rises and falls on your shoulders.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened


I came from a night shift straight into an impromotu neighborhood meeting in our local park.

I'm talking professionals, teachers, lawyers, doctors etc.

We are going to barricade our street if it comes to worse.

Luckily a South African with his back against the wall is a rabid, mother#er of a dog, even if some of them don't realize it yet.

We will stand and fight.

There is nowhere to run and hide.

My impression is that globally, the elite have seen a few hiccups in their planning, especially with America. That is the most important domino and you have the worst kind of traitors in your midst.

Their are openly selling you out, laughing in your face, painting you as on the wrong side of history.

Short sighted people selling out their own country. The country of their future generations.


Before I depart this earth, I'm going to take as many of these #s with me as I possibly can.


Soon all of you will have to think about the way you choose to live the rest of your life.

It sounds unreal until it doesn't.

It's coming everywhere.

Where is a guy like Soros now?

What happened to those billions he donated to the cause?

Our leaders are useless, same as yours.

Sold out for 30 silver shekels.


There is no more to say.

The time is upon us.

I believe in revenge. Hopefully some will be able to enact it with breathtaking precision.


Tired of this bullshiiiiit.

a reply to: 19Bones79

My thoughts are with you and yours brother. Hope all the SA contingent on ATS are out of harm's way, and that this blows over soon. I feared the worst last summer when the rioting took hold here, but things did eventually quiesce, and I hope the same for your country.

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

CNN frontpage

CNN world

I disagree; edition.cnn.com is NOT the CNN front page.

cnn.com... is. I have no clue what edition.cnn.com... is. When I input a search engine query of "CNN front page", the canonical URL (cnn.com...) comes up, not edition.cnn.com....

I'm on cnn.com... right now, and still no references to the situation in SA, and mind you, this is not a "breaking" story. I believe the Zuma protests have been ongoing for days no (correct me if I'm mistaken SA peeps).

I do see minor headline stories about the presidential assassination in Haiti, a joint Italian-Belgian rescue op, a puff op-ed piece on French PM Macron's "good bet on a COVID passport", a story on Richard Branson's space endeavors, stories on US radio propaganda in Central America, Italian hackers, Merkel-Biden discussions, European flooding, basically, a decent amount of international news on the CNN main page, but again, nothing on the violence in SA.

Semantics of "main page/front page" aside, this still doesn't negate the very low profile of these events on other web properties, and also on broadcast MSM.

Not sure if you're just being a contrarian, or making an attempt at carrying water for MSM, but that seems unlike your general (rightfully) skeptical and incisive disposition on this site.

This story is being suppressed, and to me, the prospect of a G20 nation going pear shaped is front page newsworthy to me, but again, MSM =/= news anymore.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

We were always going to be an easy target with such a great divide between the rich and the poor.

I guess they got impatient with America due to a four year delay thanks to Trump.

This may very well be a fatal mistake on their side.

Impatience to enact this Orwellian nightmare could still be their undoing.

Either that or we are already dead. We just don't know it yet.

a reply to: 19Bones79

God bless you all my friend. Beautiful country and such a shame to see this happening. Big hugs from the States

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

Yep. If you want MSM coverage of the world I recommend Euronews, Al Jazeera, and Deutsche Welle


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Not hearing about any of that sh# here. It really started going down hill around Obama but its always been a bit bad since I can remember.

Near sighted.

And as mentioned these are all MSM so I dont frequent them. I frequent this site for news lol or Giza Death Star. Its more accurate!
News does not equal news now as mentioned by OP it is just opinion and propaganda. shameful

a reply to: JBurns

Same to you Mr Burns.

Check out this Twitter handle

Loads of new Videos

Looks so much worse than I thought, I don’t think South African is going to survive this without UN Peacekeepers, just chaotic scene, Run down the videos

twitter.com...
Link

a reply to: TritonTaranis

Absolutely shocking

Its like the riots that happened in major US cities but only on a nation-wide scale.

They knew better than to come into the neighborhoods here...120 guns for every 100 persons. But, I have no doubt South Africans will fight like hell to protect their homes and communities.

We don't need Rhodesia 2.0

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

The US wants it on the down low, because Zuma was arrested, charged, got contempt of court and is being thrown in jail for 15 months. If it can happen in SA, it can happen in the US. It must scare Biden sh..less, I think 38 billion was stolen from SA, how much has Biden stolen?

Cheers - Dave

originally posted by: TritonTaranis
Check out this Twitter handle

Loads of new Videos

Looks so much worse than I thought, I don’t think South African is going to survive this without UN Peacekeepers, just chaotic scene, Run down the videos

twitter.com...
Link

Wow. Really disheartening.

The video with the looters scampering around looks utterly dystopian, like a scene from MadMax.

originally posted by: bobs_uruncle
a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

The US wants it on the down low, because Zuma was arrested, charged, got contempt of court and is being thrown in jail for 15 months. If it can happen in SA, it can happen in the US. It must scare Biden sh..less, I think 38 billion was stolen from SA, how much has Biden stolen?

Cheers - Dave

I am not sure Biden or any high-level politicians in the US fear reprisal from their graft, particularly after "the big guy" was all but explicitly named as a participant in pay-to-play schemes concocted by his son, Hunter. Nevertheless, concerns for parallel political protests in the US as what's happening in SA are definitely something to consider as part of this coverup campaign; you're guess is as good as mine.

a reply to: 19Bones79

I believe in revenge. Hopefully some will be able to enact it with breathtaking precision.

Greatly appreciate your post. We sincerely need more people with your attitude.


kingprotection.club...

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