Tell Me Lies: Propaganda and Media Distortion in the Attack on Iraq (Paperback)

~ David Miller (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

What did the media tell us in the run up to war on Iraq? Was it all true? Where are the weapons of mass destruction? This book is for everyone who is appalled by the duplicity and misinformation churned out by the media in the lead up to war with Iraq, and in its long and continuing aftermath. Written by some of the world's leading journalists and commentators, it's a scathing indictment of the media's role in creating public support for a war which, day by day, is taking a heavy toll in coalition and Iraqi lives, and which threatens to create further instability and resentment of the US throughout the Middle East.

Critics, activists and journalists from both sides of the Atlantic destroy the idea that the mainstream media have anything to do with objectivity and balance. The propaganda machinery of the UK and US in the Iraq war is exposed as fundamentally dishonest and as a significant threat to freedom of thought and expression.

The book draws on the experience of leading anti-war and media activists to provide analysis and guidance on how to resist the media war.

Contributors include John Pilger, Noam Chomsky, Robert Fisk, Edward Herman, Mark Thomas, Mark Steel, Phillip Knightley, Tim Llewelyn (BBC Middle East Correspondent), Abdul Hadi Jiad (Iraqi journalist sacked by the BBC before the war), David Cromwell and David Edwards (Media Lens), Mark Curtis, John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton (PR Watch, and co-authors of Weapons of Mass Deception and Toxic Sludge is Good For You), Pat Holland, Norman Solomon (columnist and director of the Institute for Public Accuracy), Nancy Snow (California State University, Fullerton, author of Propaganda Inc. and Information War), Doug Kellner (UCLA), Julian Petley, Yvonne Ridley (Aljazeera.net and author of In the Hands of the Taliban), Tim Gopsill (Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom), Faisal Bodi (UK Guardian, Aljazeera.net), Alistair Alexander (Stop the War Coalition), Greg Philo (Glasgow University Media Group), Steve Dorrill, Andy Rowell, Granville Williams and cartoonists Steve Bell, Steve Caplin and Polyp.

About the Author

David Miller is a reader at the Stirling Media Research Institute. His research interests include political communication, the media and violence, media effects and influences and science, risk and the media. He is author of Don't Mention the War: Northern Ireland, Propaganda and the Media (Pluto, 1994), The Circuit of Mass Communication: Media Strategies, Representation and Audience Reception in the AIDS Crisis (Sage, 1998 ), Market Killing: What Capitalism Does and What Social Scientists Can do about it (Longman, 2000, with Greg Philo)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Pluto Press (November 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745322018
• ISBN-13: 978-0745322018
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,719,075 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The media's methods, December 13, 2005

By	BestCut (L.A. CA USA) - See all my reviews

This book is a compilation of articles written for this book by some of the worlds top journalists and scholars. It is a study of the methods by which the mass media decieves the people. The person believeing the contributors to be liers failed to understand that disagreing with them does not make them so. This is a great book for understanding the mechanics of propaganda in the US and everywhere. An excellent book by the people that understand what is going on.
-Ukdollars

4 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars must-read book for anyone with intelligence and curious mind, November 26, 2004

By	mag biggs (uk) - See all my reviews

this is a great book revealing all the lies put into our face by our very own media govt that we elect.everyone knows there were no evidence against WMD in iraq and attack on other countries are so unjustified.we have also being killing more than 500,000 iraqis since the sanction in 1994, and daily killings of palestinians in their own land. is the jewish n american life mor eprecious than the arabs? we apply state terrorism in our policy n to defend our dear friend israel,when this friend is actually the cause of all the problem in middle east. it is occupying someone's land and no action is taken about it, while we go around killing innocent people.and all the attacks were planned even earlier than 911.people with conscience and the right mind will find this book very interesting. Those whose brains have been programmed to reject anything that's against the govt or a certain illegal country might be a bit uncomfortable though reading this book.

5 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If you want to be told lies, this will supply them, November 23, 2004

By	Jill Malter ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Of course, this book is well-named. And it raises the question of why anyone would want to buy it, just to be told lies.

I simply don't understand why anyone would want to produce such stuff.

After all, there are quite legitimate things one could say about what we were told in the leadup to the war against Iraq. We all knew that Saddam Hussein had used poison gas against his own people. We knew that there was a question about Iraq's progress towards obtaining nuclear weapons, or at least enough of a threat to preclude an attack.

Can it be argued that the statements about the Iraqi nuclear weapons threat were false and that these statements caused us to reach a decision to go to war? I think a case can be made for it. But don't worry! The authors of this book do no such thing. They just say whatever nonsense pops into their heads and pretty much taunt their readers.

Can it be argued that the media are becoming ever more untrustworthy? Yes. A case can be made for that as well. And once again, the authors miss an opportunity to address their readers in a civilized and honest manner.

Folks, it doesn't have to be this way. If you have a case, please make it! When you want to expose lies, just do it! Sure, many of the authors of this book have very bad records when it comes to honesty. But I'd ignore that and just read the book on its merits if they would put the past behind them and simply tell the truth. And my advice has to be: if you want to fight lies, tell the truth. When you publish a book like this one, be on your best behavior.

In any case, the actual book is a ridiculous joke.