Truth & Lies

An article outlining the recent oft-recurrent idea of a new “ministry of truth”. A nice exerpt:
bq. “Let’s do that simple old thing where we put the shoe on the other foot and see how it feels, substituting “China” for “United States” and using the exact plan outlined by the Times: “The Chinese government is considering a secret propaganda program that would include, for example, efforts to discredit and undermine evangelical Christian churches and religious schools that have become breeding grounds for militant anti-Chinese sentiment because of China’s abortion policies and human-rights issues. It might even include setting up schools with secret Chinese financing to teach a more moderate Christianity, laced with sympathetic depictions of how the religion is practiced in China. The plan also includes secret Chinese payments to American journalists to write articles favorable to China, and paying citizens’ groups to organize rallies in support of Chinese policies.” No, not a good idea. This country already has a credibility problem around the world—why set up an official propaganda office to tell lies, when the truth works much better?”

Posted by Ian at December 21, 2002 08:23 PM | TrackBack §