Esfar Zuhayr

The British School in Colombo

TOK Presentation

Is it ethical for news companies to feed false information to third parties

Presentation Topic

newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent events.

- oxforddictionary.com

Information about recent events or happenings, especially as reported by newspapers, periodicals, radio or television.

- thefreedictionary.com

What is the News?

Types AvailableType 1- News presented

on national or International news channels via televisions or podcasts

Type 2- News found in news papers and periodicals.

Type 3- News available on the internet webpages

It is routinely observed and followed by people of different ethnic backgrounds worldwide

The news can shape an individual’s opinion about certain topics with the intention to achieve mass support.

The news can be manipulated to be used as a tool for mass support.

Why is it important that the news is accurate and true?

How do we know that the news provided by the mainstream media channels are accurate and can be perceived to be the absolute truth?

Knowledge Issue

What do you think when you see these names?

Gallup’s Poll

The news given by news channel is just information understood using our sense perception.

To get accurate and holistic view about the information provided by news channels we need to apply other ways of knowing such as reasoning, language and emotion.

How Do we Know if the media is biased and is not always true?

Truth: - a)Two planes had crashed into the two towersb) It resulted with the death of over 3000

innocent people. c) It was evident that Al-Qaeda was linked to

the attacksd) This tragic event led to the invasion of

Afghanistan

The 911 controversies

Possible coverups:-a) Presence of another bomb in the tower

b) The fall of building 7, 47 stories high

c) Experts claim, the metal structure of the thermite was used to cut the metal structure of the twin towers, which led to their collapse

The 911 controversies

Justification12:3555:561:05:1:11:15

The Israeli police had used Human barriers (Banned since 2002) to prevent Palestinian protestors from stoning their vehicles.

Source: BBC

Israel-Palestine

Which one is in Syria ?

USA blames Iran for supplying the Syrian regime with weapons and missiles.

So who is supplying the weapons to the Syrian resistance army to keep up their fighting against the government?

CIA is covertly training and arming new recruits to the FSA to keep up the fighting against the government forces, near the Syria-Turkey border

USA blames Iran !

Highlights

Why do the deaths of all the innocent civilians dead in Afghanistan or any other country due to war go unheard of ?

Highlights

Category Death Toll

World Trade Centre Nearly 3000

Pentagon 55 military personnel

9/11

Category Death toll

Militia Forces 6 995

Soldiers (USA) 2 000

Civilians 32 608

Afghanistan (2001-2011)

Category Death toll

Civilians 37 480 – 39 612

Government Force 11 589

Rebels (FSA) 8 960

Syria Civil War(2011–ongoing)

"Civilian deaths and arbitrary decisions to search people’s houses have reached an unacceptable level and Afghans cannot put up with it any longer."

"Five years on, it is very difficult for us to continue accepting civilian casualties. It is becoming heavy for us; it is not understandable anymore."

"We are very sorry when the international coalition force and NATO soldiers lose their lives or are injured. It pains us. But Afghans are human beings, too."

- Afghan President Hamid Karzai,

May 2, 2007

Is it ethical for the news channels to manipulate the news ?

Can THIS be stopped?

"You cannot wage a war without rumors, without media, without propaganda. Any military planner who plans a war, and doesn't put media, propaganda on top of his agenda, is a bad military," - Al Jazeera senior producer, Samir Khader. 

“I was shocked while in the United States by how unquestioning the broadcast news media was during this war,if Iraq proved anything, it was that the BBC cannot afford to mix patriotism and journalism. This is happening in the United States and if it continues, will undermine the credibility of the US electronic news media” - BBC Director General, Greg Dyke

Conclusion