"This Wasn't Reported!" - The Examination of the Conspiracy Theory Regarding the Reporting of The News (Part 1)
The Pigeon Perched On The Building Edge Looks At The Issues Below
I originally planned to post this article on April, 15th, but I decided to hold off for a couple of days. On that day, the a fire broke out a ravaged a huge section of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. This blogger knew that a whole wave of memes flooding my Facebook feed would declaring a cover-up. Events happened and the media has failed to report those events.
Within 24-hours of the fire (actually sooner), those claims were already being made in full force. All to often, many were posting memes on there Facebook profiles without checking on whether those claims made were factual or not. One could make the safe conclusion that most posted these memes on impulse. One could also make the safe assumption that even if those posting the memes knew that the information posted on there timeline was false, they would have posted it anyway because the meme in question conforms to there worldview.
Now, extremism (regardless of whether Radical Islam or White Supremacist) will be called out when they are behind the acts. Even though the investigation is still young though, this does not appear the case. If I do come to the conclusion, it's from a thorough investigation that is reported on by a reputable source, and not from random posters on Facebook.
That hasn't stop many though from jumping to conclusions and then passing off there opinions as validate fact.
A photo of 'Muslims laughing' in front of Notre Dame is doctored
PolitiFact
WWW.POLITIFACT.COM
This article been sitting on the back-burner for about two months now as a rough draft. I figure that it's now a very appropriate time now considering the theories being promoted in lake of the shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, and now the burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral.
What I'm referencing is the "This wasn't reported in the media!" memes, with hints and insinuate dark conspiracy theories and a cover up. I encounter these memes on my Facebook feed on a regular basis. In most cases, there is often a reason why the event wasn't reported though.
For those who embrace conspiracy theories and is one's mental bread-and-butter, many might be dismissive of the reasons proposed here, as conspiracy theories by default are suppose to be convoluted and confusing, and not have simple explanations. For those who find conspiracy theories annoying and have a strong disdain for them, keep reading!
These reasons, while requiring significant explanation, are simple to comprehend. These decisions can be largely driven by time-constraints, while others conforming to preferred demographics to maximize profits, which then results in slants and biases. Potentially biased? Yes. Something that warrants a conspiracy headline though? Hardly, unless if one considers common-sense a conspiracy. The final reason why the event wasn't reported was because it didn't happen or it wasn't worth reporting.
Conspiracy theories insinuate deep, unknown, nefarious forces at play, not the declaration of open, common knowledge of ratings and demographics being passed off as conspiracy. This is essentially Capitalism at work. The man on the street would respond "Business as usual, nothing to see here people!
One of the memes constantly showing up in my Facebook feed described the terrorist attack that occurred in the Philippines one day after the Christchurch shootings where 20 Christians were killed that the media failed to report. There was a reason why the media didn't report that particular shooting the day after to the one in ChristChurch. It was because there wasn't a massive shooting that occurred in the Philippines one day after those in New Zealand.
Now, there was a terrorist attack in the Philippines where 20 Christians were killed that did occur about a couple of months ago. This was the event that those memes were referencing, even though those attacks didn't happen the day before or after the shootings in New Zealand. Also, this attack was also heavily covered by all the major news outlets as well when they did occurred. This attack was not ignored.
The Christians that suffered in Mosul, Iraq during the ISIS occupation also received significant media coverage. The vast majority of the crimes committed by Boko Haram against Christians in Nigeria have also received massive media coverage as well over the years.
Another claim that one likely encountered in there FB feed is a meme declaring that 120 Christians have been killed within the past two months in Nigeria, that the media ignored. This claim was made by Breitbart News. As with the previous claim about the one in the Philippines, there are elements of truth in them. For example, the number of those killed are accurate and those killed have been practicing Christians. However, what Breitbart didn't report was that the vast majority of these deaths are are result of those participating in the land wars happening there.
Even though religion is used as a pretext, this conflict is being fought primarily over the control of property. Breitbart ignored this detail. Also, Breitbart didn't report that there was a recent mass killing where a estimated 130 Muslims have been killed as well. This detail was left out as well. These details were left out to present the conflict as a religious assault on Christians instead of a war over the control of property, which is the primary reason driving this conflict.
The examples listed above leave out details, misinterpret them, and take information in them out of context. However, the stories above technically don't qualify as fake news. Despite leaving out many details, they have elements of truth in them and are based on real events. However, they are still extremely counter-productive as they insinuate a media conspiracy, based on information intentionally taken out of context to make this case. They promote the myth that main-stream media is ignoring the suffering of Christians, despite the evidence that I just listed that debunks this idea. Contrary to perceived thought, various incidents and terrorist attacks in the past, as now, have received heavy media coverage.
Many memes highlight events that the media didn't cover to make there argument to promote this conspiracy theory. However, in several cases, there is a valid reason for this, and it isn't because of a grand cover-up. As noted above, random bloggers and new sources with strong biases publish articles that leave out various details to cast those events in a certain light. However, in some cases, the incidents that the memes present have been fabricated altogether. This is the reason why they haven't been reported by the major news outlets.
There was a reason why this particular event was not reported, and it wasn't because the main-stream media was hiding the suffering of Christians. There is no evidence that this particular crime recently occurred! There was nothing to report as this particular incident didn't happen.
Those unfortunate people in the pictures that suffered horribly were victims of a industrial accident. In 2010, a diesel gas tanker exploded in the Congo, killing 235 people and injuring 196 overs. This is the event were the pictures originated. Those in the pictured were the victims of a diesel gas explosion, and not a intentional slaughter motivated by religion.
What makes this particular piece extremely distasteful is that a horrific crime was faked using real pictures of those who died in a gruesomely in order to capitalize on the fallout of the recent shooting. The fallout of the Christchurch shooting has created a opportunity for many seeking to create fake news and misinformation, taking advantage of the social climate to create divisive content. One could compare this to social exploitation.
In many ways, this was easy to do because Boko Haram have committed various crimes against Christians other the years. Crimes that have been covered in extensive detail by the major media outlets too. Crimes that need to be highlighted (The Wikipedia Page is linked below). However, there is also a responsibility for those who presenting this information to make sure that whatever they're presenting is correct or factual, which isn't in for this particular incident. The incident is used to cash in on people's anxieties about religious differences in the wake of the ChristChurch shootings.
This organization, which isn't even a registered political party, was founded by Jawed Anwar. Anwar also happens to be the only member within this party as well. Now that you've gotten off the floor after laughing so hard that your sides are hurting, you're now getting a very good idea of why this didn't get any media attention. Some attended D&D sessions that gathered more people. Are they angry that there intense, role-playing sessions wasn't reported by the media either?
This embarrassment of a story would have been gone to the depths of the Internet wasteland if it wasn't for Faith Goldy, a commentator who had a Twitter following of 116,000 followers. She brought attention to this political party of 1 that now seemed to be the scariest thing to happen to Canada since hungry grizzly bears. A random individual with a Sharia fetish that would have been ignored and forgotten got a ton of exposure. This story was used to re-enforce this absurd conspiracy theory as well.
As noted, anyone can form any political party for whatever reason. However, as the Snopes article linked below points out, whether that party has any real power and clout is another story.
Not to get to off-topic, but this is one of the reasons why I don't cover the sensationalist stories surrounding the topic of Sharia Law in this country. The chances of Sharia Law becoming a thing here is as remote as a invasion of our planet by mutant pigeons from space. It's so remote that I'm not going to waste resources covering a topic of how the country is on the verge of a Radical Islamic Revolution despite that fact that Islam only makes up 1% of declared faiths in this country (and the vast majority are moderates too). At this point, I'm debating whether to post the chart by the ADL highlighting that the vast majority of extremist attacks since 2006 have been committed by white-supremacist too. For something as remote as the attack by mutant space pigeons, this remote idea is hardly worth the resources covering it.
Even though the media conspiracy theory is absurd, it's one that's largely of the making of the news networks themselves. Many people have been very dissatisfied with the course that main-stream media for many years now, including yours truly. This theory has been accepted by many long before Trump became President. However, I feel that the reason though why this conspiracy theory persisted is because Trump has "legitimized " this idea. He referred to the press as enemies and has taken every opportunity to discredit it. Combined that with years of dissatisfaction with the major news networks in this country (again, largely of there own making) they have become easy targets.
Also, I feel that this conspiracy theory, like so many others, persisted because many want this theory to be true. They want it to be true because it conforms to there worldview. It validates there beliefs. Many are so convinced that is true that the idea of a media conspiracy is now true to them. Personal interpretations to perceived grievances and wrongdoings become validated facts now.
One could use George Soros as a example. I feel that many have legitimate grievances against him. However, they will look for anything that will paint him in a negative light, even if that claim is outlandish, and not based on logic. Many will stop basing there views on rational grievances and embrace these absurd ideas as fact. George Soros was a secret Nazi. Soros has funded the migrant caravans. Claims not based on reality. Despite the fact that these claims and others have been debunked, they have become true to there detractors. Many have convinced themselves that these claims are true. As Snopes made note though, saying the same thing over and over again doesn't magically make it true though!
Some could argue that there is truth behind this conspiracy theory though. The media hasn't reported those random D&D sessions along with those grizzly bears taking massive dumps in the woods. Is the media hiding this because they are biased against basement-dwelling role players and bears, or is it because there are time-constraints involved that only allows news on a national and global scope on being reported. Are many ignoring Lady Capitalism as well. These topics will be covered in part two.
Was the ‘Media Silent’ About the Islamic Party of Ontario?
Snopes
WWW.SNOPES.COM
Was Sharia Law Established in Texas?
Snopes
WWW.SNOPES.COM
‘The Ladder Down to Hell’: How Social Media Breeds Hate Speech
Snopes
WWW.SNOPES.COM
Does This Photograph Show Nigerian Christians Burned Alive by Muslims?
(Warning: Several of these pictures are graphic in nature. Caution advised)
Snopes
WWW.SNOPES.COM
DR Congo fuel truck victims buried in mass graves
BBC
WWW.BBC.COM
Did ‘Muslim Militants’ Kill 120 Christians in Nigeria in February/March 2019?
Snopes
WWW.SNOPES.COM
Did Muslim Terrorists Bomb a Church in the Philippines “Yesterday,” Killing 30 Christians?
Snopes
WWW.SNOPES.COM
Did a Muslim Student Set Fire to a Christian School to ‘Protest’ Trump?
Snopes
WWW.SNOPES.COM
New York, NY, January 17, 2018… The number of white supremacist murders
in the United States more than doubled in 2017 compared to the previous year,
far surpassing murders committed by domestic Islamic extremists and making 2017
the fifth deadliest year on record for extremist violence since 1970.
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