Saturday, January 27, 2007

ABC: From Missing in Inaction to Spinmeisters


Following the escalation in fighting in the Gaza Strip in the last 48 hours, a previous post highlighted the lack of coverage by the ABC in the Middle East Conflict section.

It was assumed that the ABC were busily spinning a story to downplay the tragic carnage arising from the infighting between the Islamofascists - Hamas - and the ultranationalist terrorists - Fatah.

Well, the spun story has arrived.

The title of the ABC's news article disguises the tragedy of the infighting: Hamas suspends talks with Fatah.

The article mentions the casualties in passing. Only three of the eleven sentences in the article discussed the deaths, the remaining sentences about the political maneuvers and responses.

And all three were in the passive voice:

"after clashes between the two left 11 people dead"
Deaths seem to be some sort of side-effect of the clashes. Like those from tornadoes and hurricanes.
"A loyalist from Fatah, four Hamas members, a teenager, a toddler and two others were killed in the volatile coastal strip on Friday."
Volatile? Maybe it was chemicals that did it.
Medics say a further two Hamas supporters died of wounds received in an attack on Thursday night.
An attack by who?

Aren't we lucky the ABC are providing us with "complete coverage of the crisis in the Middle East"?

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