在里约奥运会进行时，中国的媒体除了关注奥会赛事，最关注的估计就是某个影视明星妻子可能出轨的花边新闻上。而在此时，国际社会上曝露出来的一个重磅新闻却鲜为人知——USA今年大选热门民主党候选人希拉里和曾经的法国雇主Lafarge公司（希拉里在80年代担任过该公司的法律顾问，90年代则曾担任过该公司的director）参与资助过USA中央情报局支持的武器出口，将武器设备资助给06年被绞死的Saddam Hussein以及今日在世界各大媒体上臭名昭著的反人类组织ISIS。

新闻源( The Canary，英国媒体，旨在给读者带来不同于主流媒体的对世界的认识)：

http://www.thecanary.co/2016/07/29/paris-strikes-astonishing-partnership-secret-isis-sponsor-ties-hillary-clinton/

      今天中国的主流媒体，乐于当西方主流媒体的传声筒，也乐于帮助西方在中国培育娱乐至死、看不见世界到底在发生什么，只会跟随被统治世界的少数人设置的议题人云亦云，并且单纯只是提供消费能力一般的头脑天真的“机器人”。这当中还有一部分人缺乏本应该具有的最朴素的国家利益观念，还自以为有独立思考能力，天天要教育中国民众不要做“爱国贼”，不要在乎国家利益，要做“世界人”。就连看奥运会比赛，他们都要呼吁观看奥运会的中国观众要接受中国队参加主旨为“更高、更快、更强”的奥运会得不得金牌无所谓，也全然不顾USA为了能多拿金牌，可以让本国队员破天荒地单独“重赛”，让按正常规则本被淘汰的队伍挤掉中国队进入决赛——已经无耻到人最基本的耻辱之心都丧失了。

      我突然想起来最近读到的一篇来自泰国的英文媒体The New Atlas的一篇非常深刻的评论文章

How the West Extends its Control Over Journalism Worldwide 。文章中引用了罗马帝国的历史学家Tacitus 在书中《 De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae（On the life and character of Julius Agricola）》第21章针对罗马文化奴役英国时做出的评论：“His object was to accustom them to a life of peace and quiet by the provision of amenities. He therefore gave official assistance to the building of temples, public squares and good houses. He educated the sons of the chiefs in the liberal arts, and expressed a preference for British ability as compared to the trained skills of the Gauls. The result was that instead of loathing the Latin language they became eager to speak it effectively. In the same way, our national dress came into favour and the toga was everywhere to be seen. And so the population was gradually led into the demoralizing temptation of arcades, baths and sumptuous banquets. The unsuspecting Britons spoke of such novelties as 'civilization', when in fact they were only a feature of their enslavement.”  

       有趣的是，曾经被奴役的英国人，学会了这一套做法，文章又引用了Cambridge University Press出版的《Missionary Writing and Empire（1800–1860）》：“Christian missionary activity was central to the work of European colonialism, providing British missionaries and their supporters with a sense of justice and moral authority. Throughout the history of imperial expansion, missionary proselytising offered the British public a model of ‘civilised’ expansionism and colonial community management, transforming [imperial] projects into moral allegories. Missionary activity was, however, unavoidably implicated in either covert or explicit cultural change. It sought to transform indigenous communities into imperial archetypes of civility and modernity by remodelling the individual, the community, and the state through western, Christian philosophies. In the British Empire, and particularly in what is historically known as the ‘second’ era of British imperialism (approximately 1784–1867), missionary activity was frequently involved with the initial steps of imperial expansion.”    

        这真是太深刻了！类似的事情也正发生在非西方国家的老百姓身上，包括我们中国人！该文发出类似的看感慨道——“It is a bit ironic then that Britain, against which cultural colonialism was first used by the Romans, became a centre of power used then to disseminate cultural colonialism in service of naked imperialism under the British Empire, is now being used to disseminate a "softer" version of it under the guise of journalism and academia. ” 只是我并不觉得曾经被罗马文化奴役过的英国（当然这后来也被USA继承了）后来学会了文化奴役非西方世界是件讽刺的事情。我以为恰恰是因为亲身经历过，才能够对文化奴役有深刻的认识。也正因为如此， 受西方影响更多的泰国才能有The New Atlas的这样深刻的网络媒体；因为曾经被西方忽悠瘸导致前苏联瓦解，俄罗斯才有了Russia Today这样战斗力爆表的电视媒体；因为生活法国二十年并细心观察西方社会，谨遵听其言观其行的法则，边芹才写得出《谁在导演世界》这样深刻的杂文集。只是我希望，对世界实质的深刻认识能够以更小的成本被更多的国人所了解到。在中国国力迅速增长，有能力成为挑战USA世界霸权的一极，有能力帮助建立更为和谐的世界秩序的的今天，如果我们被浅薄、似是而非的西方话语忽悠而丧失这种能力而最终沦为西方世界的奴役的话，那就太过悲哀了。

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      鉴于国内有可能无法阅读The New Atlas的原文，我把原文全文复制黏贴在本文之后，有兴趣的可以阅读。

How the West Extends its Control Over Journalism Worldwide

July 30, 2016  The New Atlas

Political developments are often emotionally charged, and even journalists who are expected to maintain an objective approach to reporting can find themselves swept away by sensational headlines and the temptation to wade into controversy without fully analysing background information that might significantly alter established narratives.

Because of this, some journalists find themselves playing the role of commentator rather than investigator, often leaving out critical information in a rush to contribute to one of two sides amid a political divide. In some cases, journalists may appear to be doing their job by "investigating" deeper into news stories, but do so in a transparently one-sided manner, thus negating their role as an objective observer.

In Thailand, this can be clearly seen in English-language coverage, particularly from The Nation and the Bangkok Post. In the rare instance that journalists from either paper "investigates" independently into any given headline, it is generally one-sided and transparently politically-motivated.

And more often than not, these papers appear to be taking their lead from foreign news sources, particularly those in Europe and North America. One would expect newspapers from region to region to develop their own unique angles and perspectives regarding the news, but upon following the money, we will soon see why this more often than not doesn't happen.

The Industrialised Journalist Mill

Pravit Rojanaphruk, currently a commentator at Thailand's Khoasod English, is perhaps one of the most transparent examples of just what is wrong with newspapers across Asia. He proudly boasts of his various Western media affiliations and fellowships with his Twitter profile reading as follows:

MSc (Oxon), British Chevening Scholar 2001-2002, Reuter Fellow 97-98, Katherine Fanning Fellow 2009, Salzburg Sem. Fellow.

If these scholarships and fellowships actually cultivated real principles of journalism within recipients, they might actually be noteworthy milestones in a journalist's career.

However, what they instead represent, is a concerted attempt by the Western media to extend its influence further abroad, and to help align global news coverage uniformly to their perspective and to serve their interests.

What Pravit and others like him are prone to do, however, is interweave opinion and commentary into what is often strained, spun or even fabricated information. And this is done to align Thai news with those expectations and norms taught to them during their fellowships abroad in Europe and North America.

The Reuters Journalism Fellowship Programme alone has processed hundreds of journalists around the world, putting them through between 1-3 terms at the University of Oxford to undergo a program of stringent indoctrination into the ways of Western journalism. It is virtually impossible for a fellow to undergo this process and leave as an independent journalist.

Activities, according to the Reuters Institute's own website include:

• Attend seminars given by a diverse and high-level range of guest speakers who will share their insights into key industry trends and developments

• Work with an experienced supervisor, usually an Oxford academic, to produce a research paper of publishable quality

• Visit world-class news organisations and gain insights into how they are approaching industry challenges. Previous visits have included trips to Thomson Reuters, The Financial Times, The BBC, The Economist and The Guardian

• Join trips to key UK cultural and political organisations and institutions. Previous destinations have included Oxfam, the House of Commons and Stratford-upon-Avon, home of Shakespeare

• Exchange ideas and experiences with a diverse and international peer group. Around 25 Fellows a year join us from high-level media organisations all over the world. Strengthen your network, develop a global set of contacts and gain insights into international trends and developments

• Benefit from the extensive learning facilities offered by the University of Oxford, including the world-famous Bodleian Library and access to various seminars and lectures across the university. You are also encouraged to engage with the university’s cutting edge specialist research facilities, including centres for African, Middle Eastern, South Asian, Eastern and Western European, Japanese and Chinese studies

• Be given visiting scholar status of Green Templeton College

For inexperienced young men and women who aspire to be journalists, to be afforded this opportunity would be both immensely flattering and emotionally as well as professionally transformative. For a young journalist in Thailand to be afforded the opportunity to travel to the UK, to attend one or more terms at the world renowned University of Oxford and to be given an opportunity to see the inner workings of news organisations like the BBC, Thompson Reuters, The Economist and The Guardian would be an overwhelming experience. And it is meant to be.

If Only Real Journalism Was Being Promoted...

The journalists who complete such fellowships and return to their home countries, are forever linked to the institutions and individuals they met and worked with during their time abroad. They take back with them to their home countries not the tools of an objective journalist, but the indoctrination, culture, interests and angles of a Western-centric worldview. To those who have completed the fellowship, they often confuse this Western-centric worldview with being "objective," but it is most certainly not.

We can look at the Reuters fellowship program and see news organisations like Thompson Reuters, the BBC, The Economist and The Guardian held up as examples of journalism. This is despite their active manipulation of information toward particular political objectives rather than accurately informing the public.

In particular, these news services played crucial roles in promoting wars like the US-UK led invasion of Iraq in 2003, intentionally obfuscating critical information the public and policymakers required to make an honest assessment of the decision to go to war.

The BBC in particular has been embroiled in impropriety ranging from deceptive news coverage to paid-for documentaries and even criminal conduct committed by individuals, and covered up institutionally.

But news organisations serving special interests is nothing new. One must expect this realistically, to a certain degree, regarding any news organisation operating around the world. It is not a matter of whether or not they are serving special interests, it is a matter of whose interests they are serving.

While Thai-based news organisations would be expected to serve special interests in Thailand, they do not, specifically because of the Wests industrialised 'journalist mills.' These fellowship programs, training seminars and campaigns are undertaken to ensure the widest possible consensus globally to Western special interests, regardless of what nation journalists may be from or what nations they are currently operating in.

That is why The Nation and the Bangkok Post feature editorial slants nearly indistinguishable from those of Western news agencies. While Pravit is very open and proud of his indoctrination into this system of mass-produced consensus, others employed across the Thai media are not. Some digging, however, into the backgrounds of journalists who repeatedly and suspiciously repeat talking-points originating from abroad usually reveals a similar and extensive "resume" of foreign fellowships, education and indoctrination.

History is Repeating Itself  

Understandably, for people hearing this for the first time, it sounds like an incredible conspiracy theory. However, upon thoughtful examination, it is merely the predictable repetition of history unfolding.

Ancient Roman historian Tacitus (c. AD 56 – after 117) would adeptly describe the systematic manner in which Rome pacified foreign peoples and the manner in which it would extend its sociocultural and institutional influence over conquered lands.

In chapter 21 of his book Agricola, named so after his father-in-law whose methods of conquest were the subject of the text, Tacitus would explain:

His object was to accustom them to a life of peace and quiet by the provision of amenities. He therefore gave official assistance to the building of temples, public squares and good houses. He educated the sons of the chiefs in the liberal arts, and expressed a preference for British ability as compared to the trained skills of the Gauls. The result was that instead of loathing the Latin language they became eager to speak it effectively. In the same way, our national dress came into favour and the toga was everywhere to be seen. And so the population was gradually led into the demoralizing temptation of arcades, baths and sumptuous banquets. The unsuspecting Britons spoke of such novelties as 'civilization', when in fact they were only a feature of their enslavement.

We can easily see how fellowships fill a similar role today, with the West, openly aspiring to construct an international order, "educating" potentially influential foreigners in both English and "the liberal arts," encouraging a preference for Western culture and perspectives and convincing them that such indoctrination is a novelty of 'civilisation' rather than a feature of control and a vector for Western influence into any particular country.



Under the British Empire, similar education and missionary programs were created to replace independent and unique local perspectives and culture with the uniform perspective and culture of Britain, serving British aspirations of global hegemony.

Cambridge University Press' Missionary Writing and Empire, 1800–1860 would note in a chapter extract that (our emphasis):

Christian missionary activity was central to the work of European colonialism, providing British missionaries and their supporters with a sense of justice and moral authority. Throughout the history of imperial expansion, missionary proselytising offered the British public a model of ‘civilised’ expansionism and colonial community management, transforming [imperial] projects into moral allegories. Missionary activity was, however, unavoidably implicated in either covert or explicit cultural change. It sought to transform indigenous communities into imperial archetypes of civility and modernity by remodelling the individual, the community, and the state through western, Christian philosophies. In the British Empire, and particularly in what is historically known as the ‘second’ era of British imperialism (approximately 1784–1867), missionary activity was frequently involved with the initial steps of imperial expansion.

It is a bit ironic then that Britain, against which cultural colonialism was first used by the Romans, became a centre of power used then to disseminate cultural colonialism in service of naked imperialism under the British Empire, is now being used to disseminate a "softer" version of it under the guise of journalism and academia.

Like the sons of chiefs in Britannia, foreign journalists like Thailand's Pravit Rojanaphruk probably have honestly convinced themselves that these features of control and manipulation are instead the "novelties of civilisation."

What Nations Can Do.

It is important for policymakers and the public alike to understand this aspect of modern journalism to both be aware of how it impacts news coverage, and of what possible measures can be taken to combat modern day cultural colonialism.

One possible measure could be national programs that attempt to recruit and build up a corps of local journalists who represent their nation's best interests, culture and perspectives. These journalists can then fill the ranks of local newspapers and TV stations, as well as influence news conferences and seminars both local and international from their own nation's perspective, rather than merely amplifying those of nations running international "fellowship" programmes.

For Thailand who has large government-funded news organisations like Thai PBS, universities and trusted news professionals, untainted by foreign indoctrination, can develop a truly Thai brand of journalism that is taught to political science and journalist students in school, and reinforced through the same sort of activities conducted by foreign fellowships overseas.

In essence, instead of depending on foreign fellowships and joint news organisation-university programs abroad, Thailand should develop is own domestically, as well as well-funded news organisations for Thai journalists to work at safely, securely and far from the ego-ensnaring temptations extended by foreign interests.