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What Independent Media?
Newspaper caught reprinting govt propaganda
Yesterday's Independent ran a front page dismantling the "ten Euro-myths" peddled by unscrupulous sceptics about the European Constitution.
The exercise has a suspiciously familiar feel: A quick check of the EURSOC archives reveals that of course, the Indie pulled the same stunt in 2004. Back then, we argued "Unfortunately as the Indie's Brussels correspondents seem to be happy to act as the propaganda wing of the European Commission (see this month's Sprout for details) we can safely take their claims with a pinch of CAP-funded salt."
The Sprout is now defunct, sadly, so we can't point you at the original report. However, the Independent's Brussels bureau is also closed. So where does this most Europhile of British newspapers get its exclusives from the heart of the European Empire?
Well, from Britain's Foreign Office, actually. Neil O'Brien of Open Europe lines up the Indie's piece alongside a Foreign Office Briefing Note. The two are almost identical. The FCO is not credited as a source.
"Perhaps you thought the idea of newspapers printing word-for-word what the Government tells them to belonged to a banana republic? Think again," says O'Brien.
Hugo Chavez would be proud of the Independent. In fact, we're going to lay off the Venezuelan leader for a while: EURSOC can hardly grumble about Chavez taming the press when prominent British newspapers reprint government propaganda word-for-word.
" The paper seems to have decided that it loves the EU, but wouldn’t want to spoil the romance by finding out anything nasty about it", adds O'Brien. Good point. Much activity in Brussels is under-reported in Britain. The closure of the Sprout, the lack of British correspondents in Brussels and the fact that several of the supposedly independent media outlets in the European capital are actually funded by the EU (or have hacks working on the promise of cushy communications roles in Brussels), means there is a shameful lack of coverage of EU issues in English. We can't expect the Independent to change that.
