More EU Propaganda on TV
Reported in the Irish Examiner Margot Wallstrom, complains that television stations give EU news less than a tenth of the airtime they give national news, undermining citizens’ right to information and preventing them having a democratic input, she said the public wants more information about the Union.
Information is only important as part of the democratic principal, Wallstrom wants to use it instead of democracy
To overcome this, she plans to help television stations throughout Europe increase their coverage by co-operating with one another, by providing them with news and documentaries about what is happening in Brussels and beef-up existing information for the public and journalists.
Wallstrom said; “We shape the everyday lives of people in Europe so it’s necessary to provide them with the information.”
The scheme was devised with the help of public service and private broadcasters. She denied the commission was trying to control the media or provide propaganda.
“I hope we can move away from being accused of propaganda every time we give out information.
“We will provide this service while fully respecting the independence of broadcasters.
Citizens have a right to information and to have a say in the EU. Communications is about strengthening democracy.”
The EU has already been found guilty of propaganda issued under the guise of information, radio ads run by the European Commission in Ireland have been ruled in breach of Irish media law as they were “directed towards a political end,”
The ruling was that the EU can be considered a political ideal and therefore, advertisements directed in favour of, or promoting, such an ideal may be considered to be political.
If the propaganda commissioner does not want to be accused of disseminating propaganda, she needs to understand that the EU is a divisive political issue as it is a political movement and adverts for it need to balanced by an alternative political view.
The propaganda Commissioner is in any event offering only one part of the democratic concept, her argument falls flat on its face, as there is no way citizens can have a democratic input on any level, that can effectively make the wishes of the voters the defining factor in the direction or the legalisation of the EU.
The EU is in the middle of ratifying the EU constitution which was rejected by the French and Dutch, British people have not had any democratic input since 1975.
So Commissioner before spouting off about our democratic rights to receive political biased propaganda from the EU, do something about making the voters wishes count, we do not need more partiapatoray democracy, we do not need more polling, we do not need more focus groups, we need a vote. And then we need the EU political elite to take notice of that vote and not to ignore the expressed wishes of the people.
Information is only important as part of the democratic principal, we need to be informed in order to make a reasonable judgment at the ballot box, information cannot replace democracy, and as there is no way we can use the information, it will be nothing more than a propaganda exercise, worse than that you will be using our money to fund it, that is why I will continue to cal you the EU propaganda Commissioner because that is the correct title of your job, which is to sell the political ideal of the European Union.
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