The Media Response to the Growing Influence of the 9/11 Truth Movement. Part II: A Survey of Attitude Change in 2009-2010
By Elizabeth Woodworth
URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17624
Global Research, February 15, 2010
(Note from Colorado 9/11 Visibility: Despite a trend in the U.S. government and the U.S. corporate media to link the 9/11 Truth movement with terrorists or potential terrorists and an overall failure to report honestly on the subject inside the U.S., there has been increasingly objective coverage of 9/11 Truth in the international media that is awakening global awareness to this controversy. There are also nascent signs in the U.S. of increasing media objectivity–most notably the KBDI, Colorado Public Television’s two pledge drives screening the films 9/11 Press for Truth and 9/11: Blueprint for Truth. More can be found at Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth.)
Abstract
In the past year, in response to emerging independent science on the 9/11 attacks, nine corporate, seven public, and two independent media outlets aired analytic programs investigating the official account.
Increasingly, the issue is treated as a scientific controversy worthy of debate, rather than as a “conspiracy theory” ignoring science and common sense.
This essay presents these media analyses in the form of 18 case studies.
Eight countries Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Russia have allowed their publicly-owned broadcasting stations to air the full spectrum of evidence challenging the truth of the official account of 9/11.
This more open approach taken in the international media–I could also have included the Japanese media–might be a sign that worldwide public and corporate media organizations are positioning themselves, and preparing their audiences, for a possible revelation of the truth of the claim that forces within the US government were complicit in the attacks a revelation that would call into question the publicly given rationale for the military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
The evidence now being explored in the international media may pave the way for the US media to take an in-depth look at the implications of what is now known about 9/11, and to re-examine the country’s foreign and domestic policies in the light of this knowledge.
I. Introduction
Until 2009, doubts about the official 9/11 story were briefly entertained by the mainstream media on each anniversary of the event, allowing the independent research community only a fleeting moment once a year to publicly voice its findings.
But after crucial scientific evidence emerged in April 2009 to challenge the official story of how the towers fell, a spate of European media reports followed. The news coverage of this evidence seems to have opened the door to more serious reflection on all aspects of the 9/11 issue in the major media.
The first paper in my series, “The Media Response to 9/11,” dealt with the New Statesman’s grudging recognition of Dr. David Ray Griffin, the world’s “top truther” (as it dubbed him), placing him number 41 among “The 50 People Who Matter Today.”1 Since this admission in September 2009, the issue has gathered increasing momentum.
The collective content issuing from this new momentum is presented here in the hope that it will embolden other major media to take up the pivotal controversy concerning 9/11, and pursuing the truth wherever it may lead.
Observations on the Analysis
While carrying out my analysis, I observed five new features in the media treatment of the 9/11 issue that developed as 2009 progressed. They are listed here, so that readers might look for them in the case studies that follow below:
1. The 9/11 issue is increasingly framed not as conspiracy theories versus hard science, but as a legitimate controversy resting on unanswered questions and a search for truth.
2. News reports and television programs examining these controversies have become longer and more balanced.
3. Major media outlets have begun to present the claims of the truth movement first, followed by counter-arguments from defenders of the official story.
4. Major media outlets have begun to include, and even to introduce, extensive evidence to support the claims of the 9/11 truth community.
5. The media treatments increasingly suggest the possibility of a re-investigation into the events of September 11, 2001.
The first part of this essay deals with the crucial scientific evidence that emerged in early 2009, the significance of this evidence in relation to the official story of 9/11, and the immediate news coverage it received.
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Former NASA Director Says World Trade Center Towers Were Felled by Controlled Demolition
PRESS RELEASE: November 21, 2009
Contact: Colorado911Visibility.org 
On October 21st at the University of San Diego, Mr. Dwain Deets, former Director of NASA Aerospace Projects, gave a multimedia presentation on behalf of nearly one thousand architects and engineers who cite evidence of explosive demolition in all three World Trade Center skyscrapers on 9/11 and are calling for a new, independent investigation into their destruction. These architects and engineers are listed on their website at ae911Truth.org.
Mr. Deets was an engineering executive with NASA Dryden Flight Research Center for more than 37 years and formerly served as Director, Research Engineering Division at Dryden. He received the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award in the federal government’s Senior Executive Service (1988). In 1986, Deets was awarded the Wright Brothers Lectureship in Aeronautics, a distinguished speaking engagement sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
Resolutely empirical, non-political, and non-finger-pointing, ae911Truth only asks for a new investigation of the towers’ collapse that does justice to the forensic evidence it presents. The concerns presented by Mr. Deets and the conclusions of Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth are shared by hundreds of scientists; senior-level military, intelligence, and government officials; firefighters; pilots and aviation professionals; scholars and university professors; 9/11 survivors and family members; and media professionals around the world.
Mr. Deets will continue giving presentations and is a member of the writers group for ae911Truth.org.
For more clarifying information see: ae911Truth.org, 911PressForTruth.com, 911Truth.org, 911Research.wtc7.net, stj911.org, and 911Review.com.
The Will of the Voters Is Denied
The will of the voters in NYC to establish a real investigation into the 9/11 attacks was denied, despite NYCCAN heroically meeting each obstacle thrown in the path of their efforts.
A belated but hearty Thank You! to all of you who donated to this cause. Due to your passion for truth, we sent nearly $4000 to NYCCAN to help with their petition effort and legal fees. Here is a message from NYCCAN to all of us:
We can’t thank you enough for the support you and Colorado 9/11 Visibility
gave all along the way. We are very disappointed that New York City voters
did not have a chance to create a new 9/11 investigation, but we feel the
campaign was a huge step towards the truth and justice we are looking for,
and so we are carrying the fight onwards.
NYCCAN is re-grouping to determine what their next phase will be. Here is a preview of one of their future efforts:
Right now we are working hard on planning and initiating strategies that we think will make 2010 a huge year. Among the efforts we are going to undertake will be “Vote For Answers”, a national campaign of dozens of ballot initiatives in cities throughout the country; sustained lobbying of the new Manhattan District Attorney; and a civil court action to bring all of the evidence into a court of law under oath so that it can eventually be used by a prosecutor somewhere in the country to open an investigation.
We have hopes that this setback will become the impetus for a stronger national movement toward truth, justice, and real peace.
Once again, Thank You! for your dedication to a real investigation.
Fran, Tim, Michael, Earl, Marti, Dorothy, and Simone
Messages from NYCCAN
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“Yankee Tavern” runs through Sat., Oct. 24, 2009
A Very Special Play Being Staged in Denver
On Friday, October 16, instead of our usual monthly video meeting at Hooked on Colfax coffee shop, we invited you to attend Yankee Tavern, a play now running in Denver in which 9/11 Truth plays a significant role. The play runs through October 24, so you still have a chance to see it.
WHAT: “Yankee Tavern,” a play by Steven Dietz, directed by Chip Walton
WHERE: Curious Theatre, 1080 Acoma St at 11th Ave, Denver, one block west of Broadway
WHEN: Ends Saturday, October 24, 8:00 p.m.
COST: Three ticket options: $18/$34/$42.
“Yankee Tavern” — 9/11 Truth in contemporary theater
“Yankee Tavern” is a political thriller by playwright Steven Dietz, who resides in Austin. The Denver production is part of a “rolling premiere,” the third in a series of separate local productions of the play in the US this year. It runs Sept 12th to Oct 24th at the Curious Theatre in Denver.
From the Curious Theatre brochure: “From Denver native Steven Dietz comes a new play filled with mystery, conspiracy and thrills. Set in a crumbling tavern in New York City, a young man is saddled with questions about his father’s best friend, their mysterious past, and a stranger who knows much more than he should. In an instant, outlandish hypotheses become dangerous realities as surprising revelations continue to emerge in this eye-opening look at our government and the theories that have shaped our country.”
The story unfolds at an old watering hole in lower Manhattan, where an eccentric and entertaining character named Ray, who fits the stereotype of a “wacky conspiracy theorist,” holds forth with 9/11 Truth, including details of the collapse of WTC7, not hit by a plane. Then a mysterious bar patron named Palmer turns out to be more than a talker–he played a shocking real-life role on 9/11. And the owner of the bar, Adam, has some very real 9/11 intrigue unfolding in his own life. Janet, Adam’s fiancee, is the emotional center of the film, sharing a depth of feeling that will surprise you as events unfold.
Dietz doesn’t make 9/11 Truth the point of the play, so don’t expect the audience to come away necessarily persuaded. After all, Ray is not the most effective messenger with his highly charged delivery, and he undermines his own credibility by seeing conspiracies everywhere, including the 1969 moon landing, corporations making people sick to sell more Kleenex, and even the wedding industry. Said Dietz, “I had no interest in doing a 9-11 rant, and I didn’t want to do a conspiracy theorist rant. I wanted to use those things as a backdrop for a specific story about these people.” But the play is superbly written and acted, and slips a great deal of 9/11 Truth to the audience against a dramatic backdrop. The Palmer character directly undermines the official story, as does Adam’s former college professor, since gone to work as a translator for the NSA. So bring your friends and support local theater, especially when the storyline involves 9/11 Truth!
After each staging, special guests (sometimes the cast) will bring chairs out on stage and engage the audience in a “Talkback” where there will be a chance to share questions and answers. Each “talkback” has its own unique theme.
Click for Bob Bows’ review in the Denver Post and photos from the play.
Tickets available at the Curious Theatre website or by calling the Box Office at 303.623.0524. Advance purchase is recommended as seating is limited at this small theatre.
The next monthly video and action meeting of Colorado 9/11 Visibility will be at Hooked on Colfax Bookstore and Coffee Shop, Denver, on Friday, November 20.
See you at the Curious Theatre!
Open Letter to the Denver Post
Open Letter to the Denver Post
To Mr. Dan Haley October 8, 2009
Denver Post Editorial Page Editor
Since we have not heard back from you after sending this letter, and after several phone calls to which you have not responded, we have chosen to publish our letter as an open letter.
You are the person who chooses which editorials are printed in the Denver Post, thus we write with the following observation, complaint, and request for a face-to-face discussion:
With Vincent Carroll’s article, “Public TV and the Truthers,” this is the third time within a few weeks of which we are aware that the Denver Post has treated the thousands of citizens of this country (and around the world) who work for a new and real investigation into 9/11 with contempt and ridicule.
Besides Mr. Carroll’s article, there was Joanne Ostrow’s article, “KBDI pushes limits on controversial pledge tie-ins,” and even Mike Littwin gave a hostile jab saying the “truthers” are more weird than the “birthers.”
As shown below, the articles fail to meet the Posts’s own published ethical standards for journalism such as the requirements of intellectual honesty, to present all sides, to be fair and even-handed, and to avoid loaded phrasing. None of the authors has attempted to present any facts or a reasoned analysis for their dismissal of these citizens. They instead have all stooped to ad hominem attacks, displaying a striking and perplexing lack of curiosity as to why a new investigation is supported by 45% of American citizens (2006 Zogby poll). Thus, the overall tone of each piece is that of propaganda and not news or journalism.
Besides ignoring the evidence and facts which sustain this growing worldwide movement (see postscript below for a number of examples), you are also failing to inform your readers about the four mothers from New Jersey who were widowed on September 11th (aka “the Jersey girls”) who went to Washington and waged a battle with the Bush administration to bring about the original 9/11 Commission. Those widows, who merely sought accountability and answers, ultimately concluded that the Commission served to cover up the issues rather than address them. They are now supporting the voter petition that has been signed by 80,000 New York City residents to put the issue on the ballot this November (see nyccan.org) and create a new 9/11 investigation in New York. You are completely missing this human interest story.
9/11 Blueprint for Truth Debut on Colorado Public Television
KBDI Historic Airings of 9-11 Documentaries Draws Media Attention.
9-11 Blueprint for Truth to Debut on Colorado Public Television.
Media Breakthrough! 9-11 Press for Truth to Be Shown on Mainstream Television.
KBDI Press Release: 9/11 Press for Truth on Channel 12 Draws Huge Support from Colorado Public Television Viewers.
KBDI Historic Airings of 9-11 Documentaries Draws Media Attention
Recent airings by KBDI-TV Channel 12 in Denver Colorado of important documentaries such as 911 Press For Truth and 911 Blueprint For Truth has received substantial mainstream media attention, first, here in the Denver Post hit piece from August 21, 2009.
Current Magazine, public broadcasting’s monthly newspaper, has now given this bold move by KBDI some well deserved attention in its September 8, 2009 issue. This article is much more balanced than Joanne Ostrow’s disrespectful treatment of the 9-11 truth movement and is more in line with real journalism that is so lacking in today’s mainstream media. Thank you to Current Magazine!
KBDI has also announced that there will be several encore presentations of these films in the month of September. Times and dates are below.
Everyone is urged to show KBDI how much you appreciate their programing by donating anytime online! Be sure to link your contribution to one of these films to receive the gifts KBDI offers for your pledge.
SCHEDULE OF AIR TIMES
Thursday September 17
8:30 PM 911 Blueprint for Truth
Saturday September 19, 2009
1:00 AM 911 Blueprint for Truth
3:00 AM 911 Press For Truth
5:30 PM 911 Blueprint for Truth
7:30 PM 911 Press For Truth
Sunday September 20, 2009
4:00 PM 911 Press For Truth
11:00 PM 911 Blueprint for Truth
Monday September 21, 2009
1:00 AM 911 Blueprint for Truth