Tune in to Friendly Fire a Voice For Veterans and listen in as four veterans, each from a different branch of the service, discuss the exciting and informative events that took place at the 2026 Veterans for Peace four day convention. Susan Schnall, president of Veterans for Peace talks about the numerous challenges the current administration is presenting to those trying to stop endless wars, global climate change, mass deportations and a diminished VA healthcare system.
DOCUMENTING THE U.S. MEDIA’S COMPLICITY IN THE GENOCIDE OF
GAZA WITH ROBIN ANDERSEN
In Robin Andersen’s new book, she chronicles how the U.S. media utilized their massive reach to help shield Israel from scrutiny as it perpetrated a genocide in Gaza.
Chris Hedges, a former New York Times Middle East Bureau Chief, is certain about at least one thing regarding Israeli propaganda tactics: “If there is one indisputable fact, it is that Israel lies like it breathes.” The task of professional journalists and media outlets is to review evidence and verify the information they are reporting, but when it comes to Israel, Western establishment media function as stenographers, echoing their lies globally.
In this episode of The Chris Hedges Report, Hedges explores the mechanisms by which Western media function as propaganda outlets for Israel with media scholar Robin Andersen, who documented these practices in her new book, “The Complicit Lens.” They begin with a discussion of the ways media corporations control the narrative through omissions of historical context, dehumanization of Palestinians and censorship of specific words, such as “massacres.” Journalists who work for these commercial outlets are aware of their complicity — a fact corroborated by leaks detailing the propagandistic guidelines editorial departments force their journalists to follow — but sacrifice their integrity and honesty for access to those in power and to protect themselves from retaliation.
Hedges and Andersen explain the ways that media outlets manipulate language to cover up war crimes being committed by the Israelis and shift the blame for Israeli attacks on civilians and infrastructure, such as hospitals and schools, onto the victims, Palestinians themselves. Outlets engage in ‘atrocity propaganda,’ amplifying horrific lies about sexual assault and “beheaded babies” told by the Israeli State without factchecking them to generate public support for the genocide of Palestinians, who are characterized as ‘terrorists’ and members of the demonized national resistance organization, Hamas. Andersen reports, “The Israelis were presented in their whole humanity… and the Palestinians are dead bodies, and that’s it.”
Another method of information control is by limiting access. Foreign journalists are restricted from entering Gaza, and those who are allowed in are vetted by Israel in advance. In violation of international law, the Palestinian press is censored through murder. Over 270 Palestinians, including those who work for major media outlets, and their families have been targeted and killed by the Israeli military. The price that we all pay for this complicity by the media is the legitimization of genocide, the absence of accountability and the lack of reliable news sources. As Andersen concludes, our loss is that there are “fewer and fewer voices, fewer and fewer documentation [that] can make sense of this and bring it to global publics.”
Tune in at .2pm PDT to hear the best of Friendly Fire 2017-2022. Hear from veterans who have fought against almost insurmountable odds to regain their place in society after serving, and then suffering, with challenges both physical and psychological. As always, it’s been my privilege to bring you their stories.
EAST COUNTY MAGAZINE with Editor, Investigative Journalist Miriam Raftery and the East County Magazine News Team
Fri 5pm, St 8am, Mon 5pm, Tues 9am
Award-winning editor and journalist Miriam Raftery and her award-winning magazine East County Magazine focus on news and events of their area. Miriam and her news team also report news of the larger San Diego and national and international news that may affect East County.
East County Magazine has up-to-date information on wildfire and emergency news.
ABOUT EAST COUNTY MAGAZINE
East County Magazine is your community media. We reflect the public’s interest, not special interests.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to provide in-depth news and events coverage for the inland areas in San Diego County, reflecting the broad diversity of people and issues in our region, particularly those under-represented in other media. As nonprofit media, we reflect the public interest—not special interests, with a strong commitment to covering social justice issues, diverse and mulicultural voices, community concerns, environmental/land use issues, and nonpartisan political stories in our region’s urban, rural, mountain and desert communities. We also celebrate our region’s attractions and rich cultural heritage, with special sections such as Visit East County, People Power, Tribal Beat, Refugee Voices, Arts and Music, and more.
East County Magazine also founded and operates East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts, keeping people safe and informed throughout San Diego County via e-mail and Twitter alerts. In addition we produce the East County Magazine radio show on KNSJ 89.1 FM.
Thoughtful conversations and a good way to start the day! STOP & TALK dives deep into the themes of purpose and opportunity, guided by the insights of leaders in the arts and culture, health, philanthropy, finance, and innovation fields. Together, we celebrated local achievements and envisioned what’s possible in San Diego County.
Tune in to Friendly Fire to hear former U.S. Marine captain and State Department official MATTHEW HOH speak about the situation in Ukraine. Matt, a combat veteran in Iraq, and a diplomat in Afghanistan is now a Senior Advisor at the Eisenhower Media Network, and has brought his expertise to the UN Security Council in 2024 over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Don’t miss Matt’s insights about the “escalation ladder” that both sides of the war continue to climb, perhaps leading to unforeseen consequences for Europe and the world.
Tune in to Friendly Fire tonight at 7pm to hear Linda Pentz Gunter the Executive Director of Beyond Nuclear and author of No to Nuclear. Linda discusses the latest nuclear agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia which would allow the Kingdom to build a nuclear power plant.
AN EVENING OF MUSIC BEGINNING AT 8, AN ECLECTIC MIX ONLY ON KNSJ IN SAN DIEGO. LOCAL DJs SPINNING VINYL THAT WILL BE JUST WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR.
THEN A BREAK AT 12 AM WITH SOMETHING’S HAPPENING AT MIDNIGHT–SOME SURPISES FOR YOU AS WELL AS NEWS AND MUSIC AND THOUGHTFUL CONVERSATIONS THAT ARE MORE THAN HEADLINES AND SOUND BITES. PERSPECTIVES AND VOICES YOU MAY HEAR ONLY ON KNSJ WITH NEWS REPORTS THAT WILL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT TOMORROW.
● “Empire of Abuse”: MAGA Influencers Andrew & Tristan Tate Arrested on Rape & Sex Trafficking Charges
● “Unlimited Money for Bombs”: Democrats Slam Hegseth for Seeking $67B for Iran War
● Trump Says Images of Bombed Iran School Could Be “AI” But Study Confirms U.S. Killed 140+ in Strike
Democracy Now! produces a daily, global, independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Our reporting includes breaking daily news headlines and in-depth interviews with people on the front lines of the world’s most pressing issues. On Democracy Now!, you’ll hear a diversity of voices speaking for themselves, providing a unique and sometimes provocative perspective on global events.
Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 1,400 public television and radio stations worldwide.
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard honored Goodman with the 2014 I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ for “developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media.” She is the first co-recipient of the Park Center for Independent Media’s Izzy Award, named for the great muckraking journalist I.F. Stone, and was later selected for induction into the Park Center’s I.F. Stone Hall of Fame. The Independent of London called Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! “an inspiration.”
Goodman has co-authored six New York Times bestsellers. Her latest, Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America, looks back over the past two decades of Democracy Now! and the powerful movements and charismatic leaders who are re-shaping our world. Before than, The Silenced Majority: Stories of Uprisings, Occupations, Resistance, and Hope, and Breaking the Sound Barrier, both written with Denis Moynihan, give voice to the many ordinary people standing up to corporate and government power. She co-authored her first three bestsellers with her brother, journalist David Goodman: Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times (2008), Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back (2006) and The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them (2004). She co-writes a weekly column with Denis Moynihan (also produced as an audio podcast) syndicated by King Features, for which she was recognized in 2007 with the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Reporting.
