BBC 6 oclock news 21/05/07 propaganda alive and well in the uk!

I heard a quote today from my stepdad, which originally came from the philosopher Noam Chomsky which I can't remember exactly but it was something like "propoganda is to a democracy what a bludgeon is to a dictatorship" and i knew exactly what he meant when i watched the 6'oclock news tonight;

The story was a brief report which queried whether immigrants being given council houses is causing problems for "local people" on council lists. It featured an english couple who are living with a baby in a little counclil flat which was in bad condition - I think it had problems with damp etc.

The reasonj it annoyed me was because it focused completely on the angle that immigration was causing problems for these families and didn't consider that

1) the government continues to do what thatcher started - selling off council houses without replacing them.

2) "regeneration" of poor areas - something i can can see happening on my doorstep in hulme. baisically loads of grotty high rises were knocked down and replaced by lovely new flats. some are still council but many are now private and very expensive. many people were relocated from their community to new areas.

3) it is unfair for people to have to live in bad conditions, so maybe the council should improve the conditions??? Council houses were made for a minimum amount of money which is why they get problems such a sdamp (which i remember well from when i was a kid lol) which I think is unfair, so it should be the councils priority to make sure conditions are subtable.

Baisically the BBC took an and focused whole and soley on one aspect, and put the blame on one gruop of people - immigrants. It was complete propaganda to encourage people to think in one political way by completely ignoring other aspects to a story. The problem is that most people don't try to read into news storys on another level, and the media make this harder to do by showcasing a limited political opinion.

And the worst thing is we are constantly told that we live in a counrty where we have freedom of speech - but its funny that anyone who has something too "different" to say doesn't get any coverage.