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This language is not neutral. It has been crafted, refined, and tested by the military and political spin doctors for decades. And when journalists repeat it without quotation marks, without critical distance, and without questioning it, they become— whether they like it or not— channels for propaganda.
« War has always been told by those who win it. What’ s new is that we no longer realize it. »
Double Standards, Two Deaths
There is another, even deeper unease. Look at how the dead are counted based on their origin.
Flashmag! Issue 173 June 2026
When an American or French soldier is killed, we know his first name, his age, his hometown, and see his wedding photo. We interview his mother. We broadcast tributes from his comrades. His death is a national tragedy.
When a thousand Yemeni civilians perish in bombings— carried out using aircraft and munitions sold by Western countries— we read a twelve-line news brief, often buried at the bottom of the page.“ A preliminary toll reports several dozen deaths.” Preliminary. Several dozen. As if their deaths were still being verified, as if they deserved less certainty.
This hierarchy of lives is not insignificant. It says something about our relationship to the world, about our ability— or our refusal— to consider all human life equally precious.
Key figure: According to a study by Cardiff University, during their coverage of the Iraq War, the British media devoted on average five times as much time to military operations as to civilian casualties. For Iraqi victims, the average coverage time per death was forty times less than that given to each allied soldier killed.
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