Tuesday 25 February 2025 
BY: Dr. Hana Saada
Algiers, Algeria | December 20th, 2024 — In an exclusive interview with the Algerian news website Elayem News, Oliver Boyd-Barrett, a renowned sociologist of media and propaganda, delves into the dark undercurrents of modern media and its complicity in warfare. Boyd-Barrett, who has spent decades studying the impact of propaganda, from Syria to Russia, provides a detailed analysis of how media narratives are constructed to manipulate public perception, particularly in conflict zones.
Boyd-Barrett asserts that contemporary media has largely abandoned its traditional role of truth-seeking, opting instead for a more insidious function as a propaganda tool. He explains, “The major news outlets remain the primary suppliers of news, despite the rise of digital platforms. Propaganda, in terms of the routine collaboration between war advocates—government, military, and intelligence agencies—and mainstream media, remains fundamentally unchanged. It involves strategies such as demonizing the enemy, rallying the ‘us’ group, and personalizing adversaries to distract from the broader power structures at play.”
He emphasizes how current media often boil complex issues down to individual figures, such as Vladimir Putin or Volodymyr Zelensky, during the ongoing Ukraine conflict. “The responsibility for violence in war lies with a wider elite—the political and military leadership, the wealthy, arms suppliers, and even the public—but media depictions simplify it by focusing on single figures.”
Boyd-Barrett further criticizes the media’s failure to investigate, due to the overwhelming speed at which information circulates. As stories become increasingly dominated by official narratives, “the press becomes a loudspeaker for those in power, echoing the same story to create a singular, dominant narrative that drowns out alternative perspectives.”
One of the more disturbing trends Boyd-Barrett highlights is the use of citizen journalism as a tool for spreading misinformation. He argues, “In Syria, many sources of propaganda were disguised as independent citizen media, but they were, in fact, individuals trained by Western propaganda machines. These so-called ‘citizen journalists’ were directly involved in spreading fabricated narratives under the guise of impartial reporting.”
In a broader context, Boyd-Barrett critiques the rise of “post-truth” and “fake news” in the media, particularly in relation to the ongoing war in Palestine. He claims that the proliferation of false information is not merely a byproduct of media’s reduced credibility but rather an intentional consequence of increased media manipulation, as new tools and platforms emerge that allow propaganda to spread more efficiently.
“Media today has perfected the art of deception,” he states. “We no longer simply rely on the traditional methods of persuasion; we have more sophisticated, institutionalized, and precise ways of convincing people. It’s about shaping belief systems and using media to reinforce the narratives that best serve the interests of those in power. Once people are repeatedly told something, like the portrayal of Russia or Israel as the ‘enemy,’ they are primed to believe it.”
Boyd-Barrett further underscores how war-related narratives, often sensationalized by the media, undermine peace efforts. He suggests that the media’s role in promoting war far outweighs its engagement with peaceful narratives. “The media has long been an instrument for promoting war policies, and it thrives in conflict. It’s much easier to sell the idea of war than to convince the public to support peace, which is often a harder, less glamorous sell.”
When questioned about the rising global polarization, Boyd-Barrett responds that the world has always been divided along various lines—be it national, racial, or social. However, the role of the media has exacerbated these divisions. “Media has the power to amplify divisions, to create narratives that pit ‘us’ against ‘them,’ making the divide seem insurmountable. This has been true throughout history, whether during the colonization of indigenous peoples, the justification of slavery, or the lies that have fueled wars.”
Boyd-Barrett concludes with a chilling reflection on the media’s role in shaping the future of global conflicts. “The world would be a much safer place without the manipulative power of mainstream media, which so often works in collusion with various state and corporate powers to deceive the masses. Until we dismantle these structures, the narrative of war will continue to dominate.”
Link to the Arabic Version:
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