The debunking of claims of a chemical weapons attack in Syria by award winning journalist Robert Fisk, is the most fresh evidence “disinformation” is entirely a matter of perspective.
All the major media channels dutifully repeated the false/no-evidence claims of gas attacks in Syria. The same media channels that decry “disinformation,” and call for censoring for non-traditional news sources.
“Disinformation,” means claims, truthful or not, unsanctioned by a Western government.*
To counter attempts to discount the reporting by Fisk, consider the recitation of awards over his career by Wikipedia:
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Fisk has received the British Press Awards’ International Journalist of the Year seven times, and twice won its “Reporter of the Year” award. He also received Amnesty International UK Media Awards in 1992 for his report “The Other Side of the Hostage Saga”, in 1998 for his reports from Algeria and again in 2000 for his articles on the NATO air campaign against the FRY in 1999.
- 1984 Lancaster University honorary degree
- 1991 Jacob’s Award for coverage of the Gulf War on RTÉ Radio 1
- 1999 Orwell Prize for journalism
- 2001 David Watt Prize for an investigation of the 1915 Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire
- 2002 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism
- 2003 Open University honorary doctorate
- 2004 University of St Andrews honorary degree
- 2004 Carleton University honorary degree
- 2005 Adelaide University Edward Said Memorial lecture
- 2006 Ghent University honorary degree Political and Social Sciences
- 2006 American University of Beirut honorary degree
- 2006 Queen’s University Belfast honorary degree
- 2006 Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize worth $350,000
- 2008 University of Kent honorary degree
- 2008 Trinity College Dublin honorary doctorate
- 2009 College Historical Society’s Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse
- 2009 Liverpool Hope University honorary degree
- 2011 International Prize at the Amalfi Coast Media Awards, Italy
…
*I don’t automatically credit claims by non-Western governments. There is no evidence to show non-Western governments are more prone to lie than Western governments. All governments, Western and non-Western lie.
Anyone worthy of the title “journalist” who doesn’t start with that premise has already betrayed the reading public.