Piers Robinson

Last updated

Piers Robinson
Born
Piers Gregory Robinson

1970 (age 52–53)
Nationality British
Occupations
  • Academic
  • Lecturer
  • Writer
  • Author
TitleCo-Director
Board member ofOrganisation for Propaganda Studies
Academic background
Alma mater University of Bristol
Thesis The News Media and Intervention  (2000)
Influences Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky
Notable ideas CNN effect
Website piersrobinson.wordpress.com

Piers Gregory Robinson (born 1970) is a British academic researcher in the field of media studies. [1] [2] He is also a co-director of the Organisation for Propaganda Studies [3] and a founder of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media (SPM). [4] He has authored a number of publications on the CNN effect. He has attracted criticism for disputing the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War.

Contents

Education and career

Robinson received his PhD from the University of Bristol in 2000, with a thesis titled The News Media and Intervention. [5] He was a lecturer in political communication at the University of Liverpool from 1999 to 2005 and senior lecturer in international politics at The University of Manchester from 2005 to 2015. [2] He was the chair in Politics, Society and Political Journalism at The University of Sheffield until he left his post in 2019 citing "professional goals and personal circumstances". [6]

Political research

Media and propaganda

Robinson has argued that Western news media and their respective governments act in concert, especially in the area of foreign affairs. He puts this down to "overreliance on government officials as news sources, economic constraints, the imperatives of big business and good old-fashioned patriotism". He has said western governments frequently manipulate the media through "deception involving exaggeration, omission and misdirection". As evidence of government use of propaganda he cited Tony Blair's suggestion that the "war on terror" would require a "dedicated tightly knit propaganda unit". [7] In "The Propaganda Model: Still Relevant Today" he examined the propaganda model put forward by Herman and Chomsky and concluded that it is still useful in describing how the corporate media works. [8]

In an opinion piece in The Guardian , Robinson described the UK government's use of the Research, Information and Communications Unit to covertly support grassroots Muslim organisations as an example of black propaganda. [7]

CNN effect

Robinson has studied the CNN effect, [9] a term that refers to the "influence that televised images and news coverage exercise on foreign policy decisions, especially during military interventions and humanitarian crises." [10] In his 2002 book, The CNN Effect: The Myth of News, Foreign Policy and Intervention, he argued that "sympathetic news coverage at key moments in foreign crises can influence the response of Western governments." [11] In Robinson's framework, which focused on "the type of media coverage a crisis attracts and on level of policy certainty within the establishment in relation to the crisis", a strong CNN effect requires two conditions: 1) media coverage that is highly critical of national policy, while simultaneously emphatically reporting on civilians and refugees, and 2) policy makers in a state of indecision with no clear policy regarding use of force. In terms of this framework, Robinson characterised the 1994 NATO intervention in Bosnia that followed the siege of Goražde as exemplifying a strong CNN effect. If either condition is missing, influence on policy makers' attitudes is likely to be weak. [10]

9/11

Robinson's review of 9/11 Unmasked by David Ray Griffin (an adherent of the 9/11 truth movement) said it represents "a serious challenge for mainstream academics and journalists to start to ask substantial questions about 9/11". [12] [13] When asked whether he agreed with the conclusions of the book, Robinson stated "My position, as has been the case for some time, is that [conclusions detailed in 9/11 Unmasked] demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that significant parts of the official narrative are very likely to be incorrect" and "It is no longer tenable for academics and journalists to avoid asking probing questions about the possible involvement of state actors in the 9/11 attacks. 9/11 requires further analysis and investigation and this is a position I share with many other academics." [13]

2003 invasion of Iraq

Robinson has paid particular attention to the role of the US and UK governments in manipulating intelligence prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq to increase the perceived threat posed by Iraq. [7] Robinson conducted a study of UK media coverage which concluded that most UK mainstream media reinforced official views rather than challenged them. [14]

Syrian Civil War

Robinson and other members of the SPM working group including Vanessa Beeley, Tim Hayward and David Miller have gained considerable attention for disputing the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War, [15] most notably in the Douma incident, alleging a coverup by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, [16] and extremist links of the White Helmets. [17] [18] [19] This has led to members of the group being described as "apologists for Assad" in articles in The Times , which compared them to Holocaust deniers. [20] [21] [22]

In a consultation with HuffPost UK, Lebanese American Emerson College academic Yasser Munif criticized Robinson's stances on Syria, arguing that it "completely denies the agency of the Arab population, perceives anything happening in the region as a form of conspiracy... [Robinson] thinks Arabs have to be manipulated and funded and told exactly what to do – it’s completely insulting." [23]

Russia

Robinson has argued that there is no persuasive evidence to implicate the Russian government in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and says Russia has been blamed to distract from the West's "aggressive regime change strategy" in the Middle East. [6] He said that there is no persuasive evidence showing Russia conducted any significant propaganda campaign to influence the 2016 US presidential election. [6]

British politics

Robinson maintained that accusations of anti-semitism inside the UK Labour Party during Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the party had been exaggerated for political purposes. [6] [24]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bashar al-Assad</span> President of Syria since 2000

Bashar al-Assad is a Syrian politician who is the current and 19th president of Syria since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the secretary-general of the Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, which nominally espouses a neo-Ba'athist ideology. His father and predecessor was General Hafiz al-Assad, whose presidency between 1971 and 2000 marked the transfiguration of Syria from a republican state into a dynastic dictatorship tightly controlled by an Alawite-dominated elite composed of the armed forces and the Mukhabarat, who are loyal to the al-Assad family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Media Lens</span>

Media Lens is a British media analysis website established in 2001 by David Cromwell and David Edwards. Cromwell and Edwards are the site's editors and only regular contributors. Their aim is to scrutinise and question the mainstream media's coverage of significant events and issues and to draw attention to what they consider "the systemic failure of the corporate media to report the world honestly and accurately".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Kinzer</span> American journalist and author (b. 1951)

Stephen Kinzer is an American author, journalist, and academic. A former New York Times correspondent, he has published several books and writes for several newspapers and news agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CNN effect</span> Theory in political science and media studies

The CNN effect is a theory in political science and media studies which states that global television networks play a significant role in determining the actions policymakers take and the outcomes of events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RT (TV network)</span> Russian state-controlled international television network

RT is a Russian state-controlled international news television network funded by the Russian government. It operates pay television and free-to-air channels directed to audiences outside of Russia, as well as providing Internet content in Russian, English, Spanish, French, German and Arabic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Blumenthal</span> American journalist (born 1977)

Max Blumenthal is an American author and blogger. He was a writer for The Nation, AlterNet, The Daily Beast, Al Akhbar, and Media Matters for America, and has contributed to Al Jazeera English, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. He has been a writing fellow of the Nation Institute. He is a regular contributor to Russian state-owned Sputnik and RT.

The mass media in Syria consists primarily of television, radio, Internet, film and print. The national language of Syria is Arabic but some publications and broadcasts are also available in English and French. While television is the most popular medium in Syria, the Internet has become a widely utilized vehicle to disseminate content. Transcending all available media, the government seeks to control what Syrians see by restricting coverage from outside sources. Publications and broadcasts are monitored by members of the government. All mass media outlets are under the supervision of the Ministry of Information. Third article of the 2013 Information Ministry guidelines stipulate that purpose of all media outlets is "to enlighten public opinion" in line with the ideological doctrines "of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and the policy of the state".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Media coverage of the Syrian civil war</span>

Since the start of the Syrian Civil War, all sides have used social media to try to discredit their opponents by using negative terms such as 'Syrian regime' for the government, 'armed gangs/terrorists' for the rebels, 'Syrian government/US State Department propaganda', 'biased', 'US/Western/foreign involvement'. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, given the complexity of the Syrian conflict, media bias in reporting remains a key challenge, plaguing the collection of useful data and misinforming researchers and policymakers regarding the actual events taking place.

There have been numerous reports of chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian Civil War, beginning in 2012, and corroborated by national governments, the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Human Rights Watch (HRW), and media organizations. The attacks occurred in different areas of Syria, including Khan al-Assal, Jobar, Saraqib, Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, Kafr Zita, Talmenes, Sarmin and Douma. The deadliest attacks were the August 2013 sarin attack in Ghouta, the April 2017 sarin attack in Khan Shaykhun and April 2018 Douma chemical attacks. The most common agent used is chlorine, with sarin and sulphur mustard also reported. Almost half of the attacks between 2014 and 2018 were delivered via aircraft and less than a quarter were delivered from the ground, with the remaining attacks having an undetermined method of delivery. Since the start of uprisings across Syria in 2011, Syrian Arab Armed Forces and pro-Assad paramilitary forces have been implicated in more than 300 chemical attacks in Syria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maram Susli</span> Syrian-Australian YouTube personality

Maram Susli, also known as Mimi al-Laham, PartisanGirl, Syrian Girl and Syrian Sister, is a Syrian Australian conspiracy theorist, YouTube content creator, and political commentator who prepares videos on the Syrian Civil War, United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Gamergate controversy.

David Miller is a British sociologist whose research and publications focus on Islamophobia and propaganda. Miller was Professor of Sociology at the University of Strathclyde (2004–2011) and the University of Bath (2011–2018) and was Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bristol (2018–2021). He is the co-founder and co-director of the non-profit company Public Interest Investigations (PII), which runs two projects, Spinwatch and Powerbase.

On 7 April 2018, a chemical warfare attack, which has been widely attributed to the forces of the government of Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian city of Douma. Medics and witnesses reported that it caused the deaths of between 40 and 50 people and injuries to possibly well over 100. The attack was attributed to the Syrian Army by rebel forces in Douma, and by the United States, British, and French governments. A two-year long investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) concluded in January 2023 that the Syrian Air Force perpetrated the chemical attacks during its military campaign in Douma. On 14 April 2018, the United States, France and the United Kingdom carried out a series of military strikes against multiple government sites in Syria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">April 2018 missile strikes against Syria</span> Military strikes by US, UK, France against government sites in Syria

On 14 April 2018, beginning at 04:00 Syrian time (UTC+3), the United States, France, and the United Kingdom carried out a series of military strikes involving aircraft and ship-based missiles against multiple government sites in Syria during the Syrian Civil War. The strikes were a reprisal for the Douma chemical attack against civilians on 7 April, widely attributed to the Syrian government. The Syrian government called the airstrikes a violation of international law.

Tim Hayward is Professor of Environmental Political Theory at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and director of the university's Just World Institute, a body set up to "foster interdisciplinary research into the global challenges facing the international order, with particular attention to issues of ethics and justice". Between 1995 and 2017, Hayward published four books on ecological values, human rights and political theory. Hayward has recently received coverage in the mainstream press for his alleged "propaganda" in defense of Putin's Russia and Bashar Assad's Syrian regime.

Tara McCormack is an academic and author. She is a lecturer in international relations at the University of Leicester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Bartlett</span> Canadian activist and blogger

Eva Karene Bartlett is a Russian-based American Canadian activist, commentator, and blogger who has propagated conspiracy theories in connection to the Syrian civil war, most notably the disproven allegation that the White Helmets stage rescues and "recycle" children in its videos.

<i>The Grayzone</i> US-based fringe news website and blog

The Grayzone is an American fringe, far-left news website and blog, founded and edited by American journalist Max Blumenthal.

Vanessa Beeley is a British activist and blogger known for sharing conspiracy theories and disinformation about the Syrian civil war and about the Syrian volunteer organisation the White Helmets.

Paul McKeigue is professor of genetic epidemiology and statistical genetics at the University of Edinburgh, a post he assumed in 2007. He is a signatory to the Great Barrington Declaration. Earlier in his career, he was a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and University College Dublin.

The Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media (SPM) is a controversial group of academics and activists whose stated purpose is to study propaganda and information operations surrounding the Syrian civil war. It was formed by environmental political theory professor Tim Hayward and former academic Piers Robinson in 2017.

References

  1. ↑ Rampa, Kuldip R. (5 July 2019). "Global News and Information Flow in the Digital Age". In Kamalipour, Yahya R. (ed.). Global Communication: A Multicultural Perspective. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 168–9. ISBN   978-1-5381-2166-5. British academic Piers Robinson, who has long written about political journalism, says that 'a substantial body of research conducted over many decades highlights the proximity between western news media and their respective governments, especially in the realm of foreign affairs'.
  2. 1 2 Robinson, Piers; Seib, Philip; Frohlich, Romy (2016). Routledge Handbook of Media, Conflict and Security. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   978-1-317-91430-3.
  3. ↑ "Organisation for Propaganda Studies". Organisation for Propaganda Studies. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Members". Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  5. ↑ Robinson, Piers (2000). The News Media and Intervention (PhD thesis). University of Bristol.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Sheffield Uni Professor Leaves Post After Accusations of Promoting Conspiracy Theories". HuffPost UK. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 Robinson, Piers (3 May 2016). "The British government has already forgotten the great dangers of propaganda". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  8. ↑ Robinson, Piers (2016). "The Propaganda Model: Still Relevant Today?". In Edgley, Alison (ed.). Noam Chomsky. London: Springer. pp. 77–96. ISBN   978-1-349-56778-2.
  9. ↑ Friedman, Uri (1 March 2018). "The 'CNN Effect' Dies in Syria". The Atlantic. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  10. 1 2 Joseph, Paul (11 October 2016). The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives. SAGE Publications. ISBN   978-1-4833-5988-5.
  11. ↑ Robinson, Piers (8 July 2005). The CNN Effect: The Myth of News, Foreign Policy and Intervention. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-134-51313-0.
  12. ↑ Robinson, Piers (10 September 2018). "9/11 Unmasked by David Ray Griffin and Elizabeth Woodworth: A Review". off-guardian.org.
  13. 1 2 "Professor Piers Robinson Teaches Journalism At A Top UK University. He's Also A 9/11 Truther". HuffPost. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  14. ↑ Robinson, Piers (2 August 2016). "Russian news may be biased – but so is much western media". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  15. ↑ "Propaganda Here and Now | The Centre for Freedom of the Media".
  16. ↑ "Briefing note on the final report of the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission on the alleged chemical attack in Douma in April 2018". 11 April 2019.
  17. ↑ Blanchard, Georgie Keate, Sam. "To say Douma attack was staged is to enter an Orwellian world". The Times. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 28 May 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ↑ "Mysterious death of White Helmets co-founder spotlights toxic propaganda". PBS NewsHour. 24 December 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  19. ↑ McKeigue, Paul; Mason, Jake; Robinson, Piers; Miller, David (16 December 2019). "James Le Mesurier: a reconstruction of his business activities and covert role". Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  20. ↑ Haynes, Georgie Keate, Dominic Kennedy, Krystina Shveda, Deborah. "Apologists for Assad working in British universities". The Times. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 27 May 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ↑ "Assad's Useful Idiots". The Times. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  22. ↑ Webster, Ben. "Academics accused of speaking for Assad condemn Syria raids". The Times. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  23. ↑ "This Professor Teaches Journalism At A Top UK University. He's Also A 9/11 Truther". HuffPost. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  24. ↑ Somerville, Ewan. "Sheffield University 'conspiracy theory' professor quits". Forge. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  25. ↑ Reviews of The CNN Effect: Paul Williams, African Affairs, JSTOR   3518531, doi : 10.1093/afraf/adg078; Jody Waters, Canadian Journal of Communication, ; Douglas Blanks Hindman, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, ; James Boylan, Columbia Journalism Review,
  26. ↑ Reviews of Pockets of Resistance: Greg McLaughlin, Journalism Studies, doi : 10.1080/1461670X.2012.691349; Phillip Knightley, Journalism Practice, doi : 10.1080/17512786.2012.712766; Philip Hammond, Media, War & Conflict, doi : 10.1177/1750635212448027
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.