by Ron Horn for Surviving Capitalism.
People often read articles on websites and blogs without realizing that they are being funded by a group or groups that have an agenda. Often they are funded by large capitalist philanthropic organizations, but in this example substantial funding is coming directly from the government. I am referring to a website called Syria Direct that has been publishing articles about Syria since 2013. So, I think one can question the credibility of an article on their website entitled "Russia strikes vital Aleppo water treatment plant: ‘The sight of water flowing from a faucet has become almost like a dream’".
The lesson this offers us is that one must question the independence of any website because they could be influenced to a greater or lessor extent by the source of their funding. The best are subscriber (or listener) sponsored sources or websites that are funded only by authentic activist organizations. Another lesson is that we ordinary people must with our dollars support truly independent journalists, otherwise we risk being lied to. And especially one must be wary of US government or ruling class organization funded sources which have demonstrated their desire to use media coverage as a propaganda weapon many times over the years. See this, this, this, this, and this.
