ABSTRACT
In the buildup to the Iraq war, mainstream media were asleep at the wheel. Mesmerized by the 9/11 attacks and machinations of power, mainstream media, particularly in the US and UK, allowed the Iraq war to unfold and placed no obstacles in its course. This has been widely discussed; here let us consider other media contributions to creating or sustaining global divides. I focus on the following: echoing free market ideology, representing the rise of the rest as threat, recycling the 9/11 complex, and overusing celebrity as narrative.
