Barrie Zwicker
Encyclopedia
Barrie Wallace Zwicker (born November 5, 1934) is a Canadian alternative media journalist
, documentary
producer
, and political activist. He is most famous for his documentary
work, which has dealt primarily with 9/11 conspiracy theories
.
. His family soon moved to Manitoba
, and Zwicker's earliest work in journalism was with the Russell Banner, a local newspaper in Manitoba, at the age of 16. He went on to study journalism
at University of Michigan
. In 1967, Zwicker earned a Southam
Fellow
ship allowing him to work with media
analysis pioneer, Marshall McLuhan
at St. Michael's College
.
Zwicker went on to staff writing assignments at a variety of newspapers in Canada and the United States, including The Globe and Mail
, Toronto Star
, Vancouver Province, Sudbury Star
, Detroit News, and Lansing State Journal
. During his seven year tenure at The Globe and Mail, he won several awards with the Education Writers' Association of North America.
Zwicker also taught the Media and Society course at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto
as a part-time professor for seven years. He worked as Vision TV
's media critic since the multifaith
network's inception in the fall of 1988, until 2003.
Zwicker and Dick MacDonald edited The News: Inside the Canadian Media, in which Zwicker argued that there was a “terrible sameness” in the media’s coverage of many important issues, and a shutting out of other, potentially valuable, perspectives and sources of information. When MacDonald died in 1974, Zwicker took over as publisher of Content magazine founded by MacDonald in 1970. He continued his media criticism in the pages of Content and subsequently in the pages of Sources
, which he published from 1977 on. Sources is a directory of contacts for editors
, reporters and researchers. In 1994, he created a Canadian government directory called Parliamentary Names & Numbers. He subsequently sold these publications in 1999.
In 1983 Zwicker wrote War, Peace, and the Media, a 48-page pamphlet
which argued that Canadian and American press coverage of the USSR was unbalanced, "creating a stereotype of a country that is the embodiment of everything evil, with which it is impossible to have civilized dealings or to conclude rational agreements, notably on arms control. The result of the press coverage is to push people to the conclusion that the only way to deal with the USSR is to engage in an arms race that can only result in eventual war."
with respect to his viewpoints, and his approach to documentary
making. He was the first from the mainstream press
to go public
with his opinion that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an "inside job", when, on January 21, 2002, he stated that he wanted the media
to ask the following questions:
on 9/11 aired on Vision TV
. Titled, The Great Deception, it was the first North American documentary
critical of the mainstream media's portrayal of 9/11.
on Vision TV
, and earned a number of awards from local film and video festivals for his contributions.
" is a public control mechanism. He also analyses the military
breakdown on 9/11 and claims that the president and his aides acted entirely inappropriately that day. Throughout, mainstream media is accused of being either compliant or complicit with a cover-up
. Zwicker followed this with an additional documentary entitled, Deep Complicity, 9-11 And The Media, released in 2004.
, author of Culture Struggle and The Assassination of Julius Caesar said of it, "Even skeptics like myself will find much in Barrie Zwicker's book to ponder, enjoy and, yes even embrace. Interestingly researched and well written, a valuable aid to correct thinking about conspiracy theory."
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, and political activist. He is most famous for his documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
work, which has dealt primarily with 9/11 conspiracy theories
9/11 conspiracy theories
9/11 conspiracy theories are theories that disagree with the widely accepted account that the September 11 attacks were perpetrated solely by al-Qaeda. These theories arose because of what proponents of the conspiracy theories believe to be inconsistencies in the official conclusions or some...
.
Biography
Barrie Zwicker was born in White Haven, Nova ScotiaNova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. His family soon moved to Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, and Zwicker's earliest work in journalism was with the Russell Banner, a local newspaper in Manitoba, at the age of 16. He went on to study journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
at University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. In 1967, Zwicker earned a Southam
Southam
Southam is a small market town in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. The 2001 census recorded a population of 6,509 in the town.The nearest sizeable town to Southam is Leamington Spa, located roughly 7 miles to the west...
Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
ship allowing him to work with media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
analysis pioneer, Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
at St. Michael's College
University of St. Michael's College
The University of St. Michael's College is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1852 by the Congregation of St. Basil of Annonay, France. While mainly an undergraduate college for liberal arts and sciences, St. Michael's retains its Roman Catholic affiliation through its postgraduate...
.
Zwicker went on to staff writing assignments at a variety of newspapers in Canada and the United States, including The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, Vancouver Province, Sudbury Star
Sudbury Star
The Sudbury Star is a Canadian daily regional newspaper, published in Sudbury, Ontario. It is run by the media conglomerate Sun Media, which is controlled by Quebecor....
, Detroit News, and Lansing State Journal
Lansing State Journal
The Lansing State Journal is a daily newspaper published in Lansing, Michigan owned by Gannett.-Overview:The Lansing State Journal is the sole daily newspaper published in metropolitan Lansing...
. During his seven year tenure at The Globe and Mail, he won several awards with the Education Writers' Association of North America.
Zwicker also taught the Media and Society course at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
as a part-time professor for seven years. He worked as Vision TV
Vision TV
VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic....
's media critic since the multifaith
Multifaith
To be multifaith is to feel an affinity with aspects of more than one religion, philosophy or world-view, and to believe that no one is superior to the others...
network's inception in the fall of 1988, until 2003.
Zwicker and Dick MacDonald edited The News: Inside the Canadian Media, in which Zwicker argued that there was a “terrible sameness” in the media’s coverage of many important issues, and a shutting out of other, potentially valuable, perspectives and sources of information. When MacDonald died in 1974, Zwicker took over as publisher of Content magazine founded by MacDonald in 1970. He continued his media criticism in the pages of Content and subsequently in the pages of Sources
Sources (website)
Sources is a Web portal for journalists, freelance writers, editors, authors, and researchers, focusing especially on human sources: experts and spokespersons who are prepared to answer reporters’ questions or make themselves available for on-air interviews....
, which he published from 1977 on. Sources is a directory of contacts for editors
Editors
Editors are a British indie rock band based in Birmingham, who formed in 2002. Previously known as Pilot, The Pride and Snowfield, the band consists of Tom Smith , Chris Urbanowicz , Russell Leetch and Ed Lay .Editors have so far released two platinum studio...
, reporters and researchers. In 1994, he created a Canadian government directory called Parliamentary Names & Numbers. He subsequently sold these publications in 1999.
In 1983 Zwicker wrote War, Peace, and the Media, a 48-page pamphlet
Pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
which argued that Canadian and American press coverage of the USSR was unbalanced, "creating a stereotype of a country that is the embodiment of everything evil, with which it is impossible to have civilized dealings or to conclude rational agreements, notably on arms control. The result of the press coverage is to push people to the conclusion that the only way to deal with the USSR is to engage in an arms race that can only result in eventual war."
Alternative viewpoints and 9/11 conspiracy works
In Canada, Zwicker has drawn comparisons to Michael MooreMichael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
with respect to his viewpoints, and his approach to documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
making. He was the first from the mainstream press
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
to go public
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...
with his opinion that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an "inside job", when, on January 21, 2002, he stated that he wanted the media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
to ask the following questions:
- Why didn't the president give any orders for 140 minutes after the first plane had been hijacked?
- Why didn't he make a statement in the first 165 minutes after the first plane got hijacked?
- Why did not a single American Air Force plane make a single interception during these two hours?
The Great Deception
In 2002, Zwicker's first documentaryDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
on 9/11 aired on Vision TV
Vision TV
VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic....
. Titled, The Great Deception, it was the first North American documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
critical of the mainstream media's portrayal of 9/11.
The End of Suburbia
He was involved in making the video The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American DreamThe End of Suburbia
The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream is a 2004 documentary film concerning peak oil and its implications for the suburban lifestyle, written and directed by Toronto-based filmmaker Gregory Greene....
on Vision TV
Vision TV
VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic....
, and earned a number of awards from local film and video festivals for his contributions.
The Great Conspiracy: The 9/11 News Special You Never Saw
The Great Conspiracy: The 9/11 News Special You Never Saw is a 70-minute sequel to The Great Deception. It premiered at the The Citizens' Commission on 9-11. In this work, Zwicker contends that fear was used to control the public after 9/11, and states that the "War on TerrorismWar on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
" is a public control mechanism. He also analyses the military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
breakdown on 9/11 and claims that the president and his aides acted entirely inappropriately that day. Throughout, mainstream media is accused of being either compliant or complicit with a cover-up
Cover-up
A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to conceal evidence of wrong-doing, error, incompetence or other embarrassing information...
. Zwicker followed this with an additional documentary entitled, Deep Complicity, 9-11 And The Media, released in 2004.
Towers of Deception: The Media Cover-up of 9/11
Zwicker's new book published by New Society Publishers was released September 1, 2006. Michael ParentiMichael Parenti
Michael Parenti is an award-winning, internationally known American political scientist, historian, and culture critic who has been writing on a wide range of both scholarly and popular subjects for over forty years. He has taught at several universities and colleges and has been a frequent guest...
, author of Culture Struggle and The Assassination of Julius Caesar said of it, "Even skeptics like myself will find much in Barrie Zwicker's book to ponder, enjoy and, yes even embrace. Interestingly researched and well written, a valuable aid to correct thinking about conspiracy theory."
Other accomplishments
- In 1996, he founded a media relations newsletter and Web site called HotLink.
- In 1991, he was awarded an honorary membership in the Media Club of CanadaMedia Club of CanadaThe Media Club of Canada was a professional organization of Canadian journalists, active from 1904 to the early 1990s. Originally founded as the Canadian Women's Press Club and open only to women, early members of the group included Kit Coleman, Nellie McClung, Emily Murphy and Helen MacGill.The...
. - Zwicker is also the directorManagementManagement in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
of an alternative informationInformationInformation in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
web site, 911inquiry.org
External links
- Biography of Barrie Zwicker from the Humanist Association of Toronto (Not Found)
- Barrie Zwicker's media profile and areas of expertise
- The Great Conspiracy website
- Barrie Zwicker's assertions in TGC video * 9/11 Related information
- CBC interview with Michael Enright. here's the audio link.