Always Question Authority and Official MSM Propaganda
Mass Media in The United States of Oligarchy
The United State is an Oligarchy
In 2014, a study published by Princeton and Northwestern Universities titled Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens used extensive policy data from 1981 to 2002 to measure the state of the US political system.
After sifting through nearly 1,800 US policies enacted in that period and comparing them to the expressed preferences of average Americans (50th percentile of income), affluent Americans (90th percentile) and large special interests groups, researchers concluded that the United States is dominated by its economic elite.
The peer reviewed study concluded that only a few powerful actors, namely special interest groups and economic elite are able to influence US policy. The average American has no influence over the US political system and government policy.
"The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence."
From the BBC,
Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organisations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America's claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.
Counterpunch's Eric Zuess puts it starkly
American democracy is a sham, no matter how much it's pumped by the oligarchs who run the country (and who control the nation's "news" media)," he writes. "The US, in other words, is basically similar to Russia or most other dubious 'electoral' 'democratic' countries. We weren't formerly, but we clearly are now.
Additional reading - Zerohedge
Domestic Propaganda is Legal
The National Defense Authorization Acts signed by president Barack Obama in 2013 and again before leaving the oval office in 2017 include provisions that remove safeguards against domestic propaganda directly targeting American citizens.
Here's a link to the 2017 NDAA pdf
Right before the Christmas holidays on December 23rd 2016, Obama quietly signed NDAA 2017. On page 547 of the 900 page document, there's a section titled Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act. The passage describes the creation of the Global Engagement Center by the US government, essentially creating an official government propaganda arm.
According to WeAreChange, NDAA criminalizes media that the government deems to be 'propaganda'.
This bill, as we reportedly previously, will “Criminalize ‘Fake News, Propaganda’ on the Web,” a key piece of legislation meant to crack down on free speech and independent media. In Layman’s terms, the act will allow the government to crack down with impunity against any media outlet it deems “propaganda.” The next piece of the legislation will provide substantial amounts of money to fund “counter propaganda,” to make sure the government’s approved stories drown out alternative media and journalists who question the status quo.
Only a few years earlier in 2012, Obama signed into law the 2013 NDAA which effectively replaced the Smith-Mundt Act with the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act. The originally Smith-Mundt act introduced in 1948 protected American citizens from being subjected to US domestic propaganda intended for foreign audiences aborad.
“No funds authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors shall be used to influence public opinion in the United States.”
While the Smith-Mundt act does not outright use the term propaganda, the act was clearly designed to safeguard againt the use of propaganda on US citizens.
By U.S. law, knows as the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and the Department of State are not authorized to use taxpayers’ money to influence public opinion in the United States or to otherwise propagandize to Americans. It appears, however, that the Voice of America (VOA) is now spending public money to help distribute its programs specifically to American citizens and U.S. residents and to promote such domestic distribution of VOA programming.
Media Consolidation & the Illusion of Choice
With every passing year, we see the merging of already massive media empires with one another creating enormously powerful conglomerates. As a result, we see the erosion of choice throughout the media industry. We may have thousands of production companies, tv studios, and websites to choose from but they're really owned by the same corporate entities and therefore conform to certain company guidelines. Of course, these companies are driven by profits but they also filter out undesirable journalism, programming, and information that doesn't fit in with their overall growth strategy.
Some would argue that the media landscape has completely shifted since these graphics were originally produced in 2011 as the Tech giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon have overtaken the model. There's no doubt that this is true with these companies quickly becoming immensely profitable, influential and integral parts of the economic system.
In fact, Google in Facebook are quickly outpacing their digital media competitors due to their flexibility in adjusting and implementing new advertising strategies.
Just like the media landscape the tech industry also shows signs of significant power consolidation.
Critics like Columbia law professor Tim Wu suggest that the major tech firms are creating information monopoly aka an oligopoly.
The author goes on to argue that despite the Internet’s reputation for encouraging freedom, it looks “increasingly like a Monopoly board” with most of the major sectors controlled by “one dominant company or an oligopoly.” According to Wu, search is “owned” by Google, while Facebook owns social networking, eBay rules auctions, Apple “dominates online content delivery” and Amazon owns online retail.
Highly Advanced Propaganda Directed at Citizens of Western Democracies
Propaganda has evolved to such an extent over the lat 100 years that it's become unrecognizable to its intended audiences. Nowhere on earth is the propaganda more advanced, more evolved and more imperceptible than in Western democracies. The illusion of choice is present throughout mainstream media if one is careful to recognize it.
Perhaps the grossest ongoing censorship of all is the culturally conditioned, narrow range of opinion fed to the vast majority of Americans by their own media. The differences in story lines and opinions in the “news” given by well-watched television channels such as ABC. CBS, NBC and CNN, or those of the nation’s major newspapers and news magazines, is minuscule.
...
The narrow range of views offered creates a uniform background noise hiding most of what is at variance with the standard message. In other words, media practices constitute de facto censorship.
So well does this process work that it is probably the case that many news editors and broadcasters and most of the public taking in their reporting do not understand that their reductionism has rendered the constitutional right of free press ineffectual.
Really meaningful contrary opinion and reporting (particularly of the progressive persuasion) is so infrequent and marginalized that it stands little chance of competing with the orthodox point of view.
This relates to Chomsky and Herman's Propaganda Model in that the goal of propaganda is predominantly to marginalize and distract from contradictory opinions, positions, news, information and even people.
Propaganda in western societies promulgated through the media is designed to select, sanitize and filter news before it ever reaches the public. Power is concentrated in the hands of a small number of un-elected individuals and corporations whose interests are served (advertisers, stakeholders,etc.).
Society's managerial class know that propaganda is critical in order to maintain the status quo. Therefore, it is equally important that the average citizens remain marginalized, distracted and isolated.
People have to be atomized and segregated and alone. They're not supposed to organize, because then they might be something beyond spectators of action.
Identifying Propaganda
Propaganda exists in a wide range of forms and persuasive techniques to influence the mind. Some of the most common techniques are included in four main groupings:
Activating Strong Emotions
Propaganda plays on human emotions—fear, hope, anger, frustration, sympathy—to direct audiences toward the desired goal. In the deepest sense, propaganda is a mind game — the skillful propagandist exploits people’s fears and prejudices. Successful propagandists understand how to psychologically tailor messages to people’s emotions in order to create a sense of excitement and arousal that suppresses critical thinking.
Propaganda feeds off of emotions and the absence of critical thinking. Any effective piece of propaganda creates strong positive or negative feelings towards the subject represented.
Responding to Audience Needs & Values
Propaganda may use accurate and truthful information, or half-truths, opinions, lies and falsehoods. Successful propaganda tells simple stories that are familiar and trusted, often using metaphors, imagery and repetition to make them seem natural or "true."
It cannot be stressed enough the key function of REPETITION plays in the effectiveness of a PR campaign, advertisement or propaganda piece. As an example, think of how the MSM beat the drums of war in the build-up to the invasion of Iraq.
WMDs
WMDs
WMDs
There were no WMDs or any connections to Al Queda.
The only evidence of WMDs, were the media's WEAPONS of MASS DECEPTION
Today we have a similar lie that is repeated incessantly in the MSM 24/7/365.
Russia!
Russia!
Russia!
It’s becoming abundantly clear that the Russians didn’t hack the US elections.
Evidence to support these claims are anemic but powerful interests are determined
to hammer this lie into the minds of an exhausted US citizenry.
Simplifying information & ideas
Effective propaganda conveys messages, themes, and language that appeal directly, and many times exclusively, to specific and distinct groups within a population. Propagandists may appeal to you as a member of a family, or your racial or ethnic identity, or even your hobbies, your favorite celebrities, your beliefs and values, or even your personal aspirations and hopes for the future.
Again, the Russian hacking fairy-tale is pandered mostly to liberals and progressives. Conservatives, get a fair amount of propaganda the other way, portraying a reality TV buffoon as some sort of political savior.
The notion that the MAGA, drain-the-swamp, anti-deep state crusader Donald Trump will rescue America from its deterioration and restore the nation to its mythical past glory is a simplistic narrative that many still cling to.
Attacking opponents
Effective propaganda conveys messages, themes, and language that appeal directly, and many times exclusively, to specific and distinct groups within a population. Propagandists may appeal to you as a member of a family, or your racial or ethnic identity, or even your hobbies, your favorite celebrities, your beliefs and values, or even your personal aspirations and hopes for the future.
Attacking one’s enemies needs little explanation but there are no-doubt countless examples to choose from. A few we’ve already mentioned here.
Defending Against Propaganda
- Awareness
Be conscious of the general viewpoint that is used to frame the issue at hand. Simply by accepting the initial framing of the issue allows the propagandists an early advantage. It is usually by framing (or reframing) the discourse that the author or speaker can persuade the reader/viewer to align or readjust their thoughts on a given topic.
- Situational Demands
Take note of the situational demands even aspects that at first seem to be trivial. Observe indications of group norms, symbols of authority, slogans, and commitments. Don't subscribe to simple solutions to complex social, political, cultural and personal problems.
Especially as the tactics grow more and more refined, more and more subtle, and more and more persuasive, we find that the minute we stop observing with a critical eye, we have already been persuaded. It is so often that we find ourselves overwhelmed by work that needs to be done.It is so often that we find ourselves overwhelmed by work that needs to be done. It is so often that we do not have time to sort through the information presented to us so that we may derive our own solution. And sadly, it is so often that we let ourselves fall prey to propaganda for we have grown too weary to defend ourselves.
- Action, More than Words
Ultimately, we must do more than simply express our dissent vocally. We must be willing to challenge, rebel, reist, disobey, and even to suffer the consequences of taking action in defiance to the propaganda and the propagandists that seek to control us.
Democracy is a subtle form of totalitarianism, it is the most modern invention of ideology in a way of controlling people without being aware they've been controlled, the government is giving you an illusion of free will in a game field which designed by the government. If you're a wolf telling to the sheep that the shepherd will slaughter you, they most likely to stay and eat grass. :)
I refer all to the work of Carroll Quigley, the ivy league historian who 'accidentally' leaked the secret history of 'the network', the secret society that set up our current fake 'demonocracies' - learning the history of the present moment always helps find the angles in the tangles!
My own understanding here is that, in very short, we are dealing with epic scale heartlessness that pervades not just the scumbags we mostly all recognise but also to a lesser degree inside each of us too - often in ways we don't even understand yet. By actively ending our own denial and consciously choosing love internally with every breath - we DO make a difference to solving these epic challenges.
Agreed!
And Highly rEsteemed!
The problem is if you question MSM you no longer have any real ability to do anything about it. Our fake government is rigged to not answer to we the people if they actually bother to vote. And so many people are completely lacking in critical thinking capabilities, unable to research or analyse basic facts to determine what is objective and what is subjective and/or biased.
Okay to be fair to most people that last one is actually pretty hard but it is arguably the most important life skill anyone should have and Americans are far far behind the front of the pack in teaching their kids those skills.
And when you look at America's oligarchy status it is not that that it is one that it is surprising, it is for how little money the country is for sale. We have hundreds of billionaires and millions of millionaires. People who do not have to ever worry about working or retirement if they don't want to. They can sit back and throw money at our so-called "representatives" (fake government) and for a few million here and a few million there get whatever they want. Look they are at it again... http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/janus-v-american-federation-state-county-municipal-employees-council-31/
It's just mind blowing how many issues that affect the lives of millions of not all Americans are decided after some rich boys "think tank" or "foundation" bribes our main stream "government" with a few million dollars. Sometimes if something is really really important they might have to drop a few tens or hundreds of millions but if your oligarchical gang has trillions at its disposal and the payoff is 100x that is no problem at all. Meanwhile we the people fight for legislation that might if we are lucky give us a few percent improvement or so things getting worse, or maybe make them get less worse. Thanks for your soggy trickle down crumbs assholes.
Which is to say, we have a solution for MSM - turn it off. They live by the ads they run so if you stop consuming those ads they die. The number of eyeballs watching ads is probably one of the few places Americans actually get representative democracy so use it!
As mentioned we don't have a solution for the oligarchy - it's the law thanks to SCOTUS and its reinterpretation of the Constitution to remake America as a country of "We, the dollars". Thanks again assholes.
So, we get rid of the PACS, That abuse made lobbying and money in government way worse.
The citizens United Ruling has allowed foreign money abd billionares to tip the scales with out being
outed in the sun light!
Then we can go back to debate of how to limit public lobbying group contribution, and the cap on the individual contribution would have real teeth.
Great one. There. Awesome @v4vapid
In my opinion, the problem of "oligarchy" in the US has little to do with the fact that the elites get what they want, but with the ability of the "elites" to manipulate public opinion. Or, conversely, that the public is so readily manipulable by the elites. We have equal rights and free speech, but in those situations the wealthy will always be able to speak louder and more compellingly. The trick isn't getting the middle classes the ability to turn their opinions into legislation, but rather their ability to figure out what's in their own best interests.
This is an incredible article. I like the way you describe the choices we have when it comes to media. This erosion of choice is exactly why I don't watch T.V. anymore. I quite frankly avoid all media these days. It doesn't matter what you pick, you're still supporting the same guys at the top.
I hope that Steemit can be the owner of social networking in the near future.
I call the media "Weapons of Mass Distraction", but deception works too! I find it hard to believe anything they say. All the fake propaganda that they feed us is why I got into bitcoin in the first place. It's only gotten better since then.
Life has been a lot better with less media in it. Also, search your article for "aborad" - I think you meant abroad! :)
Have a great day!
What a mess.
Although saying that, the continual merging of media centers is beginning to look very tidy.
Will it be a case in future that just 2/3 media giants control all the news that is published? Republican, Democrat, and if 'we' are lucky, some kind of Pirate media network bringing the truth without the red/blue tinted glasses.
I tend not to have the patience to watch and listen to the news, it's a tiring exercise to constantly read between the lines and understand what's really happening!
For my own sanity, I try not to focus too hard on this problems, which is not to say I a man apathetic or sitting on my hands. I’m trying to focus my energy into building and strengthening communities which are not fed this trash and aren’t not easily swayed by he many attempts to divide us. Still I appreciate people like you and @leecamp who make an effort to inform those who still don’t get it.
Once again yet another brilliant post @v4vapid .. bit late commenting on this one as I've had a few wi-fi issues but I'm very glad I bookmarked it! In my mind and in this age of technology, propaganda has been involved in an exponential process of evolution. I feel that this process has occured at such a pace that propaganda has overtaken the publics perception of what it actually is. It's become so cutting edge and so heavily nuanced that the majority are entirely unaware that their perceptions of the world are being manipulated like a puppet on a string.
"The next piece of the legislation will provide substantial amounts of money to fund “counter propaganda,”
From that statement we can see that (to a degree) the system needs some form of controlled "truth" and oppostion in order to justify it's own counter propaganda. .. both opposing ideals used to power and empower the system. A duality creating a cohesive whole that pushes the mass of society in a singular direction.
Fantastic, I love this post as it is not only informative but also breaks it down with good facts. I just hope more people can wake up. The way I like to think about the media is in plato's allegory of the cave. How the people are chained looking at a blank wall and how they percieve shadows as reality. The shadows are projected by the media and are in fact not reality. Thanks for this post to bring about awareness. In actual fact I never listen to the media or pay attention ;)
The propaganda is becoming meshed with and embedded in social media and the masses are generally helpless in fighting off such advanced techniques..