Populist media revolution possible?

Fake news and propaganda
hoi.polloi
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Populist media revolution possible?

Unread post by hoi.polloi »

The broadly enforced high-quality digital signal didn't seem to 'take' as well as they'd hoped. The work of TV doubters and media watchdog groups has put the pressure on fake news services like BBC, Sky, ABC, CNN, FNC (Fox), NBC, CBS and their Hollywood movie partners. We have noticed in the cases of the 'shepherding' moon bomb nonsense, the 'swine flu' debacle and the 'ash cloud' airport closures a sort of slow concession process happening in the news lately, whereby after some time the news story does not get 'mentally purchased' by the world, they are forced to issue some scapegoat announcement for their blatant lie.

Occasionally, after some period of being called out for the pure propaganda it is, the news retracts a manipulative fear story, blames the error on someone else or otherwise says "woops, we accidentally reported an insanely large propaganda story that manipulated a lot of people but we won't apologize or change our practices because it was this other guy that told us and for some reason even though it's our job to do the slightest bit of research, we decided to just believe him because ... oh well not because we're paid to do that or anything."

It seems a populist media revolution is almost at hand if people continue to healthily doubt what they are told by the federal decrees; what card can the bandits play next to regain the strength of their propaganda?

Eventually, because the bandits responsible must continue to admit their lies like children caught with their hands in the cookie jar, their excuses will lose their power altogether. How might this changing world of unreliable news and wishy-washy news services change the way people perceive the world? How might it be good or bad? Can we somehow put increased pressure on them to be more honest, or to admit that they are at fault and it is their responsibility -- rather than seeing more of their pitiful excuses? If so, how?

And has anyone else noticed this phenomenon happening more lately? Where, and why?
fred
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Unread post by fred »

I'd guess the Iceland Volcano was just an excuse to test out the Single European Sky and fool around with some new weapons systems as well. Clearly it was a fairly lame excuse and people aren't really buying it.

The swine flu non-pandemic is ultimately just conditioning people to tune out warnings altogether. The color coded terror alerts had the same effect.

I suppose the intent may be to generate mass apathy with a bunch of fake disaster stories so that the real disasters and scandals don't seem so bad? Another possibility is that they're really inept at using the tools and they're dulling the effectiveness by continual over-use: crying wolf.

I notice that the health news reported generally either contradicts common sense, or negates whatever advice was just given. Is beta-carotene good for you or bad for you? Should you get mammograms or avoid them? Low carb is a great diet or deadly? They're always announcing the opposite of whatever they just told you.

I think the reason 9/11 was so effective is that they actually blew up something big (the WTC). With the earthquakes, distant volcanoes and pig flu people get worried while they watch the story, and then they look around and notice that there aren't really any killer bees buzzing around, see no piles of dead bodies outside their doorsteps, and they go about business as usual.

As luck would have it, a few years back I was in central Paris, and flipped on a TV to have CNN International inform me that rioting had reached the center of Paris. They were running graphics showing burning cars, and people pushing over barricades. I looked out the window, no rioting. Walked all around town. No rioting. Nothing on fire.

There's no frenzy in New York. Just pick up a phone and dial up a couple of people and ask. Nobody is panicking.

Watching the TV news you'd think everyone is running around wearing surgical masks and fleeing from Mexican Drug Cartels and the H1N1... I think that's why the comedy news programs like Colbert and Stewart are gaining popularity.

You might as well just be reading the Onion, so why even pretend that you're watching news at all?

To rebuild credibility they're going to have to rely on more actual events and fewer outright fabrications.
fbenario
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Unread post by fbenario »

hoi.polloi 4 May 3 2010, 11:56 AM wrote:

It seems a populist media revolution is almost at hand if people continue to healthily doubt what they are told by the federal decrees; what card can the bandits play next to regain the strength of their propaganda?

Eventually, because the bandits responsible must continue to admit their lies like children caught with their hands in the cookie jar, their excuses will lose their power altogether. How might this changing world of unreliable news and wishy-washy news services change the way people perceive the world?
Hoi, you asked for our opinions on this. Here's mine:

You and Simon have done more good work than anyone else in the world on this subject. You have educated people to exercise appropriate cynicism and distrust of what we are spoon-fed. You have also shown how TV is used as a weapon against us, and that the purpose of mainstream media ISN'T to inform, but rather to manipulate and guide our reactions to the perps.

As I've said before, this is the single most important site on the entire internet, and I have more respect for you and Simon than I do for anyone else I've ever known.
hoi.polloi
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Unread post by hoi.polloi »

kind words, fbenario.

Fred, you said
As luck would have it, a few years back I was in central Paris, and flipped on a TV to have CNN International inform me that rioting had reached the center of Paris. They were running graphics showing burning cars, and people pushing over barricades. I looked out the window, no rioting. Walked all around town. No rioting. Nothing on fire.

Strangely, I was in Paris at the same time!!! Was this the 2008 so-called riots? I was there with my friend and neither of us saw anything of the sort though we walked all over the bloody town all day from Arc de Triumph to Eiffel Tower to Louvre, even a little into the big skyscraper area.

Then we turned on the news and they were showing crowds and crowds of people. All we saw all day were scant normal tourism. It was surreal. Weird that you were there too. Sorry I missed you, but I guess we wouldn't have noticed each other. haha
macpduff
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Unread post by macpduff »

Gulf Oil;
Anyone notice the lack of internet and YT videos from distressed Gulf residents?
Anybody notice how when this gap was being mentioned on YT channels, that finally someone noticed this gaff and a few weak call ins to talk radio shows were forth coming?
My sister in law lives in Fl and she thinks I'm crazy because I'm worried for her.
We're being told that the Gulf people aren't talking because they're afraid of the BP goon squads. maybe they're not talking because there is nothing to say. because they know real oil is black not red. because there is no smells. Oh I forgot. the poisonous gases are supposedly odorless.
Anybody notice the dying crops story that was on the news shortly after the Corexit was being sprayed? Pretty fast response I'd say.
Speaking of reponse, is our president a sim? is that the reason it took so long to get his actor/stand in to get down there?
Anybody notice how the 11 workers who 'died' were 'forgotten' in the rush to roll out the rest of the story. then somebody renibded the media that the 'workers' really needed a memorial?
hoi.polloi
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Unread post by hoi.polloi »

Anybody notice the dying crops story that was on the news shortly after the Corexit was being sprayed? ...

I didn't notice that. Would you care to elaborate on that? Do you think that this is a case of badly timing pre-fabricated news stories?
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