| Recent international wars and the often spectacular | | | | Iraq' by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber as "A |
| ways in which the established media is covering them, | | | | major contribution for those who want to take control |
| have given media researchers ample opportunity to | | | | of their own future, not be passive subjects of |
| see whether technological developments are giving us | | | | manipulation and control."The book is a detailed |
| the opportunity to have a closer experience of | | | | account of how the world's top ad agencies and |
| democracy.It is logical to assume that new technology | | | | media empires were hired by the US government to |
| empowers us all. To have a better idea of what is | | | | make the invasion in Iraq into a concept no one in their |
| going on in the most inaccessible of situations is | | | | right American mind could possibly think of as wrong |
| believed to contribute to our sense of involvement and | | | | and in which the big words democracy, freedom and |
| enhances our democratic rights. Hyper-modern | | | | totalitarianism were featuring as if they were part of a |
| communication technologies are extremely useful in | | | | national marketing campaign for some kind of |
| providing the ordinary citizen with greater access to | | | | consumer product.The happy feeling of winning a war |
| more, faster-paced and better researched news and | | | | might have stretched just about far enough to gain |
| news background information. The greater our | | | | another round of elections for the US conservatives, |
| freedom of information the more of a say we feel we | | | | but complaints of numbness are increasingly being |
| have. And the better our lives become - right?New | | | | taken seriously by larger parts of the population in this |
| insights in the role of the media's empowerment by | | | | country. Perhaps one positive outcome of the war is |
| high tech equipment started with the first gulf War in | | | | that it has focused more attention to the methods |
| Iraq, the coverage of which was totally dominated by | | | | employed by leaders to convey their message to the |
| CNN. When the US set out to police the world some | | | | public.Talk of a numb, heartless, cold, harsh society is |
| more in Somalia other broadcast stations were better | | | | nothing new but evidence of really clever toxology |
| prepared, and Sarajevo became known as the | | | | fixed up by political parties and spread through media |
| internet reporting war. The latest struggles in | | | | devices it's becoming an unavoidable focus point in the |
| Afghanistan and Iraq witnessed a total press-friendly | | | | wider debate about especially the US society. The |
| war, with journalists of all mainstream and some | | | | way the US press machine has been fine tuned to |
| alternative media with their noses bang on the | | | | receive messages by the conservative party is |
| action.As the war in Iraq, cleverly branded "Operation: | | | | portrayed by the progressive personality Rob Stein |
| Iraqi Freedom" by the US government, is not likely to | | | | (formerly Commerce Department) who compiled a |
| be ending this year and as troops in Afghanistan are | | | | detailed overview of how exactly messages are sent |
| also not anywhere near leaving, the debate is focused | | | | out to which media, when and where. From his |
| on whether interventions were based on facts rather | | | | research you can see that what's been guised as a |
| than misleading accounts of what was happening on | | | | campaign to build community feeling has effectively |
| the ground. The media, accusing the government of | | | | become the highly organised conservative party |
| spin doctoring its actions beyond what is healthy, are | | | | extension that can mobilise entire regions in a jiff. "[they |
| themselves accused of having become victims or | | | | have] built a strategic, coordinated, disciplined, |
| willing puppets on a string by the very people they | | | | well-financed community of local, regional and national |
| ought to be keeping a check on.Propaganda, that old | | | | organizations, which collectively can mobilize a majority |
| fashioned concept generally associated with dictators, | | | | progressive constituency", says Stein.His research |
| appears to have become very much a live concept | | | | illustrates how the machine was built from its earliest |
| again during the last few years. We never had the | | | | until the last elections and reveals that the effort went |
| privilige of banning it from our daily lives, but think tanks | | | | underway during the early 1970s in response to a |
| and other civil organisation focusing on modern | | | | largely intangible fear that capitalism was on its way |
| propaganda techniques report a markedly higher | | | | back. The network of NGOs out there is around 80, |
| interest in the phenomenon in recent years. The | | | | large "non-partisan" groups. These are financed by |
| heightened interest itself indicates a new tendency to | | | | private -conservative- initatives with funds stretching to |
| mistrust our leaders.What the think tanks report back | | | | an estimated USD400 million annually.Stein's findings |
| to people on current-day leaders is no less reassuring. | | | | are an excellent backdrop to beginning to understand |
| Pointing out the various levels on which propaganda is | | | | how a nation can be prepared for war without |
| part and parcel of the message sent to us, you might | | | | necessarily using many overt lies. News stations were |
| begin to wonder how fast asleep we are even though | | | | being fed facts by 'experts' trained to purport one |
| we'd like to think we have a handle on reality. Although | | | | particular stream of thought. Stein reckons that around |
| we're not necessarily faced continuously with the | | | | 36,000 members of the conservative party now |
| same blatant and ugly lies Hitler and Stalin dreamt up in | | | | working in a independent think tank have received |
| the 1930s, there is a plethora of examples of half | | | | training on media-specific issues. If a news anchor |
| truths and similarly poisonous messages being sent out | | | | decides -of his own free will- to discuss a particular |
| to the masses by the media broadcast | | | | topic, he'll turn to think tanks, legal groups, media |
| machine.Biggest excuse? There's a war on. Even in | | | | organisations, networking groups, and very likely |
| normal times, it is impossible not to live with some | | | | encounter highly versatile individuals, not -and this is the |
| degree of propaganda but when a common enemy | | | | tricky business- 'elected officials' but nevertheless |
| needs destroying, we somewhat forgive our leaders | | | | people who form the 'cadre' of the conservative |
| and the media for collaborating in what everyone | | | | network, trained by what's known as the 'Leadership |
| knows is a circus. "Probably every conflict is fought on | | | | Institute'.With this much of a system in place, the |
| at least two grounds: the battlefield and the minds of | | | | invasion in Iraq took place after the public had been |
| the people via propaganda. The "good guys" and the | | | | well-prepared for the footage on tv. Philip Knightley, the |
| "bad guys" can often both be guilty of misleading their | | | | author of 'First Casualty, a history of war reporting', |
| people with distortions, exaggerations, subjectivity, | | | | wrote a razor sharp prognosis of what the |
| inaccuracy and even fabrications, in order to receive | | | | propaganda formula entailed in the first days following |
| support and a sense of legitimacy", one media | | | | 2001 September 11, and outlined in his article how the |
| institution writes on its website.Avoiding the blatant lie, | | | | patterns were likely going to evolve as the |
| most Western leaders these days are guilty of | | | | government prepared the public opinion for conflict. He |
| spreading propagandistic messages, both when they | | | | divided the process into stage one; public speeches |
| address the public about their role in the war AND in | | | | about the crisis; stage two, public speeches demonising |
| ordinary situations. In essence, all propaganda is harmful | | | | of the enemy's leader; stage three, public speeches in |
| to democracy, even though many people tend to think | | | | which the enemy as individuals in a group are |
| of the less intensive forms as modern spin doctoring | | | | demonised; and stage four, a justification of resulting |
| or clever PR.The ultimate result from all propaganda | | | | atrocities. He then proceeded to outline where the US |
| that reaches its goal, in whatever form, is total | | | | president was in the process and what he was likely |
| passiveness of the people that believe the the | | | | to undertake next. He appeared to be eerily spot on |
| message. Fears that the media is poisoned to this | | | | and his was among the first articles in the media that |
| effect have been widespread in the US and the UK | | | | was a pre cursor to the avalanche of public upset.Talk |
| over the past two years. Noam Chomsky, the popular | | | | of an invasion in Iraq started immediately after the 9/11 |
| left wing scholar in the US, hits the nail on the head | | | | attacks and was accompanied by exactly the kind of |
| describing the best-seller 'Weapons of Mass | | | | propagandistic rhetoric the history books write about. |
| Deception, The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on | | | | |