General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhere is the counter-narrative? WAKE UP, Congressional Democrats and DNC!
We know WHAT they want to do: First, facilitate a smash-and-grab raid on the U.S. Treasury; second, take a wrecking ball to the U.S. government, destroying its capacity to function in both foreign relations and domestic administration.
We know WHY they are doing it: To get all the money, and satisfy the foreign tyrants whose assistance got them into power.
Now we are seeing HOW (and they're not exactly making any secret of it): They're controlling the narrative by flooding all the channels of communication with chaos and AI-generated 'support', and releasing an endless series of outrageous statements and appalling actions in a Gish gallop of distraction.
Imagine how impossible it is for those who pay little attention to politics to understand what's going on in the blizzard of clickbait, 'to quoque!', red meat to the base, crazy-ass shitposting, and constant noise?
The most effective weapon against them is a consistent, fact-based, carefully-curated stream of counter-narrative, delivered by an authoritative source.
The key words in the previous statement are:
"Consistent" - frequently- maybe even daily, at first.
"Fact-based" - relying on verifiable evidence from multiple sources - documentary evidence of high quality and/or multiple reputable sources willing to go on-record to confirm facts.
"Carefully-curated" - curated to highlight only a couple of items at each briefing, pulling the most important from the stream, selected and framed by experts who understand how to communicate critical issues to maximize impact.
"Authoritative source" - The most authoritative source is a large, public group with positional impact and critical 'skin in the game' and clearly visible, understandable bias.
What this adds up to is the equivalent of an "Opposition Press Office" in a Parliamentary democracy. (It often includes a "shadow government" of individuals with particular 'portfolios' of expertise and issues as well, but that's another post.)
So, a well-funded operation that provides frequent official briefings of sufficient importance for mainstream media to attend. You need:
- People gathering information
- Fact-checkers and source-documentation staff.
- The equivalent of an editorial staff to make the selections about what to feature and how.
- Writers, framers, videographers, photographers, etc. to assemble compelling presentations.
And you need a "FACE" - the shadow Press Secretary, as it were. This must be someone with a supernatural ability to think on their feet, someone who can frame, respond, re-frame on the fly and make the kind of impact desired.
It's not cheap to do this.
On the other hand, it's not gonna be cheap to rebuild the government from a smoking heap of ruins in a post-apocalyptic landscape of poverty, despair, and decay, either.
The Democratic Party, and Congressional Democrats of both houses, need to step up.
NOW.
Have the guts to take the flak for not being able to respond effectively to everything, all at once. Have the thick skin to persist through the second-guessers and armchair editors who know you could have made better choices or better framings. Deal quietly on the side with the howls of pain and wrath about how you're ignoring so many things that are really important to so many people.
Keep your heads down, and just do it, and keep doing it. Eventually this clear, fact-based counter-narrative, delivered with welcoming panache to a media increasingly unnerved and threatened by the tyrants on Pennsylvania Avenue, will have an effect.
I hope to hell someone with connections forwards this or links this or somehow or other it gets to the right eyes. Because I truly think it's our most powerful tool, and the need is more than critical.
hopefully,
Bright
LSparkle
(12,230 posts)Totally agree about shadow cabinet and we need a media infrastructure to disseminate alternative viewpoints a.k.a. FACTS!
yellow dahlia
(6,466 posts)LSparkle
(12,230 posts)They dont cover some of the stories I read about here and on Hartmanns program. Plus I cant even watch until Nicolle Wallaces show these days (boycotting Mr./Mrs. Scaredbros and all that follows til 4P).
Bernardo de La Paz
(60,320 posts)Five keys of Counter-propaganda: FACET (OP posted a version of four of them)
FACET
* Fast (quick response),
* Accurate (true, unassailable),
* Clear (instantly digested),
* Everywhere (abundant, plentiful),
* Targeted (at audience of original propaganda)
or equivalently
* Fast (quick response),
* Aimed (at audience of original propaganda),
* Clear (instantly digested),
* Everywhere (abundant, plentiful),
* True (unassailable)
La Coliniere
(1,994 posts)I agree 100%!
Kick in to the DU tip jar?
This week we're running a special pop-up mini fund drive. From Monday through Friday we're going ad-free for all registered members, and we're asking you to kick in to the DU tip jar to support the site and keep us financially healthy.
As a bonus, making a contribution will allow you to leave kudos for another DU member, and at the end of the week we'll recognize the DUers who you think make this community great.