Do you trust the media?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

Poll question: Do you trust the media?

The media reported yesterday's protest as 'tens of thousands of demonstrators' ('http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/29/gop.main/index.html)

in reality, it was close to half a million




Call me a cynic, but I don't think this is an innocent mistake. It is a calculated strategy from the giant corporations that control the media to present a false and deceptive version of events.

You have heard and will continue to hear many other false messages from the media, all designed to help Bush win re-election:

Kerry 'has no message'.
Bush 'is a strong leader'.
Bush and Kerry 'both served honorably'.
Kerry 'is stiff and uncharismatic'.
The Bush campaign is 'disciplined and on message'.
The Kerry campaign is 'chaotic and in disarray'.
'The race is neck and neck'.
'This poll shows Kerry is in trouble'.


Do you trust the media? Or like me, do you consider the corporate media to be basically an adjunct of the Bush administration?

[DODI]

1. Not that this cancels out my distrust - but I was heartened today

when I saw the number the NYT was using - 500,000 and then MSNBC and CNN seem to have picked up on it. I haven't watched news this afternoon, so I don't know if they have changed their tune.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

2. Well that is part of the deception.

When people are watching, they put out the propaganda. Later on, when no one is paying attention, they might mention the truth. But does it ever get the same kind of publicity as the original false report?

[buycitgo]

3. funny thing is, if this poll was in freepcity, the results would be.....

the same, right?

they're convinced the media are stacked against them, too

and they're also convinced that WE'RE as delusional as we KNOW them to be

welcome to Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Palestine, Rwanda.......

[blondeatlast]

11. That post sent chills up my spine. nt

[hippiegranny]

4. I don't trust the media

AT ALL. Not one iota, not even a little bit. It will be sickening, but expected, to see how they fawn over the pukes convention after trashing ours.

The media should be ignored completely, too bad they're not. Too bad people think they are speaking the truth when they say they heard something "on the news."

The media is more responsible for the mess we're in than anyone. I'm totally disgusted by them, especially coming off a couple of weeks of the swift boat liars ad nauseum coverage.

Did I mention? The media sucks.

[ParanoidPat]

5. Operation Mockingbird & D5E.......

......If anyone still has any trust in the media I suggest that they do a Google search for Operation Mockingbird and then look up D5E.

<Snip>

Operation Mockingbird

Allegations worthy of consideration ...

From an undated analysis by Mary Louise posted at PrisonPlanet.com:

"Starting in the early days of the Cold War (late 40's), the CIA began a secret project called Operation Mockingbird, with the intent of buying influence behind the scenes at major media outlets and putting reporters on the CIA payroll, which has proven to be a stunning ongoing success. The CIA effort to recruit American news organizations and journalists to become spies and disseminators of propaganda, was headed up by Frank Wisner, Allen Dulles, Richard Helms, and Philip Graham (publisher of The Washington Post)."

From an undated piece by Steve Kangas titled "The Origins of the Overclass":

"Journalism is a perfect cover for CIA agents. People talk freely to journalists, and few think suspiciously of a journalist aggressively searching for information. Journalists also have power, influence and clout. Not surprisingly, the CIA began a mission in the late 1940s to recruit American journalists on a wide scale, a mission it dubbed Operation MOCKINGBIRD. The agency wanted these journalists not only to relay any sensitive information they discovered, but also to write anti-communist, pro-capitalist propaganda when needed."

"Perhaps no newspaper is more important to the CIA than the Washington Post, one of the nation’s most right-wing dailies. Its location in the nation’s capitol enables the paper to maintain valuable personal contacts with leading intelligence, political and business figures. Unlike other newspapers, the Post operates its own bureaus around the world, rather than relying on AP wire services. Owner Philip Graham was a military intelligence officer in World War II, and later became close friends with CIA figures like Frank Wisner, Allen Dulles, Desmond FitzGerald and Richard Helms. He inherited the Post by marrying Katherine Graham, whose father owned it."

<More>

D5E:destruction, degradation, denial, disruption, deceit, and exploitation

CONCEPT PAPER


Working Group on Preventive and Preemptive Military Intervention


William W. Keller and Gordon R. Mitchell1
Project Coordinators

<Snip>

U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for an FBI investigation into the forgery of documents cited by President Bush and Secretary Powell as proof of Iraq’s nuclear transactions with Niger. As Rockefeller explained in a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller: “There is a possibility that the fabrication of these documents may be part of a larger deception campaign aimed at manipulating public opinion and foreign policy regarding Iraq.”26

The timeliness of Rockefeller’s proposed inquiry was underscored by the appearance of official documents that lay out official American deception plans: "In a document last autumn, the joint chiefs of staff stressed the need for strategic deception and influence operations as tools of war. The army, navy and air force have been directed to devise plans for information warfare."27

According to defense analyst William Arkin, the Bush strategy lays out goals for information warfare that pursue D5E: "destruction, degradation, denial, disruption, deceit, and exploitation." Arkin notes that the wide array of sites and ractices of information control brought into the range of this policy "blurs or even erases the boundaries between factual information and news, on the one hand, and public relations, propaganda and psychological warfare on the other."28

This fusion of military deception programs with media propaganda efforts enabled the Office of Strategic Influence to commission officers from the U.S. Army's Psychological Operations Command to work as interns in the news division of CNN.29

Eventually, the Bush Administration was burned by the political heat generated when the Office of Strategic Influence was leaked to the media. The ensuing firestorm of controversy prompted Secretary Rumsfeld to close the propaganda unit. Yet less than a year later, Rumsfeld stipulated that his action had only been symbolic, and that information warfare missions were still underway at other Pentagon offices: And then there was the Office of Strategic Influence. You may recall that.
And “oh my goodness gracious isn't that terrible, Henny Penny the sky is going to fall.” I went down that next day and said fine, if you want to savage this thing, fine, I'll give you the corpse. There's the name. You can have the name, but I'm gonna keep doing every single thing that needs to be done and I have.30

The political implications of blurring military strategic deception and public sphere propaganda are worth exploring, given Arkin's concerns about military deception that "while the policy ostensibly targets foreign enemies, its most likely victim will be the American electorate."31

<More>

[G_j]

7. great post n/t

[ParanoidPat]

10. You should also read the Army Psychological Operations Field Manual.......

.....FM 33-1

<Snip>

PROPAGANDA MEDIA
"Propaganda Media" is based upon "Psychological Operations Field Manual No.33-1" published in August 1979 by Department of the Army Headquarters in Washington DC; and "Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Media Subcourse PO-0816" by The Army Institute for Professional Development, published in 1983


PROPAGANDA MEDIA


Propaganda Media are categorized by methods of dissemination: face-to-face (interpersonal), audiovisual, audio, and visual.
Face-to-face (interpersonal) communication is the most effective means of transmitting a persuasive message. It is employed in rallies, rumor campaigns, group discussions, lectures, show-and-tell demonstrations, social organizations, social activities, entertainment, and individual person-to-person contact, all providing a participating experience for the individual or group to recall later.
Audiovisual media such as television, electronic tape recordings, and sound motion pictures are the second most effective means of communication available to the psychological operator. Effectiveness is based on seeing and hearing the persuasive message. These media are an excellent means of transmitting persuasive messages and eliciting a high degree of recall.
Audio media (loudspeakers and radio) lend themselves to the transmission of brief, simple messages and to personalization by use of the human voice. They require little or no effort by the audience, and generally, they have more appeal than visual media. Also, the barrier of illiteracy may be more easily overcome with audio media than with visual media (printed material).
Visual media can transmit long, complex material. Animated or still cartoons may be used to convey themes to illiterate and preliterate target audiences. Visual media generally have the least amount of popular appeal.
Themes are reinforced and the target audience given broad coverage by using several media to deliver the same basic message. For example, radio and television can augment leaflets; face-to-face communication can support newspaper circulation.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF MEDIA

Acceptability and credibility. A complete target analysis will indicate how acceptable and credible a particular medium is to the target audience.
Availability. The availability of media, the mechanical capability of message production, and the capability to deliver the message, as well as the ability of the audience to receive and understand it are important.
Timeliness. Production and dissemination lag for each medium must be considered. For example, a medium requiring a long production or dissemination time would not be suitable for a message exploiting a target of opportunity.
Quantity. The media selected should be mixed, one medium reinforcing the other, and delivered in sufficient volume to insure that the entire target is exposed to the message. Care, however, is required to prevent counterproductive over saturation of the target audience. This requires analysis of intensity and timing of propaganda dissemination.
Themes. The theme to be conveyed will have a bearing on the selection of the best media to transmit the message.
Suitability. The media selected must be suitable for the target. The language selected, vocabulary, and level are also important factors. For example, it would not be appropriate to use newspapers or other printed text to deliver a message to an illiterate audience. A professional journal might be the most suitable means of reaching a professional audience.

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The more you know about how they are trying to manipulate you, the less likely you are to be affected by it. :)

If you're really good, you can use it against them! :evilgrin:

[KittyWampus]

13. Good Info Here

:kick:

[G_j]

14. no surprise to see

similar types of behavioral modification used in advertising.

[AgadorSparticus]

6. not just a no, but a HELL NO do i trust the media. they have

proven time and time again that they have corporate masters with conservative agendas.

[kwolf68]

8. Not a shit chance

They are ruining our country with their passive, shilling bullshit.

[Eternal_Vigilance]

9. Few media outlets I trust

But if i had to choose from the ones out there...I'd choose MSNBC and the BBC.

[Placebo]

12. Hell no.

:thumbsdown:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. I trust them about as far as I can throw a Steinway.

If it weren't for the Internet I'd have gone barking mad by now.

[Only Me]

16. No, in my mind, if Kerry Looses it's their fault. They have done

nothing but make a mockery of the Democratic Party and our Democratic leaders for months now. And as trivial as this sounds,
I think it's subliminial even, cnn.com as a title that says something
like Election 2004 or some such thing. Anyway, it is done on the vertical, Listed like this...
George W. Bush
Dick Cheney
John Kerry
John Edwards
Nader, etc.,.

Why did GB get top bill, is because he is incumbant and that sets him on higher note? why the full name? Doesn't John F. Kerry
have a prominent enough name to be a fully recognized. Or is this another little way they choose take away the mans integrity and strenght. I believe it is unintentional...but it speaks volumes.
IMHO

[DaveSZ]

17. Of course not

The media is in bed with the same corporate interests that control washington.

[Only Me]

19. Exactly. n/t

[Bake]

18. As far as I can piss against a hurricane!

That's how far I trust the media ho's.

Bake