The U.S. has been in perpetual war for over a decade, the media is part of that war. While advantaged, educated U.S. citizens want to make believe in a free Western press, invented narratives like Jessica Lynch rescue, staged Saddam Hussein statue toppling, Diane Sawyer's yellow journalism showing bombed out Gaza calling it Israel, BBC filming actors in supposed Syrian gas attack, embedded media to show our boys in a positive light, Brian Williams lie to also make war personal for viewers that was shot down by soldiers over "stolen valor", these incidents paint a different picture. How about how journalist Helen Thomas who was set up to discredit her. 6 corporations control 90% of media in U.S. Is that the diversity Nuland crows about. Journalists and academics are often found to be paid agents of intelligence services.
A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine
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Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine
#52> a prominent news anchor reviewed the coming events as if they were part of a film script, musing on how best to entertain the audience and questioning who that week’s enemy should be. Having avoided traditional American news sources for a long time (10+ years), whenever I get a glimpse of it now (especially cable news sources), I always got the sense that this is exactly how American news is produced.
Surprisingly, the most thought-provoking film I saw last year may have been Nightcrawler. I knew the outlines of the film's subject going in: the sensationalization of the news, the woeful deterioration of local news standards, not to mention the unannounced insertion of pre-packaged or paid segments (not really covered in the film).
The content was undoubtedly exaggerated for dramatic effect to some extent, though I suspect the news production scenes were among the more documentary aspects of the film. Amazingly, they cast real Los Angeles local news anchors in the film (who happily consented to be in it!)
I'm also a consumer of what I would call serious, non-mainstream news sources: NPR, New York Times, Hacker News. But next time I was at the gym and caught the local news on one of the hanging big screen tvs, I saw it in a completely different light. Just as the film depicted.
It's not propaganda in the way described here. But I found it pretty shocking and unsettling.
Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine
#53Regarding Russia's foreign propaganda, a Russian-born person (I think he may not wish to be named) described the situation like this: " Many have wondered why the Russian propaganda machine is spewing out a torrent of such preposterous claims that few people take seriously. They know it will not be believed abroad. The purpose is not that it is believed. The purpose of disinformation was is to destroy trust in all me…
That is their greatest achievement, to gain equivalency. To a good degree this has worked. There are lots of people who believe major European and NorthAmerican media are no better than Russian media.
It has worked for their domestic audience, to great effect, and to a good degree internationally.
Just look at Putin's approval ratings.
Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
How much karma do you need on HN to downvote? Because this deserves one. How often are we going to repeat this point? Okay, as slowly and clearly as I can: "Two wrongs don't make a right." Just because the US does bad thing X, doesn't mean we can't talk about another country doing bad thing X. Please, for the love of baby Jesus and his family. Please. Please. I won't even top it off with a "the country's people are n…
So you're saying "Don't talk US, because Russia"?
I feel like you completely missed the point of his comment. Probably purposefully.
To answer your question, just because something is "wrong" doesn't mean something can't be more "wrong". Just because I jaywalked yesteday doesn't mean I'm on the same level as a meth dealer, for example.
Life isn't black and white, it's shades of grey. Something can be much darker than another thing. And it's OK to point that out. As is the case here. The U.S media certainly isn't up to snuff, but the situation in Russia and other state-owned news agenicies are absolutely horrible by comparison. There may be poverty in the U.S but that doesn't mean it's on the same level as in a country like Ethiopia.
As much as the Russian defenders want to equate the two, they are NOT comparable.
Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine
#55Funny story: In Germany there is currently a "movement" of people calling for stricter immigration control (to abbreviate an endless discussion about what they actually want), called Pegida. During one of their demonstrations a comedy/satire show dressed up an actor as a "Russian" journalist from "Russia Today", a news caster/online magazine financed by the Russian state. The Pegida participants were very willing to…
"The Pegida participants were very willing to talk to him. They said that western media is all corrupt and unfree, and that Russia Today is a "welcome" and more honest alternative."
And how are any of the the above concerns baseless?
Media cartels, whether Western or otherwise, are organized in a hierarchy, wherein editors review and cull the content of their subordinate journalists. Such an arrangement results in a militaristic concentration of power which can be exploited to control discourse locally, regionally, nationally, or, globally.
Frankly---and this may ruffle some feathers here---rather than questioning the Putin régime’s influence on Russian media, the West should be collectively asking why Israel-partisan Jews have such disproportionate influence in Western media. If Germans who are concerned with the effects of mass migration are being targeted for satire by Western media, why isn't Israel receiving the same biting criticism for recently sterilizing and deporting its black population? Why can some peoples express their national concerns democratically without being painted as pariahs, while other peoples are mocked and ridiculed by an self-titled "impartial" media.
Many here spare themselves exposure to the hypocrisies of Western/global media by directing their free time toward coding. Personally, the parade of Jewish "experts" who harangued the West's airwaves over the necessary WMD war in Iraq long ago convinced me of the corrupt nature of Western, and possibly, every organized media.
Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine
#56Funny story: In Germany there is currently a "movement" of people calling for stricter immigration control (to abbreviate an endless discussion about what they actually want), called Pegida. During one of their demonstrations a comedy/satire show dressed up an actor as a "Russian" journalist from "Russia Today", a news caster/online magazine financed by the Russian state. The Pegida participants were very willing to…
> so far from truth Western media isn't corrupt and unfree, or is more honest? Citation required. Yes, RT is a propaganda organ, just like much of the western media (corporate or otherwise). But at least on RT, I get to see alternative viewpoints of western concerns. You'll never see someone like a Chomsky on NBC/CBS/ABC/Fox/CNN - at least alternatives get a microphone on RT. In western media, I get to see alternativ…
Are you really trying to equate CNN with a state-owned and operated news agency?
Those news agencies are explicitly biased. Their sole goal in news reporting isn't profit or appeasing shareholders, but pushing their narrative of world events. Pushing their countries' ideology out onto the world. That's their only reason for existing. They don't care about profit or integrity in the slightest. If you think that's the same as a for-profit company, you're incredibly deluded.
The lesser of two evils is a real thing, life isn't black or white. Just because I jaywalked yesterday and committed a crime doesn't mean I'm the same as a meth dealer. The equivalence is beyond naive.
Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine
#57Hey everyone check out this documentary film!! https://vimeo.com/67739294 Experienced investigative journalist John Pilger looks at and questions (among other things) the British medias role as a dumb mouthpiece for the government leading up to and during the invasion of Iraq. EDIT: link has been fixed
Your link is, while great, completely unrelated.
lol!! I am cracking up!! How did that happen!?? Considering the grim dystopian subject matter here this is hilarious!
Will fix it now!
Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine
#58Any big media is a propaganda machine, starting by the New York Times, that is broke and easily controlled by those that sustain it.
The US of A invaded Iraq and Afghanistan because somewhat a modern propaganda machine convinced Americans that because 21 guys coming from a friendly dictatorship nation decided to kill themselves in planes, they needed to invade another different country with probably the biggest oil reserves today.
Of course the modern propaganda machine tried very hard to convince people that controlling the oil was not the important part. That more than 5000 Americans and a million Iraqis died and more than a trillion dollars was spent because of "freedom".
Remember "war on terror" propaganda?
Remember weapons of mass destruction invention?
Remember Osama Bin Laden that appeared and disappeared as was needed and then died when needed(and nobody independent saw the body before being buried in secret in the Ocean).
Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine
#59Funny story: In Germany there is currently a "movement" of people calling for stricter immigration control (to abbreviate an endless discussion about what they actually want), called Pegida. During one of their demonstrations a comedy/satire show dressed up an actor as a "Russian" journalist from "Russia Today", a news caster/online magazine financed by the Russian state. The Pegida participants were very willing to…
They're on to something, but they don't know the whole picture. Which is that in a world where mass media is under the control of one superpower or another, you are only going to hear painful criticism of your own government from the opposing superpower's media arm. What I find just as painful as you about your countrymen's opinion of RT, is that people in my country will criticize RT as propaganda and then comically…
The funny thing is even if RT is an propaganda arm of Hitler-Putin, the US would objectively have been better off listening to it.
Russia was in opposition to the Iraq War, destabilizing Libya, supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and toppling Assad in Syria. Putin was never cryptic that Ukraine was a "red line" and now we're all shocked at that outcome.
Now we've got ISIS, have given up toppling Assad, troops headed back to Iraq, 'advisors' going to Ukraine and Putin is getting the grand tour in Cairo.
Arguably, Putin was looking out for western interests more than the clowns running the show for the last 14 years.
Re: A Russian TV Insider Describes a Modern Propaganda Machine
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
> so far from truth Western media isn't corrupt and unfree, or is more honest? Citation required. Yes, RT is a propaganda organ, just like much of the western media (corporate or otherwise). But at least on RT, I get to see alternative viewpoints of western concerns. You'll never see someone like a Chomsky on NBC/CBS/ABC/Fox/CNN - at least alternatives get a microphone on RT. In western media, I get to see alternativ…
Are you really trying to equate CNN with a state-owned and operated news agency? Those news agencies are explicitly biased. Their sole goal in news reporting isn't profit or appeasing shareholders, but pushing their narrative of world events. Pushing their countries' ideology out onto the world. That's their only reason for existing. They don't care about profit or integrity in the slightest. If you think that's the…
You clearly have never watched RT. You have been indoctrinated by some illusion of free market delusion - typical of HN.
If CNN cared about integrity nobody would be working there anymore.
That you see this as an absolute black/white, good/evil and a strawman speaks to your ideology, not mine.