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Modern media is often wrong, vapid, and easy to manipulate

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Re: Modern media is often wrong, vapid, and easy to manipulate

#21

Post by salimmadjd »

calibraxis wrote: post #4

Modern media? This is at least as old as 1928. Take Edward Bernays (the "father of modern PR" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Bernays ), whose book "Propaganda" said things like: "There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes. Nor, what is…

From the Wikipedia link you provided:

1913 Bernays was hired by the actor Richard Bennett to protect a play that supported sex education against police interference. Bernays set up a front group called the "Medical Review of Reviews Sociological Fund" (officially concerned with fighting venereal disease) for the purpose of endorsing the play.[21]

Which reminds me of Tom Lantos ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lantos )working with the PR firm to stage the testimonies on capital hill to get US into the first Iraq War, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurse_Nayirah

In 1992, it was revealed that Nayirah's last name was al-Ṣabaḥ (Arabic: نيره الصباح‎) and that she was the daughter of Saud bin Nasir Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States. Furthermore, it was revealed that her testimony was organized as part of the Citizens for a Free Kuwait public relations campaign which was run by Hill & Knowlton for the Kuwaiti government. Following this, al-Sabah's testimony has largely come to be regarded as wartime propaganda.

Re: Modern media is often wrong, vapid, and easy to manipulate

#22

Post by jstalin »

My own experience shows this on both sides of the issue. I have been involved in some local government issues and it's easy to get coverage in local media by just sending a press release out to a few dozen contacts. They rarely (if ever) do any fact checking. That's not to say that I make things up. In fact, that's the other side of the issue. I pride myself in researching local government issues through the use of the Freedom of Information Act, and then compiling that information into something the media would be interested in.

The flip side of the coin is that if I release some FOIA data and then the reporter goes to the government entity for a comment, the government representative will often times make things up or just lie about the facts. The local reporter just takes that person at his or her word, despite the fact that I have produced documentation directly from that government agency which contradicts its talking head.

It's become clear that local reporters (for the most part) don't do any independent research. They regurgitate AP reports or whatever they're told. Most reporters have no expertise or clue about what they're reporting on.

One sign of this degradation in local (and national) media quality to watch out for: online articles that are composed entirely of paragraphs that are one or two sentences each. Here's one randomly chosen example: http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/11/justice/texas-explosion-probe/...

Re: Modern media is often wrong, vapid, and easy to manipulate

#23

Post by jmtame »

calibraxis wrote: post #20
ryanholiday wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, in the book I go much earlier. Upton Sinclair wrote a book of media criticism in 1912 that was the genesis for my theories. Yellow journalism predates Bernays by more than a few decades.

Thanks, I'll get a copy of your book. BTW, you might be interested in the work of media historian Bob McChesney ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._McChesney ), if you haven't checked it out already. One thing he argued is that before professional journalism, the media was much like today's blogs; everyone knew their content reflected the owner's biases. Then with the consolidation of newspapers (due to economic…

+1 for the Robert McChesney reference. I remember taking the class Money, Media, and Power at UIUC which he instructs, and it was one of the most interesting classes I've taken in my 6 lengthy years in college.

Re: Modern media is often wrong, vapid, and easy to manipulate

#24

Post by alanthonyc »

calibraxis wrote: post #4

Modern media? This is at least as old as 1928. Take Edward Bernays (the "father of modern PR" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Bernays ), whose book "Propaganda" said things like: "There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes. Nor, what is…

Don’t be embarrased. Premature pontification is a common problem, with a high incidence on the hn reply threads.

Re: Modern media is often wrong, vapid, and easy to manipulate

#25

Post by caseysoftware »

georgemcbay wrote: post #6

PR gaming aside, I'm always a bit horrified when I read a general media story about something that I know a lot about (like, say, computer programming) because the articles are often a very superficial treatment of the subject while trying to not seem so superficial, and in a lot of cases they are either so simplified that the information they present is misleading or in some cases they are just spouting completely i…

I spent almost a decade in DC and knew many political, legal, and technology reporters. For the most part, they often don't know what they're talking about. They have no background in the subject, no training or study in the subject, and rarely do any research on their own.

The worst/laziest literally copy and paste from their "trusted sources" instead of writing it on their own.. which is even worse when that source is a press release or otherwise manicured statement.

Re: Modern media is often wrong, vapid, and easy to manipulate

#26

Post by mcdigman »

Does anyone else find it strange that the page containing this video also has a "send anonymous tip" link, which claims "we don't track anything, not even your ip address."

And of course the headline "modern media is often wrong, vapid, and easy to manipulate" is a little more sensational (and click generating) than, say, "Ryan Holiday claims some media outlets have biased incentives"

Which leads me to the amusing possibility that Ryan Holiday did not actually do those things, but is manipulating the media into thinking he did, which of course would prove his point.

Re: Modern media is often wrong, vapid, and easy to manipulate

#27

Post by [deleted] »

calibraxis wrote: post #4

Modern media? This is at least as old as 1928. Take Edward Bernays (the "father of modern PR" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Bernays ), whose book "Propaganda" said things like: "There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes. Nor, what is…

[deleted]

Re: Modern media is often wrong, vapid, and easy to manipulate

#28

Post by FreezerburnV »

ryanholiday wrote: post #19
ilamont wrote: post #13

This trend has a significant impact on Wikipedia, which relies on press coverage to determine what articles are suitable for inclusion, and what "facts" can be used for Wikipedia articles. Press coverage tends toward the sensational, visual, beautiful, controversial, current, language-specific, and easily explained. If a topic doesn't meet those criteria, it probably won't be covered by the press -- unless the topic…

It goes the other way around too. Most reporters and bloggers get their basic facts from Wikipedia. So it's a feedback loop. Wikipedia frames reporting which can then be used to "support" or cite that very same framing. Almost every public figure has seen some inaccuracy from their Wikipedia page come up in a news story or an interview at one time or another.

XKCD explains this effect quite nicely, I think: http://xkcd.com/978/

Re: Modern media is often wrong, vapid, and easy to manipulate

#29

Post by walshemj »

calibraxis wrote: post #4

Modern media? This is at least as old as 1928. Take Edward Bernays (the "father of modern PR" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Bernays ), whose book "Propaganda" said things like: "There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes. Nor, what is…

Its probably older than printing, blackening your opponents name goes back thousands of years. For example back during the Peloponnesian War did Acibedies realy go on a drunken bender with his drinking buddies and paint statues penises blue?

Or was it a black propaganda exercise by his political enemies Swift Boating Athenian style if you will.

Re: Modern media is often wrong, vapid, and easy to manipulate

#30

Post by zecho »

ilamont wrote: post #13

This trend has a significant impact on Wikipedia, which relies on press coverage to determine what articles are suitable for inclusion, and what "facts" can be used for Wikipedia articles. Press coverage tends toward the sensational, visual, beautiful, controversial, current, language-specific, and easily explained. If a topic doesn't meet those criteria, it probably won't be covered by the press -- unless the topic…

Relevant: http://www.deceptology.com/2013/03/how-deception-gave-ball-p...
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