Currently Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches: Five Perspectives By Mark Driscoll, John Burke, Dan Kimball, Doug Pagitt, Karen Ward see related

"The corporate grip on opinion in the United States is one of the wonders of the Western world. No First World country has ever managed to eliminate so entirely from its media all objectivity — much less dissent.” — Gore Vidal, The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

Weapons of Mass Deception:

Mental Conformity- Part 7

John Richard Pilger is an award-winning Australian born journalist and documentary filmmaker[1] writes “As the new corporations began taking over the press, something called "professional journalism" was invented. To attract big advertisers, the new corporate press had to appear respectable, pillars of the establishment—objective, impartial, balanced. The first schools of journalism were set up, and a mythology of liberal neutrality was spun around the professional journalist. The right to freedom of expression was associated with the new media and with the great corporations, and the whole thing was, as Robert McChesney put it so well, "entirely bogus". 

For what the public did not know was that in order to be professional, journalists had to ensure that news and opinion were dominated by official sources…check the sources of the main political stories—domestic and foreign—you'll find they're dominated by government and other established interests. That is the essence of professional journalism.”[2] As an example of how far established interests are controlled Medialens a media watchdog insightfully comments “Editors and journalists who offend these powerful news sources, perhaps by questioning the veracity or bias of the furnished material, can be threatened with the denial of access to their media life-blood - fresh news.”[3] Receiving official sources, as opposed to ones that journalists must dig for, curtail and diminish the role of the investigation and fact finding missions. Official sources are much easily managed through appropriation of sound-bites; however a hard nosed journalist who wishes to be truly fair and balanced must mine the world around him or her to test those official pronouncements. Propaganda and “party line” information (or perhaps misinformation) is likely to emerge – besides who will check the facts? Chomsky (1989) points out that the propaganda model is a structural theory that shows how large or significant interests in society influence decision making by simply being powerful in their own right. He does not claim that government or corporate media owners directly and systematically dictate news coverage perspectives to editors and producers.[4] Instead it appears to be induced through influence, pressure, corporate and political interests garnered through power and money and other subtle means.

Here is another view by David Wise, a political writer and investigator in the role of the CIA in a democratic society writes “As a concomitant of expanded American global power, the government has increasingly gained control over channels of information about military, diplomatic and intelligence events. Frequently the press and public, unable to check the events independently can only await the appearance of the President on the television screen to announce the official version of reality…”[5] The CIA has been known to pull news stories (usually about themselves), and was recognized to have tried to strip ABC of its broadcasting license. It should be acknowledged that CIA director William Casey who was one of the founders of Cap Cities Communication bought ABC during the time it was trying to manipulate a story posted by the American Broadcasting Company. It is worth commenting garnering some perspective on the bending of the media system by the few who have the power to pull the strings.

The following thinkers and writers on the effects of media and politics are rather thought provoking. Michael Parenti an American political scientist, historian, and media critic[6] makes a very insightful comment "The enormous gap between what US leaders do in the world and what Americans think their leaders are doing is one of the great propaganda accomplishments of the dominant political mythology."[7] Mark Twain, the great American writer states in a fashion that sounds so very current and prophetic “Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception." Joseph Goebbels Nazi Propaganda Minister and master of spin notoriously states “Propaganda must therefore always be essentially simple and repetitious…” and "The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly...it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over."

During the U.S invasion of Iraq 70% of the population was convinced that there was a link between Saddam, terrorism and Al Qaeda. US and foreign intelligence knew that that statement was patently false yet it was propagated constantly by the Bush administration and apparently remained virtually unchallenged (i.e. It was uncontested until much later, when the desired effect had already taken its toll). Media was rarely critical until after the invasion commenced – when there was little the medium could do to transform the trajectory of history.

In a totalitarian state one controls using brute force whereas a democracy the masses find themselves in a place bombarded by numerous ideas and views. The pitfall is that we believe that the state is basically innocent and benign and therefore can be trusted. After all we are supposed to be the “good guys” and by default therefore do what is right. However, we often fail to assume that we could be bathed in ideological half truths….when useful – especially in crisis situations. In the Western World (especially the US) citizens must be constantly bombarded to achieve the desired effect (i.e. Note that Canadians should not pride themselves as above such propaganda since we are so close to our neighbours we too come under that umbrella). Noam Chomsky noted “"Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the [U.S.] media."[8]  In order to control the masses illusions, deceptions and manipulation on a large scale must be perpetuated to keep us diverted, preoccupied and believing certain things about democracy and the state. The desired effect, in America in this case is a sense of moral high ground that provides an excuse to interfere in foreign affairs. I doubt anyone will quickly forget Colin Powell’s address to the world that WMD in Iraq was undeniable. CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox et al had broadcast repeatedly his “irrefutable proof” that would later be known to be a complete fabrication.

Noam Chomsky suggests in his book Necessary Illusions “The very structure of the media is designed to induce conformity to established doctrine…Regurgitation of welcome pieties faces no such problem….According to this “propaganda model” – …the media serve the interests of state and corporate power, which are closely interlinked, framing their reporting and analysis in a manner supportive of established privilege and limiting debate and discussion accordingly” [9] Propaganda can be defined as such; "Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist."[10] Prof. Robert McChesney notes “The media is the one source that actually controls how we learn about information...” Stay tuned for more…

The Groundworks