Sunday, June 18, 2006
Catapulting Propaganda? Interesting!
Danny Scheter at Media Channel has an interesting post on how the media makes it seem like Iraq is [all of the sudden] looking rosy for the president, while the reality is much more bleak and dark. After all, just today we found out about the kidnapping of the 10 bakers, alongside the 43 dead via a suicide bomber that took place yesterday. Things aren't right in Iraq and will not get better any time soon regardless of the photo ops. Here are a couple of money paragraphs from Scheter's piece:
"In a media environment of so much Ânoise, clutter and contentious argument, oft-repeated simplistic phrases easily break through into public consciousness at a time when impressions and thought by association often drive meaning.This approach is not fact-based but rather uses symbols and stylized sincerity more than serious explanation. ThatÂs why itÂs effective in an already dumbed down media environment."
Then he adds:
"The PresidentÂs secret mission to save the mission in Iraq is the latest example of preemptive warfare by media to create a basis for looking tough and acting optimistically while the sh-t hits the fan. His audiences most assuredly were not Iraqis but Americans for whom this kind of political theater seems to work well. With show biz values already driving news biz presentations, Bush has been able to stoke up his supporters without changing anything on the ground. In this way, he can look like a winner while losing. A war.
Me: Argumentum ad nauseam is something that the average american must get acquinted with. It's well used (and abused) by this administration (the democrats do the same too). We [the people] need to start demanding that politicos level with us, something that wasnt done before the [illegal] invasion of Iraq and its aftermath.
"In a media environment of so much Ânoise, clutter and contentious argument, oft-repeated simplistic phrases easily break through into public consciousness at a time when impressions and thought by association often drive meaning.This approach is not fact-based but rather uses symbols and stylized sincerity more than serious explanation. ThatÂs why itÂs effective in an already dumbed down media environment."
Then he adds:
"The PresidentÂs secret mission to save the mission in Iraq is the latest example of preemptive warfare by media to create a basis for looking tough and acting optimistically while the sh-t hits the fan. His audiences most assuredly were not Iraqis but Americans for whom this kind of political theater seems to work well. With show biz values already driving news biz presentations, Bush has been able to stoke up his supporters without changing anything on the ground. In this way, he can look like a winner while losing. A war.
Me: Argumentum ad nauseam is something that the average american must get acquinted with. It's well used (and abused) by this administration (the democrats do the same too). We [the people] need to start demanding that politicos level with us, something that wasnt done before the [illegal] invasion of Iraq and its aftermath.
# posted by Raf C. @ 11:01 AM 
