Mass Media in The United States of Oligarchy
The United State is an Oligarchy
In 2014, a study published by Princeton and Northwestern Universities titled Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens used extensive policy data from 1981 to 2002 to measure the state of the US political system.
After sifting through nearly 1,800 US policies enacted in that period and comparing them to the expressed preferences of average Americans (50th percentile of income), affluent Americans (90th percentile) and large special interests groups, researchers concluded that the United States is dominated by its economic elite.
The peer reviewed study concluded that only a few powerful actors, namely special interest groups and economic elite are able to influence US policy. The average American has no influence over the US political system and government policy.
"The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence."
From the BBC,
Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organisations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America's claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.
Counterpunch's Eric Zuess puts it starkly
American democracy is a sham, no matter how much it's pumped by the oligarchs who run the country (and who control the nation's "news" media)," he writes. "The US, in other words, is basically similar to Russia or most other dubious 'electoral' 'democratic' countries. We weren't formerly, but we clearly are now.
Additional reading - Zerohedge
Domestic Propaganda is Legal
The National Defense Authorization Acts signed by president Barack Obama in 2013 and again before leaving the oval office in 2017 include provisions that remove safeguards against domestic propaganda directly targeting American citizens.
Here's a link to the 2017 NDAA pdf
Right before the Christmas holidays on December 23rd 2016, Obama quietly signed NDAA 2017. On page 547 of the 900 page document, there's a section titled Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act. The passage describes the creation of the Global Engagement Center by the US government, essentially creating an official government propaganda arm.
According to WeAreChange, NDAA criminalizes media that the government deems to be 'propaganda'.
This bill, as we reportedly previously, will “Criminalize ‘Fake News, Propaganda’ on the Web,” a key piece of legislation meant to crack down on free speech and independent media. In Layman’s terms, the act will allow the government to crack down with impunity against any media outlet it deems “propaganda.” The next piece of the legislation will provide substantial amounts of money to fund “counter propaganda,” to make sure the government’s approved stories drown out alternative media and journalists who question the status quo.
Only a few years earlier in 2012, Obama signed into law the 2013 NDAA which effectively replaced the Smith-Mundt Act with the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act. The originally Smith-Mundt act introduced in 1948 protected American citizens from being subjected to US domestic propaganda intended for foreign audiences aborad.
“No funds authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors shall be used to influence public opinion in the United States.”
While the Smith-Mundt act does not outright use the term propaganda, the act was clearly designed to safeguard againt the use of propaganda on US citizens.
By U.S. law, knows as the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and the Department of State are not authorized to use taxpayers’ money to influence public opinion in the United States or to otherwise propagandize to Americans. It appears, however, that the Voice of America (VOA) is now spending public money to help distribute its programs specifically to American citizens and U.S. residents and to promote such domestic distribution of VOA programming.
Media Consolidation & the Illusion of Choice
With every passing year, we see the merging of already massive media empires with one another creating enormously powerful conglomerates. As a result, we see the erosion of choice throughout the media industry. We may have thousands of production companies, tv studios, and websites to choose from but they're really owned by the same corporate entities and therefore conform to certain company guidelines. Of course, these companies are driven by profits but they also filter out undesirable journalism, programming, and information that doesn't fit in with their overall growth strategy.
Some would argue that the media landscape has completely shifted since these graphics were originally produced in 2011 as the Tech giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon have overtaken the model. There's no doubt that this is true with these companies quickly becoming immensely profitable, influential and integral parts of the economic system.
In fact, Google in Facebook are quickly outpacing their digital media competitors due to their flexibility in adjusting and implementing new advertising strategies.
Just like the media landscape the tech industry also shows signs of significant power consolidation.
Critics like Columbia law professor Tim Wu suggest that the major tech firms are creating information monopoly aka an oligopoly.
The author goes on to argue that despite the Internet’s reputation for encouraging freedom, it looks “increasingly like a Monopoly board” with most of the major sectors controlled by “one dominant company or an oligopoly.” According to Wu, search is “owned” by Google, while Facebook owns social networking, eBay rules auctions, Apple “dominates online content delivery” and Amazon owns online retail.
Highly Advanced Propaganda Directed at Citizens of Western Democracies
Propaganda has evolved to such an extent over the lat 100 years that it's become unrecognizable to its intended audiences. Nowhere on earth is the propaganda more advanced, more evolved and more imperceptible than in Western democracies. The illusion of choice is present throughout mainstream media if one is careful to recognize it.
Perhaps the grossest ongoing censorship of all is the culturally conditioned, narrow range of opinion fed to the vast majority of Americans by their own media. The differences in story lines and opinions in the “news” given by well-watched television channels such as ABC. CBS, NBC and CNN, or those of the nation’s major newspapers and news magazines, is minuscule.
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The narrow range of views offered creates a uniform background noise hiding most of what is at variance with the standard message. In other words, media practices constitute de facto censorship.
So well does this process work that it is probably the case that many news editors and broadcasters and most of the public taking in their reporting do not understand that their reductionism has rendered the constitutional right of free press ineffectual.
Really meaningful contrary opinion and reporting (particularly of the progressive persuasion) is so infrequent and marginalized that it stands little chance of competing with the orthodox point of view.
This relates to Chomsky and Herman's Propaganda Model in that the goal of propaganda is predominantly to marginalize and distract from contradictory opinions, positions, news, information and even people.
Propaganda in western societies promulgated through the media is designed to select, sanitize and filter news before it ever reaches the public. Power is concentrated in the hands of a small number of un-elected individuals and corporations whose interests are served (advertisers, stakeholders,etc.).
Society's managerial class know that propaganda is critical in order to maintain the status quo. Therefore, it is equally important that the average citizens remain marginalized, distracted and isolated.
People have to be atomized and segregated and alone. They're not supposed to organize, because then they might be something beyond spectators of action.
Identifying Propaganda
Propaganda exists in a wide range of forms and persuasive techniques to influence the mind. Some of the most common techniques are included in four main groupings:
Activating Strong Emotions
Propaganda plays on human emotions—fear, hope, anger, frustration, sympathy—to direct audiences toward the desired goal. In the deepest sense, propaganda is a mind game — the skillful propagandist exploits people’s fears and prejudices. Successful propagandists understand how to psychologically tailor messages to people’s emotions in order to create a sense of excitement and arousal that suppresses critical thinking.
Propaganda feeds off of emotions and the absence of critical thinking. Any effective piece of propaganda creates strong positive or negative feelings towards the subject represented.
Responding to Audience Needs & Values
Propaganda may use accurate and truthful information, or half-truths, opinions, lies and falsehoods. Successful propaganda tells simple stories that are familiar and trusted, often using metaphors, imagery and repetition to make them seem natural or "true."
It cannot be stressed enough the key function of REPETITION plays in the effectiveness of a PR campaign, advertisement or propaganda piece. As an example, think of how the MSM beat the drums of war in the build-up to the invasion of Iraq.
WMDs
WMDs
WMDs
There were no WMDs or any connections to Al Queda.
The only evidence of WMDs, were the media's WEAPONS of MASS DECEPTION
Today we have a similar lie that is repeated incessantly in the MSM 24/7/365.
Russia!
Russia!
Russia!
It’s becoming abundantly clear that the Russians didn’t hack the US elections.
Evidence to support these claims are anemic but powerful interests are determined
to hammer this lie into the minds of an exhausted US citizenry.
Simplifying information & ideas
Effective propaganda conveys messages, themes, and language that appeal directly, and many times exclusively, to specific and distinct groups within a population. Propagandists may appeal to you as a member of a family, or your racial or ethnic identity, or even your hobbies, your favorite celebrities, your beliefs and values, or even your personal aspirations and hopes for the future.
Again, the Russian hacking fairy-tale is pandered mostly to liberals and progressives. Conservatives, get a fair amount of propaganda the other way, portraying a reality TV buffoon as some sort of political savior.
The notion that the MAGA, drain-the-swamp, anti-deep state crusader Donald Trump will rescue America from its deterioration and restore the nation to its mythical past glory is a simplistic narrative that many still cling to.
Attacking opponents
Effective propaganda conveys messages, themes, and language that appeal directly, and many times exclusively, to specific and distinct groups within a population. Propagandists may appeal to you as a member of a family, or your racial or ethnic identity, or even your hobbies, your favorite celebrities, your beliefs and values, or even your personal aspirations and hopes for the future.
Attacking one’s enemies needs little explanation but there are no-doubt countless examples to choose from. A few we’ve already mentioned here.
Defending Against Propaganda
- Awareness
Be conscious of the general viewpoint that is used to frame the issue at hand. Simply by accepting the initial framing of the issue allows the propagandists an early advantage. It is usually by framing (or reframing) the discourse that the author or speaker can persuade the reader/viewer to align or readjust their thoughts on a given topic.
- Situational Demands
Take note of the situational demands even aspects that at first seem to be trivial. Observe indications of group norms, symbols of authority, slogans, and commitments. Don't subscribe to simple solutions to complex social, political, cultural and personal problems.
Especially as the tactics grow more and more refined, more and more subtle, and more and more persuasive, we find that the minute we stop observing with a critical eye, we have already been persuaded. It is so often that we find ourselves overwhelmed by work that needs to be done.It is so often that we find ourselves overwhelmed by work that needs to be done. It is so often that we do not have time to sort through the information presented to us so that we may derive our own solution. And sadly, it is so often that we let ourselves fall prey to propaganda for we have grown too weary to defend ourselves.
- Action, More than Words
Ultimately, we must do more than simply express our dissent vocally. We must be willing to challenge, rebel, reist, disobey, and even to suffer the consequences of taking action in defiance to the propaganda and the propagandists that seek to control us.
