An example of Flak--My Second Propaganda Thread

Discussion in 'World Events' started by Pollux V, Feb 20, 2003.

  1. Pollux V Ra Bless America Registered Senior Member

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    At this very moment on the front page of CNN.com there is a picture of a hispanic teenage girl in desperate need of a heart transplant. If you've watched the news for even ten minutes you know the story--she got the wrong heart before, and is now in serious danger of dying. It's a terrible story, and I doubt there is a news channel on television that has not committed a great deal of its time to reporting this over and over again.

    Flak is a term derived from Chomsky and Herman's Propaganda Model. It is one of several "filters" that act, independently, to censor news material for financial gain. Flak itself is a distraction, a burst in the sky we're all supposed to look at while the machine guns from a fighter plane bear down on us. Continuous repetition of the same facts for hours on end, as is common on CNN, is an example of flak. We get nothing new, but assume that this is all that there is on Earth that is worthy of being reported.

    I'm not sure that this is the best site I can give you, it's a bit long, and has been written by Herman, who's writing, you may soon find out, is next to unintelligible. I have a lot of respect for this guy, reading some of his stuff in a class of mine changed my outlook on the world, but, still...

    I clicked on the front page article. It's a sad story. Terrible tragedy. Everyone was hoping for this patient to survive. If you happened to notice, at the bottom of the article it is stated that "Paschke said that according to the latest statistics, in 2001 and 2002 there were only 55 heart-lung transplants nationwide, and as of February 7, there were 197 people on the waiting list for the procedure." Why do we not spend days talking about each person on that list, each hopeful person, many of them likely to die? Because it's too much flak--too much focus on such a problem would turn against the advertisers who likely have connections to companies who stand to profit from costly procedures such as heart transplants.

    Jesica is enough to distract people's minds from other events around the world that the media does not report and the ones that it does. Yet, for those that look, she is a gamma ray burst in the heavens--she stands out resolutely as something to look into, something to care about. But unlike gamma ray bursts, there are other important issues at hand, like the complete misconception among americans that Saddam does not have weapons to fight us with, when in fact he does, and I am sure of it. The real killer is that these weapons were given to him when he was our ally (in the early eighties?) by the United States, maybe even with a handshake from Donald Rumsfeld.

    It distracts us from problems in the world abroad, with our mistreatment of the people and of the planet, and of our ignorance at home. Flak is a powerful weapon.
     
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  3. hypewaders Save Changes Registered Senior Member

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    Good stuff, Pollux. On thing puzzles me in your commentary, though. If media whores itself to the zeitgeist and powers that be, as I think most would agree, the flak and spin are not de-emphasizing Saddam's Great Sword of Damoclese poised menacingly above America. They are, on the contrary, emphasizing and imbellishing on that desert mirage.
     
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  5. Pollux V Ra Bless America Registered Senior Member

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    They emphasize what they can only profit from. Check out this poll. You'll notice that no numbers are given as to how many people were polled in Iraq. I actually looked up a population count in preparation for this, but, it apparently is unnecessary. This is an effort to take the face off of the Iraqis: to help George Bush, who is the figurehead for their various corporate endeavors.
     
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  7. hypewaders Save Changes Registered Senior Member

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    I am worried that particular poll could be representative, even if far from scientific

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  8. Pollux V Ra Bless America Registered Senior Member

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    It's easier to kill nonhumans, isn't it?
     
  9. hypewaders Save Changes Registered Senior Member

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    Yes, especially when we can't even see the "non"humans and "sub"humans. Although in places Baghdad, Tikrit, and Basra some eager young Americans will confront the disturbing truth. Of course if that's not enough, that dark Middle Eastern export is about to really start booming after the occupation gets established, heck we'll have it all over the place (Terrorism)!

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    Of course, we'll always have some kitten in a tree or other riveting story on CNN to keep our minds off of it.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2003

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