TRUST ME, I’M AN ANALYST
Apr. 22nd, 2008 03:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogITEM: The New York Times has published a lengthy piece on military analysts who make regular TV appearances to offer insight into the War On Whatever and what really goes on in Gitmo, etc. Turns out the Pentagon has been exploiting them as part of a concerted propaganda campaign to put a positive spin on the war. Oh, and just about all of them have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess.
This, of course, should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention for the last seven years. Or the last century, really. Video news packages, planted stories, scripted or fake press conferences, paying off commentators, stacking the deck with “independent” analysts – it’s all been done before in one war or another.
That said, I think Team Bush’s spin machine is going to make a fascinating case study in 21st century govt propaganda, if only for its audacity and sure-headed arrogance – not to mention its apparent goal of using propaganda to create an alternate faith-based reality it can sell to a willing, passive and largely sympathetic mass media driven by ratings, dollars and entertainment value instead of journalism.
But who am I to be critical?
Meanwhile, here’s some essay questions for you:
1. How much of this do you think Team Bush would have done even if there hadn’t been a war?
2. To what extent will future admins, regardless of political affiliation, use such tactics in the future to promote their policies?
3. How long will they be able to milk it before enough of us finally learn to stop trusting everything they say?
Discuss.
Lie to me,
This is dF
Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.
Analysts have been wooed in hundreds of private briefings with senior military leaders, including officials with significant influence over contracting and budget matters, records show ... In turn, members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated. Some analysts acknowledge they suppressed doubts because they feared jeopardizing their access.
This, of course, should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention for the last seven years. Or the last century, really. Video news packages, planted stories, scripted or fake press conferences, paying off commentators, stacking the deck with “independent” analysts – it’s all been done before in one war or another.
That said, I think Team Bush’s spin machine is going to make a fascinating case study in 21st century govt propaganda, if only for its audacity and sure-headed arrogance – not to mention its apparent goal of using propaganda to create an alternate faith-based reality it can sell to a willing, passive and largely sympathetic mass media driven by ratings, dollars and entertainment value instead of journalism.
But who am I to be critical?
Meanwhile, here’s some essay questions for you:
1. How much of this do you think Team Bush would have done even if there hadn’t been a war?
2. To what extent will future admins, regardless of political affiliation, use such tactics in the future to promote their policies?
3. How long will they be able to milk it before enough of us finally learn to stop trusting everything they say?
Discuss.
Lie to me,
This is dF
