Thinking man's weapon of choice: Control of the media

There's a thread out there talkin about what is the most dangerous weapon of war. The first and most deadly weapon of war is disinformation. Control the message and you control the battle. Right now all of the major commercial media outlets in America are owned by 6 or 7 companies. Those people at the top of that food chain are working hand in hand with those who control the government. Forget about that idea that the media is liberal. It ain't. It's corporate. And fascist. Here's a little taste of how it works:

Attack and Destroy the Target
When omission proves to be an insufficient mode of censorship and a story somehow begins to reach larger publics, the press moves from artful avoidance to frontal assault in order to discredit the story. In August 1996, the San Jose Mercury News, drawing from a year-long investigation, ran an in-depth series about the CIA-contra crack shipments that were flooding East Los Angeles. Holding true to form, the major media mostly ignored the issue. But the Mercury News series was picked up by some local and regional newspapers, and was flashed across the world on the Internet copiously supplemented pertinent documents and depositions supporting the charges against the CIA. African American urban communities, afflicted by the crack epidemic, were up in arms and wanted to know more. The story became difficult to ignore. So, the major media began an all-out assault. A barrage of hit pieces in the Washington Post and New York Times and on network television and PBS assured us that there was no evidence of CIA involvement, that the Mercury News series was "bad journalism," and that its investigative reporter Gary Webb was irresponsibly playing on the public's gullibility and conspiracy mania. By a process of relentless attack and shameless mendacity, the major media exonerated the CIA from any involvement in drug trafficking.

If you want to read the the rest of this outstanding breakdown of how it works, go to this link:
www.globalresearch.org...

Interesting link, providing interesting observations.

I like the final paragraph, in summary...

In sum, the news media's daily performance under what is called "democratic capitalism" is not a failure but a skillfully evasive success. We often hear that the press "got it wrong" or "dropped the ball" on this or that story. In fact, the media do their job remarkably well. Media people have a trained incapacity for the whole truth. Their job is not to inform but disinform, not to advance democratic discourse but to dilute and mute it. Their task is to give every appearance of being conscientiously concerned about events of the day, saying so much while meaning so little, offering so many calories with so few nutrients. When we understand this, we move from a liberal complaint about the press's sloppy performance to a radical analysis of how the media maintain the dominant paradigm with much craft and craftiness.

It's kinda heavy, but worth the read.

Thanks for the link, very informative.

Anytime, friend. Hope it opens some eyes.

Originally posted by BigEasy
There's a thread out there talkin about what is the most dangerous weapon of war. The first and most deadly weapon of war is disinformation.

YOU'RE JUST MAKING THAT UP! you don't know anything. shut your mouth. you hate america. you are practically a terrorist. you are supporting terrorism with your lies. you don't know anything about how the CIA really works. do some REAL research before you start spouting such evil nonsense.

just kidding!

Originally posted by billybob

Originally posted by BigEasy
There's a thread out there talkin about what is the most dangerous weapon of war. The first and most deadly weapon of war is disinformation.

YOU'RE JUST MAKING THAT UP! you don't know anything. shut your mouth. you hate america. you are practically a terrorist. you are supporting terrorism with your lies. you don't know anything about how the CIA really works. do some REAL research before you start spouting such evil nonsense.

just kidding!

Interesting article.
Heres more historical perspective.....


www.whatreallyhappened.com...
[Edited on 26-1-2004 by darkwraith]

[Edited on 26-1-2004 by darkwraith]

from What Really Happened .Com archive-----

Asked to give a toast before the prestigious New York Press Club, John Swinton, the former Chief of Staff at the New York Times, made this candid confession [it's worth noting that Swinton was called "The Dean of His Profession" by other newsmen, who admired him greatly]:

" There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, as an
independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you
who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know
beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for
keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others
of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who
would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the
streets looking for another job.

If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper,
before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of
the journalist is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to
vilify; to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell the country for his
daily bread. You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting
an independent press. We are the tools and vassals of the rich men
behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and
we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the
property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes. "

That's a killer quote darkwraith. I've used it myself. Most people would be shocked if they knew what he was saying. Hell, some people don't even believe it after they read it. There's one word for that: DENIAL.