Perception Management
'News' programming is a subtle blend of entertainment, drama and propaganda. Snippets of news are presented in the form of headlines but no detail is provided so your perception is manipulated in the way that the newsperson delivers the headline and by the spin of the commentary that follows.
The prime time 'News' on Fox News is a case study in perception management. They have a three show lineup which corresponds to a public speakers technique for making people remember what you're saying:
- Bill O'Reilly - 'Tell them what you're going to tell them'.
- Hannity & Colmes - 'Tell them'.
- Greta Van Susteren - 'Tell them what you told them'.
Bill O'Reilly plays the part of the stern father figure who assures you that he is looking out for your best interests while he is telling you what you should think.
Sean Hannity, is an attractive and lively man is paired with a very unattractive and rather dull opposition, Alan Colmes. Colmes is the perfect foil for Hannity. He's Mr. Milktoast while Hannity is obnoxious and abrasive. Hannity tells you that you are an idiot if you don't think the way that he thinks while Colmes begs to differ.
Greta Van Susteren a stern female authority figure who follows up telling you what you've already been told so that it's burned into your memory.
In looking at media and mind control (i.e. the manipulation of perception) I found some fascinating information. Here is one - in particular, click the link and scroll down to persuasion techniques and read it.
Now think about the Fox News lineup - O'Reilly, Hannity and Colmes and Greta Van Susteren. Still think they were just trying to appeal to different audiences in different time slots?
If you still have doubts, consider the fact that Roger Ailes is an expert at mind manipulation. "He has been described as "the amusingly ferocious Republican media genius" and a "pit-bull Republican media strategist turned television tycoon." Roger Ailes is the President and CEO of faux news on Fox.
The International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) published a study on viewer misperceptions of the war on Iraq. The following is a summary of their findings as presented in handy little graphs by the TurnOffYourTV website.
Clearly, the Fox News viewers are way behind the curve in knowing the truth about Iraq.
Now... take a look at who provides funding for PIPA. No doubt this institute serves to measure the effectiveness of their own communist propaganda campaigns:
Rockefeller
Foundation
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Tides Foundation
Ford Foundation
German Marshall Fund of the United States
Compton Foundation
Carnegie Corporation
Benton Foundation
Ben and Jerry's Foundation
Americans Talk Issues Foundation
Circle Foundation
This is just a skim of the surface of the Information and Propaganda war on the American people and the complex nature of the methodologies and the players. A government 'Of The People' would not allow this to happen to us. We lost it the minute Reagan approved government manipulation of perception. He declared open season on your mind.
Additional Reading
Scholarly Definitions of Rhetoric
Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda