What Do Americans Know? Not Very Much

Millions of Americans accept what they are told and think they understand what they see. And what they are told and what they see is most often news as a manipulated commodity. But the facts that really count rarely reach a significant number of the public's ears or eyes.

Also, most reporters know governments lie, mislead and deceive.They also know that the press is ostensibly there to keep an eye on governments, to dissect errors and omissions by offering more truthful counter-narratives. That was the role an adversarial media played during Watergate, during the Vietnam War, and even, if distastefully, during the Clinton administration.

Today, our media has abandoned this historic role, That part of the public that remembers the great journalists of the past knows it. Even journalistic greats admit it. Just before his death June 11, newscaster David Brinkley said of the medium that was his life. "Television news has become so trivial and devoid of content as to be little different from entertainment programming."

But many in the public don't even expect the media to be honest in its reporting. The Jason Blair affair at The New York Times was the tip of an iceberg. Major newspapers such as The Boston Globe and The Washington Post have, in the past, been humiliated by revelations that reporters falsified stories. Beyond simple credibility, today's media system has fused news biz and show biz.

Rest of the article:
www.commondreams.org...

I'll bite, Cold, so as you know I haven't forgotten.

Media manipulation is sick business. Increasingly people are bombarded with hundreds of thousands of images and tidbits of information every day.

What used to be 'news' is now advertising, not just in a product placement sense, but also in a propaganda sense. I don't see many bias-free media left in the US at all.

People who accept a few soundbites from anybody as fact, without mental filters or understanding of the medium's purpose or the background facts and issues, are not truth seekers.

They are the masses. They all get a vote. So they have to be reached with a few soundbites, unfiltered, to give them their own diluted version of 'truth', that fit for mass consumption.

Your topic would get more readership and comment if you didn't give it an anti-American title.

BTW, (opinion) there are less people here at ATS representing the ignorant middle American masses than out there on the streets or on their lounges watching Springer, I am sure, but I still get surprised by the people who would like to uphold the ignorant middle American position on things and say that it is a good place to be.

MA you hit the nail on the head my friend

At ATS i have met many americans whose opinion i now respect. it is true that the americans here represent a different type of american than to what some of us Europeans are used to. meeting some of them has been a breath of fresh air...

Originally posted by MaskedAvatar
I'll bite, Cold, so as you know I haven't forgotten.

Media manipulation is sick business. Increasingly people are bombarded with hundreds of thousands of images and tidbits of information every day.

What used to be 'news' is now advertising, not just in a product placement sense, but also in a propaganda sense. I don't see many bias-free media left in the US at all.

People who accept a few soundbites from anybody as fact, without mental filters or understanding of the medium's purpose or the background facts and issues, are not truth seekers.

They are the masses. They all get a vote. So they have to be reached with a few soundbites, unfiltered, to give them their own diluted version of 'truth', that fit for mass consumption.

Your topic would get more readership and comment if you didn't give it an anti-American title.

BTW, (opinion) there are less people here at ATS representing the ignorant middle American masses than out there on the streets or on their lounges watching Springer, I am sure, but I still get surprised by the people who would like to uphold the ignorant middle American position on things and say that it is a good place to be.

I understand your point of view, is reasonable, but the anti american title is not given by me, is the one of the article!
Anyway i just try to see how many people denies to be brainwashed, and denies ignorance provided by media, u just have to see the replies of the ATS community on those kind of threats and u will see what i mean...

I don't think this is a purely American problem.
In fact, the average US citizen probably has access to more information than a citizen from anywhere else.
Europe is probably not too far behind.

Although I'm not a great fan of the media and I recognise the fact that they hide the truth behind lies and vice versa, I believe the problem is down to the individual. People are lazy. They expect to be told the truth and don't realize that it's up to them to look for it.
Instead of searching for the facts, we in the West tend to focus on our own well being and concentrate on issues that we have a political opinion about. This clouds our judgement and we ally ourselves to news sources which quickly become sacred oracles of truth in our eyes. When these news sources prove unreliable we therefore tend to turn a blind eye.

But why blame the media? Although we pay them to do a job they have to cater to our needs. They have to tell us what we want to hear. They're caught in a viscious circle too.

It's up to the individual to hunt for the truth. You can't blame anyone else for hiding it from you.

This isn't ignorance that has been created by a government. Think how your parents bought you up. You gained some of their morals, their values, their fears, their hopes, their loves. Our parent's opinions and attitudes were formed by their previous generation's and so on.
Our early life helps to shape our opinions for the future.

That is the only conditioning that we receive.


But we in the West should count ourselves lucky. We have access to information that, if used wisely can greatly enhance our knowledge.
Spare a thought for those in poorer countries or those who live under dictatorships. They either have no source or one controlled source of information.
They are kept in more darkness than ever we are.

It is nothing new with the media. For decades it has been a means of manipulating Joe 6-pack. With the birth of 24hr News channels the problem with credible and quality news worsened. Now, on top of the news being used as a brainwash you have the problem of garbage being used as filler to make the day.

is standing up.

the first step in learning, is fighting indoctrination in schools. it's easy enough to learn method, the math, the history, the science, but i. I never learned obidience, or conformity. in this, i am still me, i can still make myself into what i want, and not have to worry about pleasing anyone else. independance. that's what i got. it's all i need. i have learned more in the last six months here on ats, than i have in the last six years since third grade, real world knowledge, not text book here's what you're going to do, don't worry about why just do it.

here's an example from math class last year, i was in algebra a, which is basic freshman crap, and we were learning about lines and stuff, the equation you know y=mx+b or what not, and i asked the teacher what can we use it for. i got written up for being insubordinate cos i pushed for a reason. that is what happens in society. if you want to learn about gov't stuff that isn't 'your business' even though you're a citisen and got that official elected, you get arrested or detained over bitch #. i'm tired of tit, i'm going to do something about it too. laziness, i agree, most people give a damn, as long as they are left alone, but i have to wait another little while til i get my license, then i can go places, literally, and do things. i'm tired of waiting.

The funny thing is that many of us know they are "misleading" us many times, but still a large number of poeples believe them anyway.. In fact 98% of the worlds population is dependent on te media.

9/11 is a perfect example, some even think now that Saddam planned the attacks. All we can is to "believe" what the "officials" tell us, even if it's a lie.

So, whose to say who does or doesn't know very much? Whose reality is closer to the actual truth? We can all throw our chest out and say "well mine of course"!! Why, because our opinions are formed primarily on what we are taught is truth. So, to someone in another country who has been subject of misinformation by a totalitarian regime, everything they would learn about America would seem false to them..because to realize that a person's whole ideology is made of up falicies would be very detrimental to what sociaologist call "the self". No matter how much evidence that is presented, one might choose denial rather than incur this damage. Why are we seeing this now more than in the past? Because technology has allowed cultures which otherwise would have been isolated against the other's influence to meet head on. Of course we will all point to the others and say "your in the wrong..wake up..you're being lied too" Remember while you're pointing that figure, Cold Anger, it has a way of pointing right back at you with the turn of the hand.

As for our media..biased?..sure. Used to promote propaganda? You bet? One-sided ?..not anymore. While the advent of the 24 hour news source might have given us more crap to filter through..it has also given competition to the one-sided beliefs and drivel pumped out by the socialist at the CFR and carried by the big three all these years. Before, they told us what to think..and if it was untrue..big deal. Whos gonna tell? Now, the inert competition between liberal and conservative based news might have just given birth to the entity we've needed all along..a system which keeps itself in check and halfway honest.

Also, many other countries report news (ie..Iraqi Information Ministry) that may be false but how do you know? At least in America, we can at least see some footage to add to credibility. Now, can this footage be twisted? Sure... but what makes America the only country where this is a possibility? Answer: You.

This is a great topic and no-one has flown off the handle.

The fact that people respond to things like this points up the number of non-ignoramuses there are at ATS.

Another realy interesting topic to follow on this was the propaganda mixed in with the news announcements of the death of the Hussein brothers. The flow of the 'news' to many people at ATS and the way they took on board information and how that information came to be corrected then confirmed was really interesting.

Originally posted by MaskedAvatar
This is a great topic and no-one has flown off the handle.

The fact that people respond to things like this points up the number of non-ignoramuses there are at ATS.

Another realy interesting topic to follow on this was the propaganda mixed in with the news announcements of the death of the Hussein brothers. The flow of the 'news' to many people at ATS and the way they took on board information and how that information came to be corrected then confirmed was really interesting.

I totally agree with u, there is something here very strange going on, or people reads but doesn�t make comments about it, or people just doesn�t read those kind of things, or they really don�t care about it.

U can see that even the scandalism of whatever appears on media sources, beats in the forums thing with much more importance but not so "known" or "famous".

Is really insane isn�t it?

All other countries do this to a lesser or more extent...and most of them on the more side. However, given America's relative freedoms, it makes it even more disappointing when it happens here... However, there are more who aren't swalling everything everyday...so there is somewhat of a turn-around.... Most people though, especially in America, are too busy to bother thinking about the big picture.... Heck, I just saw an article today, that showed that on average, Americans take 10 vacation days per year, as opposed to other countries, say Britain, where 20 days is mandated by law. Amazing, that we come up with all these innovations to save time (cell phones, computers, etc.), yet it only succeeds in creating more work....*sigh*

Most folks I associate with tend to ride the razors edge of having an Elvis episode every time they see the news - I do declare that if it wasn't so damn expensive I would have shot Sean Hannity by now ( though it would have only been in effigy via my TV!)

Well yeah I guess that could be right and wrong to a point. Americans have really high education, and they know more than a lot of people from other countries know. BUT, a lot of Americans aren't informed of what is truely going on in the world and in their own country. America has great education, but the people aren't informing themselves of what is going on. Before I came onto ATS, I didnt know all these things that I've read on here. But now I'm glad I have because I'm more aware, open-minded, and informed. Americans know a lot, but a lot of them aren't aware of what's going on.....

I'm not sure that I agree that Americans know more than a lot of other people from other countries. Your school system is FAR from great. However, I do agree that the people who frequent this site tend, more often than noaught, to be of above average intelligence. On the whole though, I think the American pubilc are rediculously low brow...all you have to do is turn on the television and see what passes for entertainment in America these days. The very fact that shows like Baywatch and Jerry Springer, not to mention the host of "reality" shows, can become smash hits is absurd.

Three months ago I turned my TV off and picked up a book by Alfred Korzybisky called Science and Sanity. He was the founder of Gereral Semanitics. His theory or model is based on the limitations and manipulations of language. He created an entire language called E-Prime that had no use of the word 'Is'. He believed that 'Is' was a complete abstraction from reality and could not be proved in any scientific sense but could only be determined from our limited understand of perception. Statements like Mozart is better than Beethoven had to be replaced with Mozart seems better than Beethoven to me. Dogma has a hard time surviving in this language...think how beautiful that could be....
The point of this, is that Authority is aware of the manipulations of language. The Catholic Church used them effectively for 1500 years. Writing was allowed only to the upper class and priest in Egypt and China.
Man has always extended himself though channels of communication, first speech then writing and radio, television and now the internet. What this means is that if you control the medium and means of communication you essentially control a part of the nervous system of every human. This is the essence of control. Authority has always known this. This is why their was such heavy censorchip on TV when it first started out but has decreased as internet activity has picked up. I can remember when you would never have heard the word "b*tch" on TV. Now its commonplace ( but the word b*stard is still verboten, interesting...)
What we have to question is the definition of 'authority' in general and 'truth' in particular. Understand that the words themselves have no meaning and the "supposed" meaning behind them is differnet for each of us, i.e the "green" that you see is not the same "green" that I see. What happens to you emotionally when you hear the word "liberal" is not what happens to me when I hear the same word.
Our seperate reality tunnels will always try to meet and understand each other. This is the story of man. We try to find common understanding by identifying things and giving them a name... GRog point at object and says tree, Brok sees object and identifies it as tree.... but the word tree has no inherant meaning.
We try to blend reality tunnels with each other through music (non-verbal) or Art (non-verbal) or dance non-verbal) all the time. Its what brings us to gether and gives us a sense of peace and safety.
What authority figured out was a way to control the mediums of communication ( and then profit by those mediums) If they can divide and subdidvide us over words like "liberal" and "patriot" and "terrorist" then they can manipulate our nervous systems to fit their agenda which has always been to distract while they continue to profit.
We need to lift this veil....

anyway its a good book and I reccomend it.

What Do People Know? Not Very Much

Originally posted by Outlaw
What Do People Know? Not Very Much

your very wrong, we know only 1 thing is true, ourselves, tis the only thing we can prove, but not to anyone else, nothing else can we know, we can only remember what we have been told

What do us as civilains know if you do not have a high military seat in any government you dont know anything.

[Edited on 1-8-2003 by Volkswagen]