Originally posted by UM_Gazz

Would you say that the same could be said of the climate of "fear" over Iran's nuclear ambitions?

The very thought that the news media can be used to gain public support for any cause is not surprising or new. But somewhat alarming when one could suggest that this could be use as a vehicle to push forward a war agenda, and even invasion of a country. I rather believe it could also be used to distract people from these very issues as well, using non-event news like Paris Hilton for example. Or quite simply to overshadow more important news topics that can actually have serious impact on global peace, the economy, oil prices etc.

Its happening now, and they are using exactly the same tactics as before. Terrorism, Iran, WMD, Insurgency - rinse and repeat. The US is being sold a war, only this time its a case of "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me".

I hate to say this but you only have to read some of the right wing posts on ATS to understand that a war culture is being bred in the USA. Add that to a little ignorance (sorry to say that but it does seem to be the case that the US posters know less about the rest of the world both geographically and historically) and it gets very very dangerous indeed.

As for your other point about bad/contraversial news "burial", yes it happens. Blairs government here has done it on at least two occasions I can recall and probably alot more times to boot.

Originally posted by UM_Gazz

Perhaps such manipulation could have the result of slowly eliminating critical and free thinking?

I think critical free thinking gave way long ago to general public opinion. people think and feel in masses these days.

which is why the media control method works so well.

Saturate the news with jibberish hogsqualler that the general "pop"ulation will eat up and while they are engulfed in the frenzy - drop in tidbits of propaganda such as, "Iran threatens to use nuclear arms if attacked."

Well we can not deny that we have been brought up to be easily manipulated since birth. Our parents first, society next and then our government.

What it started to be just to target the population glue to their TVs for consumer purposes has become a powerful tool to be exploited, with religion, politics and anything else that can pay for their space on the air.

Media manipulation is a big profitable business.

Through media we are told how to dress, what to eat, for who to vote, what religion is good and what is considered evil, what countries we should be worry off and so many other things that we has lost our ability to question . . . “why we do the things we do” we have forgotten the meaning of many costume that we follow blindly.

The public mind is for the taking and is money to be make while doing it, influencing our choices and thinking by a group that controls what is our media now, more politically influence that anything else.

What is the purpose of media manipulation? To keep the masses docile, compliant and busy, to busy to question why we believe what is been told to us by others.

This case is a perfect example of how the laws of our land apply to the poor. The rich can buy their way out...........they get away with crimes the ordinary person would not be able to get away with.

Our judicial system is broken, It is NO more, there is nothing JUST about it. It is the biggest threat to our Democracy.

Originally posted by NGC2736
As I see it, there are only two real groups of substance out there in the world. The Controllers and The Free Thinkers.

The Controllers want to drug the masses, to dull them into unquestioning obedience, and to do this they have the power of vast amounts of money. They use that money, mostly milked from the 'induced buyers', to not only sell more worthless crap, but to keep the level of real thought at as low a level as possible.

The Free Thinkers, swimming in a sea of ambivalence, try to awaken the Normals, and therefore sway them over to the Free Thinker camp. The Free Thinkers lack the power of the mass media but do control a large portion of the cyber world.

It is an undeclared war, and no one can know yet which faction will win.

Just my take on it.

I agree with you completly only the "Normals" seem to be the majority and it will be an uphill battle for the Free Thinkers.

I would also like to add this about the Paris Hilton case.........I think the sheriff who over-rode a Judge's decision should be hauled into court and held in contempt.
He should be held accountable as well.

[edit on 11-6-2007 by Jillian_Bacardi]

I think there is a combination of things going on here. Not only is there an increase in "celebrity news" on the television (and other media outlets) but also an increase in the pushing of prescription drugs (primarily antidepressants) directly to the consumer.

There is the idea that television places the viewer into an alpha state which makes them more open to receiving messages that the program has to offer.

I also heard on a television news program that based on recent surveys, there is an increasing number of young people who actually think that they can grow up to be a celebrity. Does this contribute to the "dumbing down of America" by targeting it's younger population? I think so.

In my opinion, the more people you have on medications, the more easily they are manipulated when watching the "news" or anything else on TV for that matter. I feel that it's all part of an agenda to turn young people into complete irresponsible idiots so by the time they are older, they will be so uneducated and unfocused, that they won't have a clue as to what the government is doing or even care about it.

Id like to point out that stuff like "paris hilton news" is what drives me to choose other sources of information...such as ATS. Thanks to Paris Hilton for that.

I believe that junk-news is produced for and appreciated by people who, after a long days work as a corporate slave, are too exhausted to focus on and consider more elaborate information.

We live in a world of vast variety, where you can choose from billions of different types of information. For the sake of variety, even junk-news has its place. The question though, is: Who chooses what is important? What mass-media chooses as important is most often not important to me. As a responsible, self-determined, free-thinking citizen, I have to choose for myself. Mass-media tries to manipulate my choice by repeatedly presenting certain topics they want me to be interested in, but I am not buying it. I am not subscribing to paris hilton (well, not much. But they force out down our throats to such an extent that she has now even become an issue on ATS).

The best way to counter junk-media is (in my opinion) to exercise our ability to prioritize, choose, filter. If we do not do that we are forced into a state of constant overwhelm.

I agree that Television uses sound, images and story to produce an "alpha-state". Once we are sufficiently relaxed any version-of-reality or belief can be programmed into us. Beliefs that we have already subscribed to a little bit can be reinforced. I once wrote a piece on "BPM". BPM refers to "Beliefs-per-minute" and I was examining how many beliefs per minute only 1 minute of Television contains. I counted more than a hundred. The endless babbling of TV-presenters is especially influental when a person is on medication. Even more annoying is when concepts (beliefs) are presented that presuppose that we have already bought into other beliefs.

It is for these reasons that I hardly ever watch TV anymore. Instead I might rent a carefully chosen DVD. I watch what I give my eyes to to see and my ears to hear.





[edit on 12-6-2007 by Skyfloating]

The amazing the about this is that almost everyone knows this whole thing is a lie. That the media sells through deception. And they do it anyway.

My wife and I often go out and sell at flea markets on summer weekends. Often we will have an article priced at say USD$3.00 and a person will want to purchase it for USD$1.00. Now while I enjoy the art of bargaining, I have to make some profit, or I go out of business real quick.

So, in an effort to be reasonable, I'll ask the person if they think that car dealerships really mean it when they advertise vehicles for sale "Below Cost". And they always answer that no they don't, they know the dealership has to be making money to stay in business. YET, they are driving one of those vehicles that they got such a good deal on. (Then this person goes ahead and buys the item, knowing that I have forced them to face reality for a moment. And they are none the worse for the ordeal of it.)

We, as a whole, accept the 'lie' in the same way that a child suspends reality to enjoy a fairy tale. We buy into the lies because we WANT to think that this is reality, it makes us feel better, safer, smarter, whatever. That, IMO, is the reason for the big 'scare stories', they drive us to accepting the fairy tales.

Now when this moves into the world of politics, it becomes social manipulation.

Yes, I do think the news is manipulated and used to manipulate public opinion.

I think its being used as a trial balloon to judge public acceptance of preferential treatment for the elite.

Get the public accustomed to this type of behavior/treatment and dull them so the next time it happens (which will probably be for a greater offense) we won't even care, it'll be "old news".

Better get people accustomed to the two-tiered justice system when the NWO officially rolls into town.

I'm pretty young and I even see the bull that the mainstream media spits out.

I agree that the "entertainment" needs to be stopped. I don't believe it should even be on any news program at all. Who the hell are half of these "celebrities" anyways? Why do we care so much about them? Don't we have our own lives to worry about?

I also believe that many of the useless stories on most mainstream American news outlets are just distracting us. I didn't know about the G8 Summit until I read about it online. But what I do know is that Britney Spears walks around panty-less. Now if you really think about that, it is about the saddest thing ever.

CNN, Fox News, and the other news programs now just consist of flashy graphics, guitar riffs, attractive news reporters, and their ability to read words off of screens.

Originally posted by annestacey
I think there is a combination of things going on here. Not only is there an increase in "celebrity news" on the television (and other media outlets) but also an increase in the pushing of prescription drugs (primarily antidepressants) directly to the consumer.

Does this contribute to the "dumbing down of America" by targeting it's younger population? I think so.

In my opinion, the more people you have on medications, the more easily they are manipulated when watching the "news" or anything else on TV for that matter. I feel that it's all part of an agenda to turn young people into complete irresponsible idiots so by the time they are older, they will be so uneducated and unfocused, that they won't have a clue as to what the government is doing or even care about it.

Oh
My
God

I agree with you 100% about all the people on presription medications, anti-depressants and the dumbing down of America. I worked in the specialty field of Neurology and Psychiatry for more than 14 years and almost every patient was on some kind of anti-depressant.........this is especially true for women. I AM TOTALLY AGAINST IT as I think it weakens people, it makes them have Flat personalities, they cannot cope with life, their drugs have to be "upped" eventually so they remain drugged/tame.
When I was going through a divorce and several other dirty things at the same time I became depressed, angry, prone to meltdowns. One of the physicians I worked with suggested I get on Wellbutrin for depression and smoking until it was over so I tried it for 3 weeks and just couldn't do it. I decided I would make it on my own, I know life is tough.............I had to deal with it. It is now three years later and this nightmare has grown even worse but I would never consider medication to the dull the pain and my senses because if I had.............I wouldn't have been able to pursue my options and wouldn't have been as perceptive about the things going on around me.
What is really interesting is that all the women who have tried to run games on me....................EVERY one of them are on one or more prescription drugs including anti-depressants. Combined with alcohol, they make a serious dumbing down of people. Dumbing down to the point of bizarre behaviour on their part.

The there is me looking at them like the idiots they are............running the game back on them x's 10.

I would submit that every single thing we view on the news is conscious manipulation of one sort or another.

That is why the holy concept of "democracy" today is a hilarious sham. We have the "right" to vote for whomever the media deem appropriate. Some freedom.

Our judicial system is broken, It is NO more, there is nothing JUST about it. It is the biggest threat to our Democracy.

While I agree that the judicial system is broken, it couldn't STAY that way without the support of the media. NOTHING in this society could continue without media support.

Another thing that is broken beyond repair is "our democracy" but it would take all day to cover that one...