Communications Disappear
One very important fact is being neglected today. The children today actually believe everything they read on the internet, learn in school, read on FACEBOOK and watch on TV.
We view the world through a haze of propaganda. Almost every message sent to us is some form of propaganda. The most basic form is commercials. Advertising is purposeful propaganda created to motivate us toward a specific action (buy a new car). There’s nothing wrong with that. We know that anything in an advertisement is suspect and to be a wise consumer we need to check things out.
It is other messages that disturb me. For example, I recently saw a government sponsored (I guess you’d call it a public service announcement) ad about heath screenings for the elderly and how it can save lives. That statement is true for all of us but in the PSA the actor says, “The health care law lets those of us on Medicare now get most preventive care for free.”
First off this is a poorly written sentence and maybe written that way to create a little confusion as your listening but for sure you take away ‘the health care law,’ ‘preventive,’ and ‘free.’ This gives the impression that the “new” healthcare law (not in force yet) provides free “preventative” care. But that’s not true. What the actor is really telling the elderly is, “some preventitve healthcare screenings are covered under the current Medicare laws. As you can see a subtle yet very different message. To see the ad go to http://youtu.be/Z5bjUYgfqhw.
When Allen and Green developed “The Propaganda Game” they based it on George Henry Moulds book Thinking Straighter. This book is out of print but the game is available from WFF ‘N PROOF at http://wffnproof.com/inc/sdetail/127. I suggest everyone buy a copy and play it with your teenagers.
For example a very common form of propaganda used by the press is “Quotation out of context.” In this case the press uses only the part of a quote to support their particular agenda. The best recent example is the way NBC News edited George Zimmerman’s 911 call prior to him shooting Trayvon Martin. Now the issue about should he/should’t he have shot isn’t the issue. As important as that event is even more important is the actions of NBC NEWS in altering the story to help create specific actions by the public and impact opinions formed.
Just that easily a lie can be told, shrouded like truth and everyone is calling for Zimmerman’s arrest. For me, an apology from NBC won’t cut it. They have lost credibility as a new source. They promise “necessary steps” will be taken “to prevent this from happening in the future” but what are those actions? For me they would include cleaning house at NBC from the top down.
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