Propaganda and Media Manipulation

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 How do you communicate? Do you tend to say what you feel, or are you more likely to reserve any statements until someone else agrees? Most people are not aware of these types of things, in our everyday lives we tend to deal with conversation as casual and not an exchange of vital information, but for those working in public fields, the intentions of their words can hold a wealth of opportunity or doom them to failure. 

Strategic communication becomes quite necessary in the field of politics. Messages conveyed by politicians has to not only be persuasive but has to fit within an overall ideology while not sounding uniform. The individual nature of our candidates is an important part of selecting them for office, but it is also essential for them to appear (at least) in line with the prevailing beliefs of their larger political party. The process of running a political campaign, however, is much less focused on real issues and much more intensely focused on framing the public debate and using professionally crafted rhetoric to sway audiences in a favorable direction. 

For the average, everyday citizen, the media is seen as a tool to serve THEM. News is presumably a collection of the most important stories, not simply the stories selected for benefit to ratings, political affiliations, and favoring advertisers. The documentary above incorporates a full range of topics concerning spin doctors and public relations, media manipulation on a national level, and political corruption, all simply due to one man who noticed his satellite television feed was picking up a little more than he expected. 

Candid moments captured happen as a result of how the satellite systems work, pulling direct feeds as they are sent out to networks prior to the actual network, minus all bells, whistles, and advertising. Many politicians, as media savvy as they are, did not realize that these signals were being viewed and subsequently recorded. As anyone involved in television will tell you, the real show occurs during commercial breaks anyway... 

This excellent collection of unfiltered footage stands as proof to the unfamiliar that the news and its contents are very much diluted by those that intend to control all aspects of public information. It shows the professionals who spend every waking hour using the many scientific theories developed on persuasive and strategic communication. The most unethical aspect to this process gives more credibility to the direct effects model, since information is taken as fact without much question when it is presented in the format of something as trusted and familiar as the evening news. 

KIDS react to ROTARY PHONES

In a recent video posted by Youtubers TheFineBros, children of various ages ranging from as young as 5 and as old as 13 were introduced to a piece of history, some for the very first time; a rotary phone. One of the funniest clips in a while, this video documents the reactions of how old, clunky, and useless these phones are to a generation of kids who have grown accustomed to converging technology that fits in their pockets. This ties into chapter two of our text, Converging Media: A New Introduction to Mass Communication, which deals with media literacy and the changing media landscape. The kids are asked to figure out how to function the relic and can barely believe that this was our primary means of communication once upon a time. When asked to text on the phone, one young girl is perplexed but soon realizes that life before texting meant actually CALLING a friend to talk about anything, big or small. Some questions were quite valid, such as the boy who pondered what we did in the event of an emergency away from home. Mostly, it was interesting to see the kids interact and speak in such a sophisticated nature, mirroring the advances technology has made in the brief time of their life spans. To be young today is almost like being born into a totally new age of media literacy.

Pavlik, J. V., & McIntosh, S. (2011). Converging media: A new introduction to mass communication. New York: Oxford University Press.

 KIDS REACT TO ROTARY PHONES [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://youtu.be/XkuirEweZvM

KIDS REACT TO ROTARY PHONES (Bonus #97) [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://youtu.be/K0nDfE3tfRE

Para-Relationships and the RoboCop Remake...

As someone who is old enough to have seen the original 1987 RoboCop in theaters, I can't lie, a remake was a dreaded reality once it was revealed that the film would be reworked into a PG-13 version for current audiences. The bad taste in my mouth left by the Total Recall debacle was still lingering, and hope was lost further when the initial preview showed a fight scene that looked more like something out of a Terminator revamp, with digital robots clanging away by the thousands and a computer generated RoboCop doing his best Chow Yun Fat impersonation. 

See, the film industry is based on finance for the creators, but for fans its all about the magic. Not the imaginary, the real...the para-relationship created between the character on screen and the everyday people in the audience. This is where the shock came, as what I assumed was going to be a campy, contrived remake of a hit film was actually much, much more.

The new RoboCop sought out to make a film about loss, morals, and faith in one's spiritual nature as a person to override the oppressive forces at work in the universe. I know, sounds like a bit much, but this film actually focused on the plot of a man being used as a pawn in a much larger scheme for money and power. The evil empire known as OmniCorp is looking to expand its war robotics program into domestic police work, but they are forced to find a way to make this unnatural transition more palatable to the public. The solution is creating a robot with the capability to make human decisions. Caught in the middle of this is a man who has his own battle to fight, trying to fathom being a father to a child and husband while living with the ultimate sacrifice of giving his life to become this robot. The story is brought home by using a very creative comparison to amputees who have taken robotic limbs to help them perform the tasks that once came so natural. 

When put into this perspective, the story becomes incredibly engrossing when you view RoboCop as another public servant who is forced to cope with the worst case scenario of their sworn duties. The conversation about robotics is even much more relevant, brought into parallel with the current debate on using drone technology that is currently used in war into our domestic realm. This interweaving of newsworthy themes into an already familiar story is similar to using trans-media storytelling, since we tend to make quick associations with what is familiar to us. Samuel L. Jackson plays a very 'Bill O'Reily' like character, who uses his program as a propaganda machine for the talking points of the powerful OCP company to push their agenda of robotics for police work. 

The most impressive moment of the entire film was actually void of much dialogue or action at all. The scene in which RoboCop finally goes home to see his family for the first time since his accident, he walks into his home again and his wife lays her hand on his chest, resulting in the most hollow, mechanical sound you could imagine. The work of the engineers to create this moment, with such a spot on sound, which was followed by her laying her head across the chest of what used to be her husband, happy to have him but knowing she will never have him again the way she was used to. This single sound effect drove home the point much more effectively than the many montages of the original movie where the hero reminisced over his lost family. I am happy to eat my words and admit that RoboCop was not only a solid remake, but a much more emotionally involving film that not only conveyed the senses of the main characters but included some very critical commentary about the current state of politics and the companies that sponsor the madness of our leaders.




Pavlik, J. V., & McIntosh, S. (2011). Converging media: A new introduction to mass communication. New York: Oxford University Press.  

Verhoeven, P. (Director). (1987). Robocop [Motion picture]. 

 Padilha, J. (Director). (2014). Robocop [Motion picture].