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.