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MEDIA
Propaganda “R” Us
“Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies…”
When people in the US talk about “both sides” of an issue, what they’re referring to is a construct manufactured by establishment media. Pick just about any “debate” in US politics, and all we’re getting are a pair of superficial narratives that leave out far more than they include. Everything is boiled down to opposing sets of slogans and hashtags that provide very little information, but make very strong narrative impressions.
The major outlets all have their own flavor, but none of them break out of these narrow confines. Not the New York Times, not Fox, not NPR, not CNN. Minor mainstream news outlets toe the line that these big boys draw. Most non-corporate, independent media — the podcasts, youtube channels, and substacks — are merely reacting to all of the above; they are just “the little screen commenting on the big screen,” as it’s been said. (
This is *exactly* what Chomsky was talking about when he said: “The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum….”
If “truth” has anything to do with a wide spectrum — and I personally think it does — then we’re sorely lacking it in our “debates” here.
So pick an issue: COVID, Ukraine, China, whatever, and we here in the US are getting a distinctly limited spectrum, *and* we are unaware of it. Everybody pipes up with their “own” opinion on the issue of the day, and within just a few words, we betray which media we consume, because all we’re doing is repeating it.