The Victory of 'Perception Management'

[raspberry-blower]

Interesting article on the rise of the "perception management" that is US centric in its viewpoint although it is relevant over this side of the pond

This commitment to what the insiders called “perception management” began in earnest with the Reagan administration in the 1980s but it would come to be the accepted practice of all subsequent administrations, including the present one of President Barack Obama.

In that sense, propaganda in pursuit of foreign policy goals would trump the democratic ideal of an informed electorate. The point would be not to honestly inform the American people about events around the world but to manage their perceptions by ramping up fear in some cases and defusing outrage in others – depending on the U.S. government’s needs.

Thus, you have the current hysteria over Russia’s supposed “aggression” in Ukraine when the crisis was actually provoked by the West, including by U.S. neocons who helped create today’s humanitarian crisis in eastern Ukraine that they now cynically blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Yet, many of these same U.S. foreign policy operatives – outraged over Russia’s limited intervention to protect ethic Russians in eastern Ukraine – are demanding that President Obama launch an air war against the Syrian military as a “humanitarian” intervention there.

What is lost in the fog of all this is a media that is able to think critically for the public and ask demanding questions of its elected representatives. Instead, in its place, we have a compliant, cheer leading lamestream media that parrots the official BS line with barely a murmur

Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is bigger than ever, but his neocon messaging barely stands out as distinctive, given how the neocons also have gained control of the editorial and foreign-reporting sections of the Washington Post, the New York Times and virtually every other major news outlet. For instance, the demonizing of Russian President Putin is now so total that no honest person could look at those articles and see anything approaching objective or evenhanded journalism. Yet, no one loses a job over this lack of professionalism.

It's equally as depressing in the UK

Article in full: The Victory of 'Perception Management'

While on the subject, a quick heads up about a new Adam Curtis documentary on BBC iplayer Bitter Lake out 25/01/2015

[Mr. Fox]

a quick heads up about a new Adam Curtis documentary on BBC iplayer Bitter Lake out 25/01/2015

There was a nice little segment (tinged with a little anti-Russian propaganda) from Curtis in Charlie Brooker's "2014 wipe", which aired last night - begins at 28:30.

[Mr. Fox]

A recent post on ZeroHedge has Curtis' 'Century of the Self' embedded - (RB is Tyler Durden and I claim my £5! )

"This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy," begins Adam Curtis, as he describes the propaganda that Western governments and corporations have utilized stemming from Freud's theories (and his nephew Bernays).

The business and political world uses psychological techniques to read, create and fulfill the desires of the public, to make their products or speeches as pleasing as possible to consumers and citizens. Curtis raises the question of the intentions and roots of this fact. Where once the political process was about engaging people's rational, conscious minds, as well as facilitating their needs as a society, the documentary shows how by employing the tactics of psychoanalysis, politicians appeal to irrational, primitive impulses that have little apparent bearing on issues outside of the narrow self-interest of a consumer population.

The words of Paul Mazur, perhaps ironically working for Lehman Brothers at the time, sum it all up: "We must shift America from a 'needs' to a 'desires' culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed... Man's desires must overshadow his needs."

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-0 ... -democracy

If you've not watched it, it's probably a good primer for 'Bitter Lake'.

Also, Illargi at 'The Automatic Earth' wrote a good piece the other day on why he thinks that '2014 [is] The Year Propaganda Came Of Age', which is worth a read.

[another_exlurker]

A recent post on ZeroHedge has Curtis' 'Century of the Self' embedded - (RB is Tyler Durden and I claim my £5! )

No, I'm Tyler Durden!

Also, Illargi at 'The Automatic Earth' wrote a good piece the other day on why he thinks that '2014 [is] The Year Propaganda Came Of Age', which is worth a read.

Good analysis.

[RogerCO]

Isn't this (the OP) just a restatement of what Chomsky was talking about in Manufacrturing Consent 20 odd years ago? And has been well understood by all those who have one foot even partially outside the dominant systeme-de-jour since the dawn of time.

Syria//Ukraine, Cambodia//East Timor and so on. One side's terrorist is the other side's freedom fighter.

But that doesn't make the points any less valid and pertinant.

Up until the 90's we worried (and still worry) about mass-media control. Interesting now to reflect on whether the Internet is turning out to be the force for open communication that it promised, or whether it has been coopted (explicit or implicitly) into the control mechanisms which governb our perceptions and our lives.

Now here's a cute picture of a kitten...

[kenneal - lagger]

Syria has got to the stage where there are baddies on both sides so we're probably best standing back and letting them blow each other to smithereens. If we see who comes out on top we can then decide what to do.

If we take sides we are going to be damned and if we don't we will still be damned so we might as well let them both get on with it and fight what is left because the winners are likely to want revenge whoever they are.

[raspberry-blower]

Syria has got to the stage where there are baddies on both sides so we're probably best standing back and letting them blow each other to smithereens. If we see who comes out on top we can then decide what to do.

If we take sides we are going to be damned and if we don't we will still be damned so we might as well let them both get on with it and fight what is left because the winners are likely to want revenge whoever they are.

You've demonstrated the victory of perception management very well there Ken.
Firstly, Western lamestream media relies on the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights - a one man operation - Rami Abdelraham - who currently resides in Coventry. He is unreliable source of information yet is continually mentioned by the likes of BBC.
Why is this guy unreliable? For a start, look at his narrative and then look at what he is actually saying. His view was that the Syrian Government forces attacked its own citizens as the starting point for this conflict. If this was true, then Syrian Government forces casualty rates would be the lowest quoted - yet, according to Mr Abdelraham, the highest number of casualties are - you guessed it - Syrian Government forces. This means one of three things. Either
A) The central narrative of Mr Abdelraham is wrong(i.e. it was an invasion of satanic hoardes and all those news reports of Syrian troops firing on its own citizens carefully avoided the "rebels who fired first
B) The casualty figures cited are incorrect - i.e. rebel casualties are higher than stated or that Government troop losses are not as severe as posted
OR
C) Both of the above.
This leads to an inescapable conclusion: that the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is a political tool and should not be relied upon for fair and subjective analysis of this conflict.

This is another example of the attempts by Western lamestream media to besmirch Bashar Al Assad's forces.

What should we do now?
1) Recognise Bashar Al Assad as the legitimate leader of Syria
2) Engage in meaningful peace negotiations which include Iran and Russia

Not going to happen though