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Facts Not Fear
Last night I was at a restaurant where CNN was playing silently over the bar. (Please refer to my most recent post about television if you’ve ever wondered why there always seems to be a tv playing in places like this)
CNN’s entire brand identity, from what I can tell, rests on the fact that it is not Fox News. They kept displaying a screen with an absurd slogan, something like: “GET THE FACTS, NOT FEAR.” Which, as far as I can make out is a jab at their arch-rival in the cable news realm (or would that be MSNBC? I don’t know). The same sentiment is parroted as well by liberals who admit that CNN may be biased (though only sometimes), but at least it’s not Fox News.
I hate to break it to anyone, but that’s complete bull. CNN is just as bad, and if you think it’s not as bad, that’s simply because you are the audience that it targets. Propaganda is not transparent to its target. They are more clever than that. If you’d like proof of any of this yourself, here is the best I can offer. We were at the restaurant about an hour and a half. The whole time they simply hammered this latest terrorist “threat, not letting up for a moment to report about anything else. In between all the talk about how air travel is threatened though, they played commercial after commercial of - you guessed it - ads for airlines and hotels!
You’d think they would stop somewhere. You’d think ‘they’ would hit some kind of wall of human decency, where they would wake up groggily and be like, “Whoa! What the hell have we been doing?” Instead, they just drill away, blasting through layer after layer of the American mind, cutting down to poison the juicy throbbing core below it all…
Look at what CNN is doing. They are expertly fueling fear on the one hand and desire on the other, and the trick works so damned beautifully because the whole thing is wrapped in a veneer of strictly intellectual “facts” which are intended to keep you informed, keep you smart. All the while, fear and desire are their true products - the double bind and eventual psychosis their end goal.
Well, at least it’s not Fox News…
August 12th, 2006 at 4:18 pm
yes, you summed it up beautifully…TV is all about fear and desire. By this product or you won’t have sex and watch out for this evil thing….blah blah blah. Entertaining at times though.
August 12th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Here is a good summary CNN’s BS
http://clips.mediamatters.org/issues_topics/outlets/cnn
August 12th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
In my local poker group we have a Phd. in Journalism who plays a fair game. Last week I gave him this quiz:
If there is a vast liberal media conspiracy please name me the liberal equivalents of the following, (in terms of power, influence, money etc.):
FOX News
FOX News Lite (AKA CNN)
Rush Limbaugh
Ann Coulter
Sean Hannity
Neil Cavuto
Though he is a confessed right winger (a rarity in academia) he could only list one person from NPR that is quite popular - though I have never heard of him.
But your main point is well taken - both Cable News channels are basically propoganda. As a source of information on current events they are virtually useless. Though I admit they have a certain usefulness but not to me.
On a side note - I was thinking about weather manipulation today. If they could do it to increase profits of utility companies they would. I think they may have already tried.
August 12th, 2006 at 6:07 pm
I just catch glimpses of CNN from time to time and it’s amazing how radically…..militant
the news has become.
Since most Americans don’t have the time or inclination to read past the front page on their way to the Sports/Comics section, those that do feel they are getting ‘educated’ from watching cable news on their way to American Idol are under the illusion that since there seemingly is a turf war -on cable or in politics- it must be ‘real’ , valid and unmanipulated.
I might add that most are not aware that Al-Jazzeera (S.A.) was purchased by FOX back a few years ago.
August 12th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
I’m personally a fan of cable news, though I agree it is important to watch with a skeptical eye.
AJ, what are you talking about? Fox does not own Aljazeera, it is funded by the Emir of Qatar, proxied through the Qatari goverment…though there was some change in the arrangement a few years back.
Ronin
August 12th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
For what reason?
What does that mean though, precisely? How does someone know what to filter out with their skepticism?
Perhaps this is the source of the Fox/Al Jazeera rumor, which seems to be labelled as “satire”:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6894936/
August 12th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
Yeah, Anderson Cooper is a beautiful paradoxical poster boy for the modern age.
Fear, desire, intellegent quips and commentary.
August 13th, 2006 at 7:38 am
[…] One of my favorite writers, Tim Boucher of Pop Occulture, is in a snit after listening to CNN playing at a bar. He says the Chicken Noodle News Network markets itself as the “Un-Fox News” I hate to break it to anyone, but that’s complete bull. CNN is just as bad, and if you think it’s not as bad, that’s simply because you are the audience that it targets. Propaganda is not transparent to its target. They are more clever than that. If you’d like proof of any of this yourself, here is the best I can offer. We were at the restaurant about an hour and a half. The whole time they simply hammered this latest terrorist “threat, not letting up for a moment to report about anything else. In between all the talk about how air travel is threatened though, they played commercial after commercial of - you guessed it - ads for airlines and hotels! […]
August 13th, 2006 at 10:48 am
Where can you turn where there is not fear, desire, and opinion? Everything is biased, I think it’s maybe a bit of an overanalysis to say that CNN is purposely doing all this sneaky stuff behind everyones back. Of course they’re in it to make money, of course they have ads. I think people on the whole are a lot better at realizing when they’re bing sold something than “we” think. You’re not the only one who knows the news is biased!
I do think it’s every thinking person’s job to take what they see and decide what the really believe, same goes with the bible etc. etc.
I just think it’s silly to expect anything other than exactly what you’re pointing out. Fear and desire? Isn’t that what we all feed on? At a basic level aren’t we all just really acting in our own interest and our own opinion?
By the way I’ve read your site for a while, I think it’s great.
August 13th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
I’m not suggesting they’re doing anything behind anyone’s back or that the ultimate goal isn’t to make money…
August 13th, 2006 at 3:25 pm
Wait a second… where did I say that I was the only one who thought this? Your reaction seems to indicate some kind of threat perceived to your feeling of uniqueness. Nowhere was that indicated in my text…
August 13th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
My point is that bias is inevitable. I don’t think I’m unique, I think most people know what’s up and that’s exactly my point. If someone were to read your post and think this was the biggest problem in society today I would disagree, because I think most people to some degree know what you’re talking about. And I think the problem of bias itself can’t be solved completely.
I don’t disagree with anything that you’ve said, I’m only trying to point out that the CNN situation is not unique. The idea of bias and greed is not a revalation (and neither does it need to be you can write about what you want) But I’m just trying to expand what you said to different situations - the themes you’re talking about can be applied to a whole lot of topics. I hope you don’t misunderstand.
You aren’t the only one who knows the news is biased, and thank god. I did not intend that to be an insult nor do I actually believe you think you’re the only one who knows.
August 13th, 2006 at 6:37 pm
Wassup,
First off, you got me. I was trying to figure out what word to use and was just blanking so I threw in “skeptical.” The term I shoulda used is “critical”…”watch with a critical eye.”
Yea, be aware of the bias… but, more than that. Be aware of the story “they” are trying to tell. Be aware of the premises of the story and the world-view it takes to have those premises. This sounds complicated, but its really quite easy because there is only a few types of world-views that get “reported.” Figure ‘em out and your golden.
And I am a fan of cable news. I think it is a good avenue for getting information (though it certainly shouldn’t be your only avenue), and not so good for getting a solid analysis of that information (there are some notable exceptions). Is there too much desire and fear…yea, and it gets annoying, but there is solid reporting in there as well. As a whole, I believe the people are more informed about the world than they were before the birth of CNN.
It is also important to note that information from the tv has to be balanced by the internet, newspapers, magazines, books, lectures, classes, travel, etc. Its much easier to call bs on a news story if you know the history of the region or know a few people who live there an can talk to them directly.
I go through phases, but right now I’m stuck on PBS, C-SPAN, and CNBC. Three months ago it was MSNBC and ESPN. FIve months ago I didn’t watch any tv. Like I said phases.
Be Good,
Ronin
August 14th, 2006 at 10:53 am
You might enjoy Neil Postman’s “How to watch the news,” it’s a real good look inside the sausage factory…
As for me, I’ve not trusted the news since seeing Bill o’reilly describe a friend’s murder and having the story so badly twisted I didn’t even know he was talking about someone I knew until halfway through the segment..(!) A few years after that I was interviewed at a political gathering and they actually spliced my words together to make it sound like I was on the opposite side of the fence. As far as i’m concerned, if it’s not in writing, with references, it didn’t happen.
August 14th, 2006 at 11:23 am
Yep. Like the Chinese proverb: the fish doesn’t see the water.
August 16th, 2006 at 11:11 pm
i have gotten to the point that i cynically dissect anything resembling ‘news’ that comes my way. look for the inputs and the outputs. try to think like them. what serves them? what serves the party line? what possible events and changes in the psychic climate of the worlds benefit them?
from that second comment:
On a side note - I was thinking about weather manipulation today. If they could do it to increase profits of utility companies they would. I think they may have already tried.
http://www.haarp.net/
yes, they have. a fair few times.
-k