Propaganda in the media

Msg

The Fifth Horseman

01-28-03

I don't know about anyone here, but I'm getting a little uncomfortable with the direction the media is headed.

Look at this. For the last few years, the major companys have been buying up all of the nations resources for proper information.

The top six media conglomerates.

1. AOL/Time Warner - The number one internet provider AMERICA ONLINE has
combined with the number one TIME WARNER; which
owns CNN.

2. DISNEY - They own ABC.
3. VIACOM - They own CBS
4. RUPERT MURDOCH'S NEWS CORP - They own FOX.
5. BERTELSMANN FIRM - Based in Germany, the only big sixer that doesn't
own a major U.S television station. What they do
own though is RANDOM HOUSE, one of the largest
book publishers.
6.GENERAL ELECTRIC - They have owned NBC since 1986. MSNBC is from a
joint venture between GE and MICROSOFT. GE also
owns CNBC.

Propaganda has been around since World War one, when the tricked a pascifist America into fighting the Germans. Hitler has been stated as saying that Germany lost the Propaganda war in WW1. In WW2, you can notice the huge jump in German propaganda. They even used an Olympics ceremony to promote Nazism.

Am I just paranoid, or is the first ammendment looking very distant?

__________________
"I know a man who was born with his heart on the outside. Every man's worst fear, he also had heavy hands. he couldn't touch his lovers face, he couldn't hold a baby." - Buck 65

Last edited by Travis_Bickle; 01-28-03 at 11:27 PM.

Yoda

Administrator

01-29-03

Originally posted by Travis_Bickle
Am I just paranoid, or is the first ammendment looking very distant?

How is the First Amendment looking distant?

Travis_Bickle

Msg

The Fifth Horseman

01-29-03

When a handfull of people control a huge sum of the information resources, editing out and censoring the news to their liking... you find nothing wrong with that.

You have to much trust in the world Yoda.

Yoda

Administrator

01-29-03

Originally posted by Travis_Bickle
When a handfull of people control a huge sum of the information resources, editing out and censoring the news to their liking... you find nothing wrong with that.

I didn't say there was nothing wrong with it. I asked you how it makes the First Amendment look "distant." I don't think it does. Don't take my word for it, though; read it for yourself:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Explain to me how the media is violating the First Amendment in any way, and then please explain to me what you would do to fix it without violating said amendment.

Originally posted by Travis_Bickle
You have to much trust in the world Yoda.

Seeing as how I haven't really taken a stance on the issue, I don't see how you can make value judgements. All I did was question your statement, which appears to be incorrect.

Sir Toose

Instrument of Pain

01-29-03

Look how many people were clueless about the way the US was viewed by the world pre-911...

including myself...

Travis_Bickle

Msg

The Fifth Horseman

01-29-03

Originally posted by Yoda

Explain to me how the media is violating the First Amendment in any way...

I never said that anything was being violated. I only said that it is looking distant. ie we are walking on thin ice.

If the Hells Angels biker club moved in next door to your house, would you like that? No law is being broken on the surface, but you know that inside that house all kinds of creepy things are going on.

Would you then like it if somebody said, "hey relax chris, those are nice guys... you're just being paranoid."

Yoda

Administrator

01-29-03

Originally posted by Travis_Bickle
I never said that anything was being violated. I only said that it is looking distant. ie we are walking on thin ice.

Okay. What is being done that THREATENS to violate the freedom of speech/freedom of the press?

Originally posted by Travis_Bickle
If the Hells Angels biker club moved in next door to your house, would you like that? No law is being broken on the surface, but you know that inside that house all kinds of creepy things are going on.

Would you then like it if somebody said, "hey relax chris, those are nice guys... you're just being paranoid."

Would I like it? No. But I wouldn't start complaining about the lack of law enforcement. And that's assuming they were, in fact, Hell's Angels. A fair amount of your worry here is, well, speculative.

chicagofrog

history *is* moralizing

12-03-04

i'm not sure if it was mentioned anywhere in another thread, but my *search* gave no result on all those discussions and arguments around Enigma.
whichever opinion one may have, the movie and the discussion about it are both examples of propaganda, seems to me.

MORE DISHONESTY ABOUT POLAND IN WORLD WAR II
New York--The British film "Enigma" is another stark example of the way the history of World War II is twisted and misrepresented.

Rather than just state the facts and show how much Poland contributed to deciphering Nazi Germany's secret code even before the war began, it fictionalized the story and created a character who was a traitor and gave him a Polish identity.

When the movie was first shown in English theaters, historian Norman Davies issued a public statement pointing out its outrageous manipulation of truth.

Now that "Enigma" has come to U.S. movie houses, the Polish American Congress Anti-Bigotry Committee issued the following statement addressed to the Motion Picture Association of America:

Mr. Jack Valenti
President
Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.
15503 Venture Blvd.
Encino, CA 91436

Dear Mr. Valenti:
We had the pleasure of meeting you in 1989 when you visited the MPAA's New York office.

We were present there for a conference with Charlene Soltz to express our objections to the film "Raising Arizona" which had targeted Polish Americans with denigrating and insulting references.

The British film "Enigma" is currently being distributed in the U.S. We would like to call your attention to the fact it is a movie, which has caused grave concern in the Polish community. It deliberately and invidiously misrepresents historical facts and implies they are true.

The Enigma machine was the instrument Nazi Germany used to transmit communications in a secret code. It was Polish cryptologists who were first to solve the mystery of the Enigma code and pass it on to the British for further development. In the movie, however, it is a Pole who is depicted as the villain of the entire story. Not only is Poland's important contribution to the ultimate Allied victory over Hitler completely obscured, but the audience is misled to conclude that the honor of this loyal and heroic nation was compromised.

We understand artistic privilege may allow for certain deviations from actual fact. But we question if there is any justification for intentionally fictionalizing the historical record and leaving the audience with the impression it is true. From the time the Nazis and Communists invaded Poland and began World War II in 1939, anti-Polish propaganda is something our community has had to contend with. It is disturbing, however, to see that some in the movie industry have often engaged in it themselves. More so when we observe it continues after so many years since the war.

and the opposite view:

http://goldmark.org/jeff/politics/polish-enigma/

what do y'all think?

__________________
We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need.

Golgot