Transcript American Media: Information or Manipulation

American Media and Why
Americans Can Be So
Uninformed
The Impact of the Various Media
• Decoding the message
– Visual Images
• Still images
• Moving images
– Aural messages
• Drama series--Dicky, Dick, Dickens
– Written messages
Can the Media Manipulate
• Visual manipulation
– Subliminal affect
– Fantasy creation
• Aural manipulation
– Music and consumer behavior
• Written manipulation
– Loaded vocabulary
The Concentration of Power in
American Media
• Rupert Murdoch
– Censorship—”Stupid White Men”
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NBC—General Electric
CBS—Disney
ABC—Viacom
CNN—Times Warner
Knight Ridder—owns over 50 newspapers
Uninformed Americans
• Students at prestigious universities scored
53% on a high school level multiple choice
test—ex. When was the Civil War?
• 40% could not name the Vice-President
• 11% read a daily newspaper
• 44 million are functionally illiterate
• Most Americans get their news on TV
– Read books 99 hours/yr watch TV 1460 hours
The Media as the Fourth Branch of
Government
• The Media’s functions are:
– To provide the public with adequate
information to make informed political choices
– To watchdog the political process and keep
politicians accountable to the public
– To raise political issues
• The question is whether the American
media is fulfilling this goal.
The Necessity of Having Media
Which Fulfills this Role
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Abu Ghraib,
Guantanamo,
War in Iraq: WMD and al-Qaeda connection
The Carlyle Group
Global Warming
Enron
Abuse of civil rights & the Patriot Act
– George Bush described the Constitution as “a goddamned piece
of paper.”
– "It was a shameful act for someone to disclose this important
program in a time of war.“— Leak to the NY Times/surveillance
• The Wilson-Plame case
• Planting news and journalists
American media
• The historical background
• The good news
– PBS
– The New York Times/Washington Post (sometimes)
• The bad news (sometimes)
– The Networks—CBS, NBC, ABC
– Local newspapers
• The horrible news
– Fox, talk radio & government disinformation
Historical background
• The Puritan influence
– A city on a hill—the new society as a beacon
to the world
– Good vs. evil
– Right thinking and conformity (unAmericanism??)—Do Americans want to be
informed?
– “One nation under God”
• Senate 99-0
• House 417-3
Historical background
• The American Dream
– Hope for the downtrodden and a source of
optimism (blind optimism??)
– A belief that the individual is responsible for
his own fate and should chart his own course.
• “There is no such thing as society, only individuals
and their families”—Margaret Thatcher
• Can a nation chart its own course and disregard a
global context?
Historical Justification for “A City on
a Hill”
• “Give us your tired, your hungry, your
huddled masses, yearning to breath free.”
– The USA provided refuge and opportunity for
40 million Europeans from 1825-1925.
• The USA experienced the greatest
industrial expansion the world has ever
known.
• The USA saved Europe twice.
• The Marshall Plan, the UN, NATO
Historical background
• The American Dream
• Do we believe in the rightness of our country
and our right to chart are own course to the point
that we become totally uncritical to the direction
of that course and its consequences?
• You are either with us or against us.
The impact of 9/11
Is being critical, being un-American?
• How much do we want to know from people who are against
us including the media?
The aftermath of 9/11
• What were the two most bought items the
days after 9/11?
• Up until 2004,47% of Americans polled felt
that Saddam Hussein was involved in the
9/11 attack and 74% felt that he had
connections with al-Qaeda.
Broadcast Decency Act
• Bans nudity and profanity on TV
• The fine is up to $325,000 per incident
• The outcry after Janet Jackson’s breast
exposure during the Super Bowl half-time show
led to this legislation.
• Cable and satellite stations do not face such
restriction.
• Some “live shows” are delayed to allow
censorship
• Some TV hosts have been fired due to profanity.
Profanity and Nudity
• What is profanity?
– Bono’s exclamation on winning the Golden
Globe award, “It’s fucking brilliant,” was
declared not profane as it had nothing to do
with sex. Is sex profane??
• Are TV stations speculating in sex and
profanity to increase the dosage to keep
their audience or are they simply a
reflection of real life? How real life is “Sex
in the City?”
Enter commercial media
• BBC’s governor once said: “BBC should
provide the programming that people
should want to watch.”
• What is the goal of American commercial
media?
– Providing the programming and information
that people want to watch???
Conclusion
• An uncritical belief in the rightness of America
and its right to do (just as it is the right of all
right-thinking individuals) to do just what it wants
(naturally with the grace of God).
• The sense that you are either with us or against
us and in “times of war” we need to employ
extreme means.
– “It’s a shame that the press disclosed our surveillance
activities because that aids the enemy.”—G.W. Bush
– Pressure on the press to present the right version.
The good news
• PBS—Public Broadcasting Service
– Independent stations which cooperate in
program sharing
– Funded by viewer and foundation donations
• Non-commercial
– Culture, news, documentaries, series and
debate
• The best visual source of information—equals BBC
More good news
• NPR—National Public Radio
– Independent stations which cooperate in program
sharing
– Funded by viewer and foundation donations
• Non-commercial
– Culture, news, documentaries, series and debate
• The best aural source of information—equals BBC
• Don’t miss “Prairie Home Companion”
• Tuning in—NPR, NPR Everywhere (left hand column),
NPR Worldwide
Some good news
• The NY Times and Washington Post
– Critical journalism
– Have disclosed Washington lies
• But, sometimes they wait a bit too long
– Surveillance scandal was known before the election
2004—why did they sit on it?
– Limited circulation and appeals to an elite
The Questionable News
• 200 Christian TV channels
• 1500 Christian radio stations
• Questionable?
– These stations are almost always
fundamentalist and support the Christian
right’s key issues such as Creationism, prayer
in schools, and anti-gay and anti-abortion
issues.
• Where was the press 2008: rigged election
The Bad News: FOX
• The news is biased and verges on rightwing propaganda.
• Fox has replaced the networks & CNN as
the source of news for most Americans.
• While 47% of those primarily receiving
their news from NBC thought that there
was a between Saddam Hussein and al
Qaida, 74% of those primarily receiving
their news from Fox thought the same.
FOX
• A FOX newscaster, Glen Beck said of
Obama; ”he is a fascist, nazi and marxist.
• Rush Limbaugh’s undeniable truths
– ”The earth’s eco system is not fragile.”
– ”Feminism was established as to allow
unattractive women easier access to the
mainstream of society.”
• These newscasters play on antiintellectual and anti-government feelings
Ann Coulter on FOX
• “God said so: Go forth, be fruitful, multiply,
and rape the planet—it’s yours. That’s our
job: drilling, mining, and stripping. “
• Vester: You say you'd rather not talk to
liberals at all?
Coulter: I think a baseball bat is the most
effective way these days.
• My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he
did not go to the New York Times building.
The Media Dilemma
• The shift from the traditional media to the
net.
– Reliable newspapers such as NY Times and
Washington Post are suffering what many
paper versions are, declining circulation and
profits—what will take over their role?
• All sources on the net are not reliable
• News on your cell may not be as in depth, nor will
you take the time to read an in dept report—news
on the go, is not as thorough.
The Media Dilemma
• New media outcompete traditional and
often more in depth media such as quality
newspapers
– Facebook, computer games, chatting absorb
time with little or no informative function
except how drunk you got on Saturday and
who broke up with whom.
– Are the new media, ego focused rather than
other forcused or are the interactive and
inclusive?
The New Media as a
Democratic Force
• Obama’s campaign brought millions into
the loop and gave them a voice
• Civil rights and consumer action groups
can spread their message.
– The straight party line has a competitor
• Consumers can access information about
products they are considering buying.
Kinda bad news
• The Networks (CBS, NBC & ABC)
– Their ownership
• The players, NBC (General Electric) , CBS (Viacom), ABC
(Disney) Fox (Murdoch) CNN (Time Warner)
– Corporation where the bottom line is the deciding factor
– Entertainment is the focus on Viacom & Disney
• They are intertwined owning stock in each other, do joint
ventures & divide profits.
• Vertically integrated squeezing out competitors.
• News coverage is tending toward sensationalism
– Crime in the U.S. went down 20%, but its coverage in the TV
news media went up 600% recently.
American TV
• The networks’ focus--entertainment
– Programming--the diet (talk, soap, action, news,
public service, sports, sit-coms, games,
documentaries)
– The message
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Competition
Style and status
Glamour and self-absorption
Crime—blacks, violence and fear
Middle class conformity—a non-critical orientation
Conspicuous consumption
HBO and Quality TV
• A new trend
• HBO challenges standard American TV’s
concept of infotainment based on standard
scenarios.
• Sex in the City, Six Feet Under, Sopranos
all challenge not only American morality
but success fixation which characterizes
American TV.
HBO’s Advantage
• HBO is doing a disservice to its viewers and the
American people by presenting polygamy as a
valid lifestyle choice.—a statement by a
conservative commentator
• Unfortunately, “Big Love” has a better chance at
survival than “Daniel,” because HBO doesn’t
have advertisers to answer to.
– If subscribers want it, they can get it without the
station fearing reprisals by sponsors.
– Sponsorship flatten and waters down the message.
American Films
• The original purpose—maintaining the Am.
Dream
• Film scenarios today
– The struggling loner
– Success
– The happy ending
– Action and violence
– Special effects—the spectacular
American Films cont.
• Pushing the button and getting a reaction
– Sex, violence, action, control & glamour
• Films are so expensive that they have to
grab mass audiences.
– Entertainment is valued at the expense of
reflection.
– Tied in to marketing schemes for products
• Often the contracts with consumer goods
producers insure the financial success of the film.
Local press
• Most mid-sized towns and almost all small towns
have only one newspaper.
– The local editor has a monopoly on the news
– The news is often limited to at best local and national
news.
• The smaller the town, the greater the focus on local news.
• Little latitude for liberal thinking.
– Subscribers cancel their subscription.
Fox TV—the very bad news
The horrible news
• Talk shows
– Anti-government attitude
• Conspiracy combined with sensationalism.
• The more controversy, the greater the ratings
• Right-wing emphasis
• The overwhelming majority of the hosts
– Rush Limbaugh & Ann Coulter
• 600 radio stations broad cast Limbaugh to between
15-20 million Americans
• 35 undeniable truths
• Ronald Reagan was the U.S.’s best president
• The earth’s eco-system is not fragile
• Feminism was established as to allow unattractive
women easier access to the mainstream of society
American Advertising
• A reflection of American values
– Appeals to self-images: Sexines, power, control,
smarts, carefree life, popularity, happiness and status
• Life style: The Coca Cola life style
– Coke redefined Santa Claus
• Mono-culture
• Americans have seen ½ million TV ads by the
time they are 18. Ads can be shown every 8 min.
• Impact world wide--Americanization?
Advertising
• The U.S. economy is dependent on
personal consumption
– It represents 2/3 of the GDP and 2/3 of
production goes to this market.
• Goals
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Need creation
Insecurity creation
Image reinforcement
Consumption as a joy and a necessity
Advertising’s Negative Impact
• After WW II the American economy
expanded
– A new working class with rising incomes
emerged
– ”Keeping up with the Joneses”
• An extension of ”conspicuous consumption.”
• We are what we own and our status is reflected in
what we can buy.
Advertising’s Negative Impact
• Advertising quickly inspired the working
and middle class to use the increasing
income to consume.
• However, from 1973 to the present, real
wages have declined, but encouraged by
advertising, consumption continued.
– How: credit cards
– Consumer debt in the U.S. is $2.5 trillion, but
falling due to increased savings=stagnation
The Ads
• The excitement of consumption
– The announcer’s voice
– Being blasted with the necessity of having the
product.
• The necessity of having the latest product
– The ring about the block in Cambridge, Mass
to buy the latest sneekers.
– Lines to buy the latest video games
• Keying ads to selected programs
Political Ads
• Candidates spend hundreds of billions of $
– Makes them dependent on donors, many of
whom expect something for their investment.
• Politicians get tied to special interests.
• Obama avoided this somewhat buy appealing for
small donations through internet
• Dumbing down
– What political message can be sent in 30
seconds? Image creation rather than facts.
Conclusion
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The best and the worst
Infotainment
The 4th pillar of government
The dangerous gap between power and
information
The video clips
• Attack TV
• Political coverage—The networks
– Scandal and sensationalism
– Winners and losers, but no detail
• Distortion--Fox