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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (20593)	6/7/2005 5:49:24 PM
From: Ron	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361248

I suppose I agree with that to this extent: What the media wants to do is sell advertising.. lots and lots of advertising. And who responds best to consumer advertising? Folks who are highly suggestible. A researcher once said that if a bank president went out with a TV station manager on the golf course, and complimented him on his newscasts, told him he watched them regularly.. the station manager should immediately go back and fire the news department manager. Because the newscasts were appealing to the "wrong" demographic.. in other words highly educated sheep, rather than poorly educated ones.. TV News these days is primarily produced for folks who DON'T READ WELL. -- And yes, bread and circuses have been in the elite's toolkit since before Caesar....no surprise there. Imagine if they began televising executions live, just imagine the kind of audience that would draw.. especially if they packaged it like they... whoops.. we're back to pandering, aren't we?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (20593)	6/7/2005 7:13:15 PM
From: ThirdEye	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 361248

We all know Ray as an absolute confirmed cynic. And yes, I have my moments that approach his level. But for him to suggest a broad media conspiracy to distract us from reality is a bit over the top. Yes the MSM have been about selling something more than about telling us something ever since the invention of TV, and all the surveys and focus groups have been fine-tuned to a sharp edge, targeting ever more specific demographics with increasing effectiveness. And yes the effect has been to dumb down the entire population because that's what happens when you are trying to appeal to the broadest segments possible without alientating anyone. But I hardly think the objective is anything quite so grand as to distract us from the disintegration of democracy. I'm afraid it's a bit more mundane than that. Just money.