General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums14 Propaganda Techniques Fox “News” Uses to Brainwash Americans
1. Panic Mongering. This goes one step beyond simple fear mongering. With panic mongering, there is never a break from the fear. The idea is to terrify and terrorize the audience during every waking moment. From Muslims to swine flu to recession to homosexuals to immigrants to the rapture itself, the belief over at Fox seems to be that if your fight-or-flight reflexes arent activated, you arent alive. This of course raises the question: why terrorize your own audience? Because it is the fastest way to bypasses the rational brain. In other words, when people are afraid, they dont think rationally. And when they cant think rationally, theyll believe anything.
2. Character Assassination/Ad Hominem. Fox does not like to waste time debating the idea. Instead, they prefer a quicker route to dispensing with their opponents: go after the persons credibility, motives, intelligence, character, or, if necessary, sanity. No category of character assassination is off the table and no offense is beneath them. Fox and like-minded media figures also use ad hominem attacks not just against individuals, but entire categories of people in an effort to discredit the ideas of every person who is seen to fall into that category, e.g. liberals, hippies, progressives etc. This form of argument if it can be called that leaves no room for genuine debate over ideas, so by definition, it is undemocratic. Not to mention just plain crass.
3. Projection/Flipping. This one is frustrating for the viewer who is trying to actually follow the argument. It involves taking whatever underhanded tactic youre using and then accusing your opponent of doing it to you first. We see this frequently in the immigration discussion, where anti-racists are accused of racism, or in the climate change debate, where those who argue for human causes of the phenomenon are accused of not having science or facts on their side. Its often called upon when the media host finds themselves on the ropes in the debate.
4. Rewriting History. This is another way of saying that propagandists make the facts fit their worldview. The Downing Street Memos on the Iraq war were a classic example of this on a massive scale, but it happens daily and over smaller issues as well. A recent case in point is Palins mangling of the Paul Revere ride, which Fox reporters have bent over backward to validate. Why lie about the historical facts, even when they can be demonstrated to be false? Well, because dogmatic minds actually find it easier to reject reality than to update their viewpoints. They will literally rewrite history if it serves their interests. And theyll often speak with such authority that the casual viewer will be tempted to question what they knew as fact.
MORE...
http://churchandstate.org.uk/2011/07/14-propaganda-techniques-fox-news-uses-to-brainwash-americans/
ck4829
(35,077 posts)To inflate or deflate the appearance of numbers.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021899095
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)That's some blatant chart maneuvering. Pfft.
s-cubed
(1,385 posts)The next question, which is not addressed, (the article is from 2011) is what caused the large drop in Fox viewership and the belief in Fox's veracity? According to the article, viewers feel like part of a secret club? Was the election alone enough to shake their confidence in Fox? Somehow I don't think so, but I can't get inside the head of a Fox viewer enough to undertand.
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)in 2012 couldn't have been the only reason.
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)Throughout debate season, for example, MSNBC was consistently getting higher ratings. It has been a long time coming, but one-by-one people are catching onto how Faux operates.
And we've seen the same sort of decline in support for Limbaugh for the same reasons.
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)some stiff competition, too? That woman is a powerhouse!
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)What they learned in the last election is that they can't just hang out in their bunkers at Faux -- well, they can, but they will lose. Little by little, you are seeing Republicans venture timidly out into the open. The most extreme (and stupid) of the right-wingers will never open themselves to scrutiny, but a few are beginning to.
And as they do that, you are also seeing them struggle to appear less radical. None of this is very natural for them.
libtodeath
(2,888 posts)make sure the enemy is dark skinned.
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)although that is related to #4, rewriting history. The Faux people roll out of bed every morning with a sea of straw man arguments. Their programming is essentially 24x7 straw men all day long. I don't think they can ever report just the facts without first setting up a phoney straw man scenario.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,174 posts)+1
The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)RKP5637
(67,111 posts)Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)the FOX NEWS ALERT signal was going off, and then they showed Obama on a golf course. At that point, I was thinking in my mind 'how is this even news?'
PatrynXX
(5,668 posts)but at least he's not caught in a PR nightmare saying blah blah blah. now watch this drive... like I'm Bush and this Presidency thing is a joke
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="
" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Mnpaul
(3,655 posts)Is that rotating icon in the corner. I think it is hypnotizing them.
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)Not sure why but it's one that just rakes my coals.
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)Its already starting off without a source.
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)...sophomoric, cliquish and unprofessional. Ugh. Can't believe anyone falls for it. But then we are talking about teabillies, I guess.
EC
(12,287 posts)but the one that gets me the most is "The American People" followed by want or don't want, like they are actually listening to us.
derby378
(30,252 posts)japple
(9,831 posts)IDemo
(16,926 posts)ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)F*x relies heavily on the laziness and stupidity of its viewers. No wonder they define education as "elitist". It's easier to shovel bullshit into empty heads. pfft.
Coyotl
(15,262 posts)How to defeat Fox = Get folks to NOT watch!
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)Thus Fox's sorry-ass ratings of late.
Smilo
(1,944 posts)and fox is on - I get them to change to channel. And I am not alone
calimary
(81,304 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,365 posts)Thanks for the thread, ProfessionalLeftist.
socialindependocrat
(1,372 posts)The funny thing is that the Republican't party
utilizes "Character Suicide"
They find people who say stupid things that are generally unacceptable to the American people and ruin their own reputations.
Cantor
Lyin' Ryan
Romney (member him?)
The Ligitimate Rape Guy
Christine O'Donnel
John McCain
Sara Palin
West
Ron Paul (Turkey?)
Bachmann
Sanatorium
and
um, um, um, oh yeah - Rick Perry (almost forgot)
The list goes on and on and on....
Chakaconcarne
(2,453 posts)For a while. Thanks for the link.
libodem
(19,288 posts)Recommended. Bookmarked. Thanks.
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)Goebbels is smiling on FOX.
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)...as worn out as it is to say it, it's a Nazi Propaganda technique that both Fox and the effing GOOP use constantly. Fascist crap.
OldEurope
(1,273 posts)JimDandy
(7,318 posts)Zambero
(8,964 posts)Located at the bottom of the screen, pertaining to the topic being discussed. Fox News uses this technique diligently and often as a means to to sway viewer's perceptions on a wide range of issues.
For example, if the banner reads "Will Obmacare Raise Your Taxes?". The intended kneejeck reaction to the question will be: "Well, it's sure looking that way. Why would the question be raised otherwise? That does it. I HATE Obamacare!".
This approach also gives the network plausible deniability, since they are not declaring the banner question as factual, but merely "raising the question". Fair & balanced as always! However, the intent to sway the viewer toward a given conclusion is never in doubt.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)An excellent article. Big K&R (I"m printing this out for my Faux loving mother, not that it'll help but I have to try - again, and again, and again, and again...
A few more paragraphs from the article...
http://churchandstate.org.uk/2011/07/14-propaganda-techniques-fox-news-uses-to-brainwash-americans/
"In debating some of these tactics with colleagues and friends, I have also noticed that the Fox viewership seems to be marked by a sort of collective personality disorder whereby the viewer feels almost as though theyve been let into a secret society. Something about their affiliation with the network makes them feel privileged and this affinity is likely what drives the viewers to defend the network so vehemently. They seem to identify with it at a core level, because it tells them they are special and privy to something the rest of us dont have. Its akin to the loyalty one feels by being let into a private club or a gang. That effect is also likely to make the propaganda more powerful, because it goes mostly unquestioned.
"In considering these tactics and their possible effects on American public discourse, it is important to note that historically, those whove genuinely accessed truth have never berated those who did not. You dont get honored by history when you beat up your opponent: look at Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln. These men did not find the need to engage in othering, ad homeinum attacks, guilt by association or bullying. This is because when a person has accessed a truth, they are not threatened by the opposing views of others. This reality reveals the righteous indignation of people like Glenn Beck, Bill OReilly and Sean Hannity as a symptom of untruth. These individuals are hostile and angry precisely because they dont feel confident in their own veracity. And in general, the more someone is losing their temper in a debate and the more intolerant they are of listening to others, the more you can be certain they do not know what theyre talking about.
"One final observation. Fox audiences, birthers and Tea Partiers often defend their arguments by pointing to the fact that a lot of people share the same perceptions. This is a reasonable point to the extent that Murdochs News Corporation reaches a far larger audience than any other single media outlet. But, the fact that a lot of people believe something is not necessarily a sign that its true; its just a sign that its been effectively marketed.
"As honest, fair and truly intellectual debate degrades before the eyes of the global media audience, the quality of American democracy degrades along with it."
IggleDoer
(1,186 posts)On the daytime talk shows, they lower the coffee tables a few inches to allow for the cameras to aim straight at the blonde bimbo du jour's legs.
The tea baggers at home are mesmerized by the crotch shots they barely see and are hypnotized into believing everything they say.
It's like catnip to the old coots.
PADemD
(4,482 posts)So that they are recognized when encountered.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)My kid just learned them, so all the ads and "news" stories get labeled.
PADemD
(4,482 posts)It's been 45 years since I was in school, and we weren't taught about propaganda techniques.
Kablooie
(18,634 posts)It seems the words "Fox News" draw FN boot lickers more than anyone else and their responses simply validate the article.
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)Now am happy I didn't! I'm not at all surprised.
neffernin
(275 posts)people were really quick to point out the Fox News tactics people were using to try to discredit the author. Classic IMO.
ErikJ
(6,335 posts)ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)TxDemChem
(1,918 posts)I was tempted to print it out and leave random copies around my work place, but I don't think it will do any good here.
neffernin
(275 posts)neffernin
(275 posts)is another link with ways to combat these methods. I looked around a bit but wasn't lucky enough to find something that seems like it would cover some of the finer points that aren't as common (such as character assassination or rewriting history). It would be great to be armed with such tools in combat... erm conversation, though I have yet to convince a stubborn person that they are wrong on a lot of these ones.
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)Welcome to DU!
Myrina
(12,296 posts)It's been scientifically proven that the brain chemicals that kick in during 'fight or flight' can create 'new synapses/pathways' so that the 'fight or flight' reaction repeats itself, ie - people will lose their ability to stop and calmly, objectively assess a situation and instead retreat to the Caveman mentality going forward.
So yes, in many very real ways, Fox is brainwashing/reprogramming its viewers.
Sad.
LongTomH
(8,636 posts)I've posted on eliminationism before:
Wikipedia's definition of eliminationism:Eliminationism is the belief that one's political opponents are "a cancer on the body politic that must be excised either by separation from the public at large, through censorship or by outright extermination in order to protect the purity of the nation".The term was coined by American political scientist Daniel Goldhagen in his 1996 book Hitler's Willing Executioners in which he posits that ordinary Germans not only knew about, but also supported, the Holocaust because of a unique and virulent "eliminationist antisemitism" in the German identity, which had developed in the preceding centuries.
Goldhagen maintains that eliminationism has been the cause of every mass killing in the 20th and 21st centuries.
AlterNet contributor David Sirota commented on the eliminationism inherent in Glenn Beck's vile rhetoric: Glenn Beck Finally Admitted His Great Desire: To 'Eradicate' Progressives:To wild applause, he labeled this alleged tumor of "community" the supposedly evil "progressivism" -- and he told disciples to "eradicate it" from the nation.
The lesson was eminently clear, coming in no less than the keynote address to one of America's most important political conventions. Beck taught us that a once-principled conservative movement of reasoned activists has turned into a mob -- one that does not engage in civilized battles of ideas. Instead, these torch-carriers, gun-brandishers and tea partiers follow an anti-government terrorist attack by cheering a demagogue's demand for the physical annihilation of those with whom he disagrees -- namely anyone, but particularly progressives, who value "community."
Author David Niewert has blogged on the subject at Crooks and Liars, among other places. He's also the author of: Eliminationism: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right.
From a review:The Eliminationists describes the malignant influence of right-wing hate talk on the American conservative movement. Tracing much of this vitriol to the dank corners of the para-fascist right, award-winning reporter David Neiwert documents persistent ideas and rhetoric that champion the elimination of opposition groups. As a result of this hateful discourse, Neiwert argues, the broader conservative movement has metastasized into something not truly conservative, but decidedly right-wing and potentially dangerous.By tapping into the eliminationism latent in the American psyche, the mainstream conservative movement has emboldened groups that have inhabited the fringes of the far right for decades. With the Obama victory, their voices may once again raise the specter of deadly domestic terrorism that characterized the far Right in the 1990s. How well Americans face this challenge will depend on how strongly we repudiate the politics of hate and repair the damage it has wrought.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)colsohlibgal
(5,275 posts)Fox is culpable and it seems that maybe finally some former fans have had the light bulb go on - just not enough of them.
I'd love to know how many Fox fans would notice one of Fox's favorite underhanded moves - putting a "D" designation along a republican's name embroiled in a scandal, instead of the "R" they were. They did it with Diaper Boy Vitter and others. Fox fans who bought that deception had to be the dimmest bulbs in the club.
Time to actually think things through and check other sources for the remaining lemmings.
neffernin
(275 posts)it only matters if they wanna hear it. It sickens me that people don't look for truth in such incredible things... Valid sources, realistic talking points.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)never watched Fox
but wow
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Actually, it's more like a Cult.
It requires MAJOR deprogramming to get through to these people.
glinda
(14,807 posts)I cannot watch them even to analyze them because it would make me too upset.
lpbk2713
(42,759 posts)They are the pros, they have no equal.
Glassunion
(10,201 posts)However Faux has a Masters and two Doctorates in extreme bullshit.
felix_numinous
(5,198 posts)--they have destabilized our country--mission accomplished! They all have blood on their hands.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)They turned me off of Rush Limbaugh when he first burst on the scene. They turned me off Fox News when they first came on the scene and they sent me scampering from CNN when Ted Turner sold it and these techniques started appearing on their programming coming to full gush with the disgraceful Crossfire, which Jon Stewart shamed right on the air. I stopped watching CNN totally when it became the Wolf Blitzer channel. I still can't stomach some of the earlier programming on MSNBC because they too employ these techniques. I have a hard time understanding how people fall them. It's the same stuff churches do to you to keep you afraid, believing in fairy tales and putting money in the collection plate.
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)Ann Coulter likes this one too.
A. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is a great threat.
B. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is not a great threat.
C. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is no threat.
A and B are contradictory. A and B cannot be both true, or both false at the same time.
B and C are contrary. They can both be false at the same time, but not both true.
If you're having this debate with Fox/Hannity/Coulter, the trick is to pretend that your opponent is really saying C, that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is no threat. Pretend that middle ground doesn't exist.
Fun!
underpants
(182,826 posts)ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)every time I see you posting I think back to years ago now, and the hate mailbag.
"I just got into an argument with someone named underpants!" from a freeper questioning our maturity level. That letter made me laugh until I cried.
Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that.
underpants
(182,826 posts)I enjoyed that very much.
The comment to that troll was "Go away now the adults have important things to discuss" - I stole that from somone else on DU at the time. I knew that would get under their skin.
The legs and face are nice, then she opens her mouth and the whole package is ruined.
underpants
(182,826 posts)decrepittex
(53 posts)I've found that if I limit myself to no more than five minutes per week I have nothing to worry about. It also cuts down on the stress caused when I want to grab some talking head and choke him/her for the BS they are spreading.
Permanut
(5,610 posts)along with the source article. I learned about propaganda techniques in high school in 1963, and that knowledge has served me well ever since.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)Permanut
(5,610 posts)blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)mountain grammy
(26,623 posts)The younger generation doesn't have the time. You can be the worst racist, but your kids are making non white friends in school and they're over it. You may hate "libruls" but your kid's favorite teacher has an Obama bumper sticker on her car. Another favorite teacher isn't even white! The times they are a changin' and fox news is the same old shit day after day.
Fox's main appeal is to older people, and they don't have the energy for so much hate. They were always sitting down at the teabag rallies.