It was the beginning of the school year and the teacher asked her third-graders to share a little about themselves. Kids stood up and shared their favourite colour or what they wanted to be when they grew up, but one little boy had a purpose in mind when he spoke.
He shared a few of his interests and then added, “I would like to announce I have a keyboard I’m selling for $5 or the best offer. You can contact me during lunch hour if you’re interested.”
That little guy had a purpose in mind when he stood up to speak. Likewise, the news reports we listen to and read every day are delivered with an intended purpose.
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For instance, I recall watching a news story that began by telling the viewers that seniors had been evicted from a senior care home. Those words certainly captured my attention, causing me to become alarmed. That alarm was reinforced by a man relaying the story about his elderly father having to leave the facility. However, as the story progressed, it was revealed that the seniors had to leave temporarily because of the eradication of mould, which had been found in the building.
The danger with this type of news reporting is that people could be misled if they don’t listen to the entire story. This topic and others are addressed in the book The Smear by award-winning journalist Sharyl Attkisson. In it she shares excerpts from the diary of the Nazi regime’s chief propagandist, Joseph Goebbels during Second World War. I’ll share a few of Goebbels’ reporting techniques, and illustrate how we are seeing such tactics used today. My intent is not to target the migrant situation, but to simply use it as one of many examples available. Here’s what Goebbels had to say:
“A lie told once remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.”
A current example: illegal immigrants are repeatedly portrayed as desperate people with nowhere to go, when most are self-deported from the United States.
“Not every item of news should be published. Rather those who control news policies endeavour to make every item of news serve a certain purpose.”
A current example: the housing of migrants in hotels is portrayed as peaceful and orderly. However, access to information documents reveal vandalism, hotel Bibles being ripped up, destruction and theft of hotel property and abuse of employees as regular occurrences.
“It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion.”
A current example of this is again revealed through access to information documents, where government employees place fake positive hotel reviews on line to hide the abuse of property taking place in these hotels.
“Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the targets for hatred.”
A current example: the need to alter the way people think about “illegal immigrants” results in anyone using that particular phrase being accused of racism and hate speech.
Most of us are wise consumers while shopping at department stores or while shopping online, but we also need to be wise consumers as we listen to the latest news reports.
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