In These New Times

Cristoph Germann

Boiling Frogs Post

2nd May, 2014

Edward Bernays once famously promoted the “conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses” through the use of propaganda, which he considered an “important element in democratic society”.[1] Today’s so-called “liberal democracies” are testament to Bernays’ assertion. The “father of public relations” demonstrated early on that propaganda can be used for many different purposes, from selling cars to selling wars. Especially the latter has become the primary task of media in the United States and other NATO countries in recent years. With Iraq still burning, Western media played a decisive role in turning Libya and Syria into failed states as well. The propaganda was never particularly sophisticated. After “Saddam has weapons of mass destruction” came “Gaddafi is killing his own people” and eventually “Assad is like Hitler”. But mainstream media reporting got even worse during the Ukraine crisis and this could have unforeseen consequences for those in power.

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