All the mainstream media companies around the world are associated with the convocation of billionaires, corporations and institutions which think they now own the planet. Whether one wants to name the World Economic Form, Bilderberg, Cub of Rome, the big banks, or whatever is not so important. It is in the recognition we are all owned. “Liberals” - under the mistaken impression they are in support of such liberal values as free speech and human rights - are in actuality supporting modern totalitarianism (sometimes viewed as techno feudalism).
I haven't written about that but also would be interested in the subject. Limits to growth are a great idea just not with the plans of the WEF and crowd.
Sort of. Yes he's really done good. OTOH he's a dick pic man.: I'm a guy. Was shocked to see him make crude drawing. *Hope* he stays true w.r.t. algorithms, etc.
NPR died to me the day I turned it on and heard George Bush saying that we really have to stay in Afghanistan to 'support Afghan women'. The next day Condi Rice came on and said the same thing. They also regularly have CIA heads come on and give comment. NPR: National Propaganda Radio. I feel deeply ashamed that I ever gave them money.
I finally turned off NPR forever the day I realized that they couldn't even say Bernie Sanders' name or congratulate him for winning a Dem primary. And they said nothing about the DNC rigging the primaries in 2016. They don't report facts--they just repeat the lies their masters tell them to, and they're not very original, either.
No point in beating yourself up. You embraced the ideal of democracy, and saw a clear distinction between NPR’s critical commentary on government policies, and commercial media’s refusal to ever go there. That’s when NPR was trashed by the right, and championed by the left. And that was also before the CPB and NPR were subject to the SCOTUS ruling that states, according to the Constitution, money = speech. If that ruling hasn’t convinced every last “progressive” that the Constitution is a blueprint for a fascist state, then they ain’t really progressive.
The document was penned by wealthy white men who loathed the idea of sharing what they owned with the unkempt masses. No interpretation of the Constitution has ever challenged the notion that it affords every legal prerogative to individuals at the expense of the society. The endowment of the proverbial corporation with the rights of a person was a ruling long before this highly politicized court. The latitude shown to organized religion is as old as the republic. The Constitution is inimical to democracy, as intended.
Thanks for this. I have a lot to learn. What would you replace the “latitude shown to organized religion” with, since “freedom of religion” has been more loosely applied, and in the constitution it’s tied up with freedom of speech and the press? What about “freedom of mind” instead of these archaic terms which now can be weirdly applied? Which would require some generously-endowed intellect (could be you?) to define of what that means, so avoid for example the misuse of “speech” to include pornography and corporate bribery, and instead apply to the freedom to protest and organize against oppression in ways that are actually effective, and remove money from the equation. (Now that I’ve said the above, it occurs to me the unlikelihood of this may be the constitution’s fault?)
NPR is a social engineering program for folk who think they’re too smart to be so easily deceived and manipulated like a rat in a cage....but good luck convincing them that they are fools.
Well, actually, a friend of mine listens to NPR, and when I cast light aspersions on this habit, she replied, "I have to drive to work. What else is there?" (She lives in a fairly reddish state, far from Sodom, Gomorrah, and Babylon.) A difficult question to answer unless you can get your car on the Internet.
I gave up NPR when they started cheerleading for the wars in ex-Yugoslavia -- I think. It was some war or other, and I may be getting confused. There's always a war.
You are so right! Looking back I can remember many times when I heard manipulative statements on NPR like “the higher your education, the more liberal you are.”, implying that being liberal is good and only smart people are liberal. The thing is the left is not really liberal in the true sense of the word. I think the unfortunate reality is that there is a higher likelihood that you become more indoctrinated the higher you go in the institutions. I also recall shows promoting humans becoming cyborgs ( back in 2014), not doubt brought to us by the Welcome Trust. It really creeps me out that I took all that in, at least I figured out what they are about back in 2015 or so and stopped listening.
You note that "...there is a higher likelihood that you become more indoctrinated..."
...this reminds me of something Noam Chomsky noted in his "Chronicles of Dissent" piece 35-40 years ago (Propaganda in the US vs in the USSR, which can be read here: https://chomsky.info/dissent02/)
He stated: "Propaganda very often works better for the educated than it does for the uneducated. This is true on many issues. There are a lot of reasons for this, one being that the educated receive more of the propaganda because they read more. Another thing is that they are the agents of propaganda..."
Yeah, it's really quite an excellent (and prescient) piece. In fact, so much so that I'm considering pasting the whole thing into one of these comment boxes, as sometimes even just the simple clicking of a link is enough of an obstacle to prevent someone from actually reading something important... the "Concision Technique" section of the same article is wonderfully illuminating (and accurate)... this is of course assuming that submitting that much text is even allowed in these comment sections (I don't know?)
Here in the East Coast Deep Blue Zone, NPR is gospel. It is the constant companion of every citizen, ubiquitious as CNN, maybe more so, and constantly massaging the narrative. It is not only a US centric narrative builder on foreign policy, but also fully aligned with the DNC axis domestically. NPR produces easily digestable, one dimensional world views for its listeners, and wraps them in crinkly pseudo-intellectual wrapping. It has always been blatant perception management first and foremost, with a side helping of curated News-Lite.
I wonder if the new Twitter designation is meant to start a fevered discussion which permits a conclusion where ALL the 'State Media' labels can be junked across the board. Seems like Elonesque Troll Judo in the making. Oh, also, I don't think he cares that NPR reports he's pimping his DOGE bags... that's not news to anyone but Blue Zone Boomers who still-dont-quite-get crypto. Fantastic reporting as always. Timely and concise, devastating research. Thanks again for your hard work.
"It has always been blatant perception management first and foremost"
I remember when NPR had an expose of industry with management covertly recorded conspiring against their customers. It was a real eye opener. But that was long ago -- 1980s? --before they got corporate funding.
“… All this bickering and squabbling about whose voice should be uplifted as trustworthy and whose voice should be squelched as untrustworthy is just a manifestation of the fact that powerful people understand something most ordinary members of the public do not: that whoever controls the narrative controls the world. If you can exert control over the way people perceive reality, then you can control reality itself.
Until the public becomes more aware of this fact, our lives will be subject to the whims of oligarchs, government agencies, and mass media propagandists….“
The public isn’t aware. Go look at how many people, including those who claim to be aware, that spend their time on Facebook and Twitter etc, getting manipulated and brainwashed.
E.E. Shatschneider wrote the book on this back in the 70's, 'The Semi-Sovereign People'. His quote was "The supreme instrument of power is control of the alternatives."
Glad you wrote this. Starting bout 25 years or so ago (end of 1990's/early 2000's), I began noticing a difference in their advertisements, which always seems to be a good indicator of what they're really about. It gradually (and then rapidly the last decade or so) morphed from many advertisements for local/regional businesses to advertisements for GE (...and even Exxon/Mobil!)... starting to hear the GE ads convinced me that I would never hear/read any reporting on the horrible/non-existent job they were doing cleaning up our local section of the Hudson River... that was now off-limit reporting.
But mostly, I always thought of NPR in roughly the same light as the NY Times, and a few other similar outlets... basically, tools perfectly designed for the more educated (most definitely NOT to be confused/substituted with more intelligent) to create the illusion of some type of intellectual distance between that reader/listener and the rest of us "commoners", by using more complex wording as a way of massaging the egos (egos that every one of us humans have)... all while imparting the EXACT same overall/general conditioning that the less/non "high-brow" outlets feed us... the "conditioning" being that the "for-profit at all cost over humanity" system is working just fine but just has some glitches that need to be worked out.
Oh yeah, hey Bill... the Capital Region my entire life, about 120 years my family's lived here but have/had close extended family in the Middletown and Hartsdale areas.
In an attempt to resource a pulse of global sentiment regarding America, I attempted a ‘google search’ using various iterations of a phrase such as ‘foreign publications favored by progressives’ and received exactly 0 references to publications outside American government and corporate publications such as NPR.
All media is owned by the same corporations, therefore ALL MEDIA absolutely Is US State Propaganda. Pick your side and outlet and your special bull crap will be spoon fed to you.
With NPR back in 2017 or so I had a rule of turning it off whenever I heard the word "trump." Nine out of ten times this would occur in the very first sentence of their news broadcasts,
Very same visceral reaction whenever I would "accidentally" subject myself to it while driving because I was suddenly out of range of my favored music airwaves (which actually led me to giving in to downloading music station apps for my phone)... it wasn't because of any love of Trump but instead because I knew what was coming next... the manufactured hate for Trump... based upon the completely WRONG reasons!!... and I always felt that the reasons were/are the most important part... because understanding the valid reasons for hating Trump might then create the necessary consistency to harbor the very same hatred for every single other past/present president (and future corporate candidate)... for instance, while in office, Trump was almost completely supported every time it was an initiative or legislation to increase the MIC or help the wealthiest, within a system/congress that always seemed to be at a complete deadlock regarding issues that could aid the average citizen.
Decades ago, I looked forward to NPR reporting and programs as they seemed to be an independent source. About a decade ago, its products became increasingly like all other mouthpieces of the USG. They are completely taken over by the minions of Empire. Now I avoid altogether....
I recall when the rules regarding public radio/tv were changed, during the Bush administration, I believe. Donations from corporate sponsors, previously forbidden, became allowable. That pretty much charted NPR's course to what it is today.
I have a particularly strong distaste for and anger against NPR, probably because I listened for so long, since the late 80’s. I stopped listening to them sometime around 2015 when they went all Trump derangement syndrome were just nasty and hateful to the half of the country that voted for him. They may receive a little money from listeners but most of their money comes from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Welcome Trust and the Ford Foundation and they push the agendas of those backers. So they are very much like every corporate media outlet and they push state programs.
I say ah yes, good to bring all this up like I have said before the United States is only good at propaganda lies that’s what we do really well. Transforming news agencies into state run media machines who have turned out to be not our friends but in fact our enemies.
For example the proxy war we’re fighting in Ukraine against Russia is mostly PR war. The western media has done nothing but misrepresent the truth about Russia throughout the entirety of this conflict. We are the empire of lies according to Vladimir Putin, a true statement.
Caitlin says: “just a manifestation of the fact that powerful people understand something most ordinary members of the public do not: that whoever controls the narrative controls the world. If you can exert control over the way people perceive reality, then you can control reality itself.”
The results of the pandemic and “necessary vaccine” for all its horrific consequences has proven this to be true to “ordinary members of the public” that the MSM are indeed liars who are completely unreliable.
I do believe starting after WWII the MSM has been used to shape and control western thinking from one generation to the next, it’s simply called thought control.
Practically every thing we been told is a lie, the financial crisis covered up by the media, election fraud I could go on all day citing the pure lies the media has been spewing not to forget men can have periods and get pregnant now.
Then when the media taking sides on an issue refusing to report all the facts without prejudice you have clear deception.
Now having said this, currently we have scores of good astute writers calling out TPTB’s death grip on western society using the power of media.
What we really need are those with the insight using the power of the pen to show a clear path out of this
“There must be some way out of here,” said the joker to the thief
There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief”
All the mainstream media companies around the world are associated with the convocation of billionaires, corporations and institutions which think they now own the planet. Whether one wants to name the World Economic Form, Bilderberg, Cub of Rome, the big banks, or whatever is not so important. It is in the recognition we are all owned. “Liberals” - under the mistaken impression they are in support of such liberal values as free speech and human rights - are in actuality supporting modern totalitarianism (sometimes viewed as techno feudalism).
I haven't written about that but also would be interested in the subject. Limits to growth are a great idea just not with the plans of the WEF and crowd.
NPR as “independent, fact-based journalism” ... 🤣🤣🤣. God bless Elon Musk!
Sort of. Yes he's really done good. OTOH he's a dick pic man.: I'm a guy. Was shocked to see him make crude drawing. *Hope* he stays true w.r.t. algorithms, etc.
NPR died to me the day I turned it on and heard George Bush saying that we really have to stay in Afghanistan to 'support Afghan women'. The next day Condi Rice came on and said the same thing. They also regularly have CIA heads come on and give comment. NPR: National Propaganda Radio. I feel deeply ashamed that I ever gave them money.
I finally turned off NPR forever the day I realized that they couldn't even say Bernie Sanders' name or congratulate him for winning a Dem primary. And they said nothing about the DNC rigging the primaries in 2016. They don't report facts--they just repeat the lies their masters tell them to, and they're not very original, either.
It is so strange that other people can't see through that sort of thing immediately. Though I have gradually learned to expect this.
No point in beating yourself up. You embraced the ideal of democracy, and saw a clear distinction between NPR’s critical commentary on government policies, and commercial media’s refusal to ever go there. That’s when NPR was trashed by the right, and championed by the left. And that was also before the CPB and NPR were subject to the SCOTUS ruling that states, according to the Constitution, money = speech. If that ruling hasn’t convinced every last “progressive” that the Constitution is a blueprint for a fascist state, then they ain’t really progressive.
But there’s always the possibility that “money=speech” is unconstitutional. Interpretation of such a document varies wildly.
The document was penned by wealthy white men who loathed the idea of sharing what they owned with the unkempt masses. No interpretation of the Constitution has ever challenged the notion that it affords every legal prerogative to individuals at the expense of the society. The endowment of the proverbial corporation with the rights of a person was a ruling long before this highly politicized court. The latitude shown to organized religion is as old as the republic. The Constitution is inimical to democracy, as intended.
Thanks for this. I have a lot to learn. What would you replace the “latitude shown to organized religion” with, since “freedom of religion” has been more loosely applied, and in the constitution it’s tied up with freedom of speech and the press? What about “freedom of mind” instead of these archaic terms which now can be weirdly applied? Which would require some generously-endowed intellect (could be you?) to define of what that means, so avoid for example the misuse of “speech” to include pornography and corporate bribery, and instead apply to the freedom to protest and organize against oppression in ways that are actually effective, and remove money from the equation. (Now that I’ve said the above, it occurs to me the unlikelihood of this may be the constitution’s fault?)
NPR - fact-based? Not even fact-biased. Or fact-unbiased.
I’ve seen xeroxed $3bills with more integrity.
Thanks so much for your excellent reporting. It complements my piece on NPR which is more focused on the content. https://coronawise.substack.com/p/npr-propaganda-for-progressives1
NPR: Propaganda for Progressives
Why I Didn’t Donate My Dead 2005 Prius to NPR
NPR is a social engineering program for folk who think they’re too smart to be so easily deceived and manipulated like a rat in a cage....but good luck convincing them that they are fools.
Well, actually, a friend of mine listens to NPR, and when I cast light aspersions on this habit, she replied, "I have to drive to work. What else is there?" (She lives in a fairly reddish state, far from Sodom, Gomorrah, and Babylon.) A difficult question to answer unless you can get your car on the Internet.
I gave up NPR when they started cheerleading for the wars in ex-Yugoslavia -- I think. It was some war or other, and I may be getting confused. There's always a war.
I remember KPFA in San Franciso/Berkeley, lol. Born in Berkeley.
You are so right! Looking back I can remember many times when I heard manipulative statements on NPR like “the higher your education, the more liberal you are.”, implying that being liberal is good and only smart people are liberal. The thing is the left is not really liberal in the true sense of the word. I think the unfortunate reality is that there is a higher likelihood that you become more indoctrinated the higher you go in the institutions. I also recall shows promoting humans becoming cyborgs ( back in 2014), not doubt brought to us by the Welcome Trust. It really creeps me out that I took all that in, at least I figured out what they are about back in 2015 or so and stopped listening.
You note that "...there is a higher likelihood that you become more indoctrinated..."
...this reminds me of something Noam Chomsky noted in his "Chronicles of Dissent" piece 35-40 years ago (Propaganda in the US vs in the USSR, which can be read here: https://chomsky.info/dissent02/)
He stated: "Propaganda very often works better for the educated than it does for the uneducated. This is true on many issues. There are a lot of reasons for this, one being that the educated receive more of the propaganda because they read more. Another thing is that they are the agents of propaganda..."
Wow! I will have to check that out. Thanks for the link.
Yeah, it's really quite an excellent (and prescient) piece. In fact, so much so that I'm considering pasting the whole thing into one of these comment boxes, as sometimes even just the simple clicking of a link is enough of an obstacle to prevent someone from actually reading something important... the "Concision Technique" section of the same article is wonderfully illuminating (and accurate)... this is of course assuming that submitting that much text is even allowed in these comment sections (I don't know?)
Here in the East Coast Deep Blue Zone, NPR is gospel. It is the constant companion of every citizen, ubiquitious as CNN, maybe more so, and constantly massaging the narrative. It is not only a US centric narrative builder on foreign policy, but also fully aligned with the DNC axis domestically. NPR produces easily digestable, one dimensional world views for its listeners, and wraps them in crinkly pseudo-intellectual wrapping. It has always been blatant perception management first and foremost, with a side helping of curated News-Lite.
I wonder if the new Twitter designation is meant to start a fevered discussion which permits a conclusion where ALL the 'State Media' labels can be junked across the board. Seems like Elonesque Troll Judo in the making. Oh, also, I don't think he cares that NPR reports he's pimping his DOGE bags... that's not news to anyone but Blue Zone Boomers who still-dont-quite-get crypto. Fantastic reporting as always. Timely and concise, devastating research. Thanks again for your hard work.
"It has always been blatant perception management first and foremost"
I remember when NPR had an expose of industry with management covertly recorded conspiring against their customers. It was a real eye opener. But that was long ago -- 1980s? --before they got corporate funding.
“… All this bickering and squabbling about whose voice should be uplifted as trustworthy and whose voice should be squelched as untrustworthy is just a manifestation of the fact that powerful people understand something most ordinary members of the public do not: that whoever controls the narrative controls the world. If you can exert control over the way people perceive reality, then you can control reality itself.
Until the public becomes more aware of this fact, our lives will be subject to the whims of oligarchs, government agencies, and mass media propagandists….“
The public isn’t aware. Go look at how many people, including those who claim to be aware, that spend their time on Facebook and Twitter etc, getting manipulated and brainwashed.
Busy manufacturing our consent. Without that the powerful would be nowhere.
E.E. Shatschneider wrote the book on this back in the 70's, 'The Semi-Sovereign People'. His quote was "The supreme instrument of power is control of the alternatives."
Glad you wrote this. Starting bout 25 years or so ago (end of 1990's/early 2000's), I began noticing a difference in their advertisements, which always seems to be a good indicator of what they're really about. It gradually (and then rapidly the last decade or so) morphed from many advertisements for local/regional businesses to advertisements for GE (...and even Exxon/Mobil!)... starting to hear the GE ads convinced me that I would never hear/read any reporting on the horrible/non-existent job they were doing cleaning up our local section of the Hudson River... that was now off-limit reporting.
But mostly, I always thought of NPR in roughly the same light as the NY Times, and a few other similar outlets... basically, tools perfectly designed for the more educated (most definitely NOT to be confused/substituted with more intelligent) to create the illusion of some type of intellectual distance between that reader/listener and the rest of us "commoners", by using more complex wording as a way of massaging the egos (egos that every one of us humans have)... all while imparting the EXACT same overall/general conditioning that the less/non "high-brow" outlets feed us... the "conditioning" being that the "for-profit at all cost over humanity" system is working just fine but just has some glitches that need to be worked out.
Oh yeah, hey Bill... the Capital Region my entire life, about 120 years my family's lived here but have/had close extended family in the Middletown and Hartsdale areas.
In an attempt to resource a pulse of global sentiment regarding America, I attempted a ‘google search’ using various iterations of a phrase such as ‘foreign publications favored by progressives’ and received exactly 0 references to publications outside American government and corporate publications such as NPR.
America is firewalled from foreign press.
Depends on what yoy mean by "progressives".
The Guardian is a Team D favorite.
All media is owned by the same corporations, therefore ALL MEDIA absolutely Is US State Propaganda. Pick your side and outlet and your special bull crap will be spoon fed to you.
With NPR back in 2017 or so I had a rule of turning it off whenever I heard the word "trump." Nine out of ten times this would occur in the very first sentence of their news broadcasts,
Very same visceral reaction whenever I would "accidentally" subject myself to it while driving because I was suddenly out of range of my favored music airwaves (which actually led me to giving in to downloading music station apps for my phone)... it wasn't because of any love of Trump but instead because I knew what was coming next... the manufactured hate for Trump... based upon the completely WRONG reasons!!... and I always felt that the reasons were/are the most important part... because understanding the valid reasons for hating Trump might then create the necessary consistency to harbor the very same hatred for every single other past/present president (and future corporate candidate)... for instance, while in office, Trump was almost completely supported every time it was an initiative or legislation to increase the MIC or help the wealthiest, within a system/congress that always seemed to be at a complete deadlock regarding issues that could aid the average citizen.
Decades ago, I looked forward to NPR reporting and programs as they seemed to be an independent source. About a decade ago, its products became increasingly like all other mouthpieces of the USG. They are completely taken over by the minions of Empire. Now I avoid altogether....
I recall when the rules regarding public radio/tv were changed, during the Bush administration, I believe. Donations from corporate sponsors, previously forbidden, became allowable. That pretty much charted NPR's course to what it is today.
I have a particularly strong distaste for and anger against NPR, probably because I listened for so long, since the late 80’s. I stopped listening to them sometime around 2015 when they went all Trump derangement syndrome were just nasty and hateful to the half of the country that voted for him. They may receive a little money from listeners but most of their money comes from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Welcome Trust and the Ford Foundation and they push the agendas of those backers. So they are very much like every corporate media outlet and they push state programs.
Does Caitlin read her comments??
I say ah yes, good to bring all this up like I have said before the United States is only good at propaganda lies that’s what we do really well. Transforming news agencies into state run media machines who have turned out to be not our friends but in fact our enemies.
For example the proxy war we’re fighting in Ukraine against Russia is mostly PR war. The western media has done nothing but misrepresent the truth about Russia throughout the entirety of this conflict. We are the empire of lies according to Vladimir Putin, a true statement.
Caitlin says: “just a manifestation of the fact that powerful people understand something most ordinary members of the public do not: that whoever controls the narrative controls the world. If you can exert control over the way people perceive reality, then you can control reality itself.”
The results of the pandemic and “necessary vaccine” for all its horrific consequences has proven this to be true to “ordinary members of the public” that the MSM are indeed liars who are completely unreliable.
I do believe starting after WWII the MSM has been used to shape and control western thinking from one generation to the next, it’s simply called thought control.
Practically every thing we been told is a lie, the financial crisis covered up by the media, election fraud I could go on all day citing the pure lies the media has been spewing not to forget men can have periods and get pregnant now.
Then when the media taking sides on an issue refusing to report all the facts without prejudice you have clear deception.
Now having said this, currently we have scores of good astute writers calling out TPTB’s death grip on western society using the power of media.
What we really need are those with the insight using the power of the pen to show a clear path out of this
“There must be some way out of here,” said the joker to the thief
There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief”