FWIW: the MSM isn't so much manipulated as it is a co-conspirator in forming (manipulating) US public opinion with the willing participation of "the people". Snowden's excellent op-ed on Apophenia (on substack) provides insight. We, as information consumers, look for external validation of what we think we want to believe. It is profitable for "news" organizations to give us what we want.
Consider the transformation of Rachael Maddow from "truth-teller" during her days on Air America to propagandist now on MSNBC. The more absurd her "revelations" about (for example) Trump, the larger her audience and the more advertisers were willing to pay to sponsor her show.
You can see the same profit motive if you look at Thom Hartman's body of work. It isn't as if he's "making stuff up", but the way he's "coloring" it.
My disgust with Bush (both of them actually since I clearly recall the abject terror I felt on the first invasion of Iraq) prevented me from clearly understanding that Maddow, Hartman, et. al. weren't really offering me anything other than "not Bush" -- something I really desired at the time. It took 6 years of Obama to finally grok that "not Bush" wasn't even close to what I was seeking. The immortal words of Rodney King come to mind, "Why can't we all -- just get along?"
And there you have it. Some (All?) of us just want "more" and we're willing to do whatever it takes to get that "little bit of more" -- including deluding ourselves into thinking we "deserve" it. When our contemporaries give us a Pulitzer (or a Nobel) for our (self) delusions we hold it high and proclaim ourselves "better". And use it to beat the shit out of anyone who calls out our invisible clothes.
Caitlin calls this capitalism. While I do not (call it capitalism), I don't have a better economic/political/religious frame, defined in just one word, in which to hold it all together. We'd have to explore the Ego and the Id -- which, unfortunately obscures the "truth" (I think) we seek.
The "Breaking Bad" series, especially "El Camino" and "Better Call Saul" reveal that inner discontent in all of us that drives us to want to be better than someone -- anyone. Dylan's "Pawn in their game" touches on this need and how it is manipulated.
Luke Harding, of the Guardian, lies because it gets him attention. That attention sells papers. Sell enough papers and you get to live in New York City and go to Broadway shows. Or you can be Jimmy Page and have an elaborate "Stairway to Heaven" tribute performed at the JFK center with the "cream of society" in attendance.
[On a totally disconnected track, has anyone else wondered at the guilt the "establishment" must feel for JFK's assassination that they put his name on every monument and edifice they can -- but refuse to declassify the archives. ]
TL;DR: The MSM isn't manipulated. It is an active participant. Narrative control is profitable.
FWIW: the MSM isn't so much manipulated as it is a co-conspirator in forming (manipulating) US public opinion with the willing participation of "the people". Snowden's excellent op-ed on Apophenia (on substack) provides insight. We, as information consumers, look for external validation of what we think we want to believe. It is profitable for "news" organizations to give us what we want.
Consider the transformation of Rachael Maddow from "truth-teller" during her days on Air America to propagandist now on MSNBC. The more absurd her "revelations" about (for example) Trump, the larger her audience and the more advertisers were willing to pay to sponsor her show.
You can see the same profit motive if you look at Thom Hartman's body of work. It isn't as if he's "making stuff up", but the way he's "coloring" it.
My disgust with Bush (both of them actually since I clearly recall the abject terror I felt on the first invasion of Iraq) prevented me from clearly understanding that Maddow, Hartman, et. al. weren't really offering me anything other than "not Bush" -- something I really desired at the time. It took 6 years of Obama to finally grok that "not Bush" wasn't even close to what I was seeking. The immortal words of Rodney King come to mind, "Why can't we all -- just get along?"
And there you have it. Some (All?) of us just want "more" and we're willing to do whatever it takes to get that "little bit of more" -- including deluding ourselves into thinking we "deserve" it. When our contemporaries give us a Pulitzer (or a Nobel) for our (self) delusions we hold it high and proclaim ourselves "better". And use it to beat the shit out of anyone who calls out our invisible clothes.
Caitlin calls this capitalism. While I do not (call it capitalism), I don't have a better economic/political/religious frame, defined in just one word, in which to hold it all together. We'd have to explore the Ego and the Id -- which, unfortunately obscures the "truth" (I think) we seek.
The "Breaking Bad" series, especially "El Camino" and "Better Call Saul" reveal that inner discontent in all of us that drives us to want to be better than someone -- anyone. Dylan's "Pawn in their game" touches on this need and how it is manipulated.
Luke Harding, of the Guardian, lies because it gets him attention. That attention sells papers. Sell enough papers and you get to live in New York City and go to Broadway shows. Or you can be Jimmy Page and have an elaborate "Stairway to Heaven" tribute performed at the JFK center with the "cream of society" in attendance.
[On a totally disconnected track, has anyone else wondered at the guilt the "establishment" must feel for JFK's assassination that they put his name on every monument and edifice they can -- but refuse to declassify the archives. ]
TL;DR: The MSM isn't manipulated. It is an active participant. Narrative control is profitable.