The media, “Who is doing what to whom for what purpose?

Ever since the few began to control the many, disinformation, fabrications, and distractions have been used to shape consent, impose submission, and maintain domination. Whether by the invoked authority of God, the divine right of kings, the dictatorial embodiment of a fatherland, the “dictatorship of the proletariat,” or the tyranny of commercially managed marketplaces, the casualty of such control has always been the ability of ordinary people to give voice to their own realities, needs, demands, and grievances. Given the inherent pragmatism of the human mind, the oppressed have often found it safer to believe rather than think, to obey rather than dissent. Today, such a path is reinforced by a plutocratic political economy that allows corporations to dominate mass media, education, and the production of knowledge and memory. Human history, however, has not been

Huff, Mickey; Higdon, Nolan. United States of Distraction (City Lights Open Media) (p. 15). City Lights Publishers. Kindle Edition. 

This quote is from Ralph Nader’s foreword to the book, United States of Distraction. It describes the  imbalance of those in power to control the narrative.

Beliefs lead to actions. Beliefs are formed by what people are told. People are told what the people in power want them to believe so that those in power can benefit. These ideas are fundamental to the questions “What is the media for?” “Who controls the media?” What do those who control the media expect to gain by controlling the content?” “How to the targets of the media respond?”

This month on Markhams’ Slow News we will be discussing the news behind the news. Who is doing what to whom for what purpose?