Manipulative Schemes

"Do you want to hear the good news or the bad news first?"

Most people choose to hear the bad news first, so that the good news can act as an electric comfort blanket to drape the bad news out. It seems though, as if every time I tune in to the news on television or read about news in the newspapers, all I tend to hear and see is bad news. It's as if the good is too boring, and the bad, unfortunately, acts as entertainment. It gets the publicity. The public eye is also being hypnotized by the Public Relations industry, and their improper use of VNRs (Video News Releases)


"A VNR is a prepackaged segment that looks and sounds like journalistically reported information but is produced by either a public relations firm or a government body with a vested interest in the product or service being described" (Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer).

These are much like those weight-loss commercials where you see about 4 or 5 people saying "I lost 20 pounds with [enter various diet pills here]". It can be of great skepticism that those people didn't even try the product, even though before and after photographs are shown. If that isn't bad enough, in most circumstances, those photographs have been digitally manipulated to look real, which distorts the perception that the public has on these products.

We live in a time period where we can alter just about anything in our lives to change the way we feel. Fake breasts, fake meat, fake hair, fake smiles and now, fake news. In the book "Toxic Sludge is Good for You", the authors Stauber and Rampton elaborate on how the Public Relations industry create fabricated facts to convince the public eye to buy into their schemes. Literally. The book depicts the lengths PR Representatives will go to make sure the truth is concealed and the lies are blinding. We being the public eye need to be aware of their schemes, and "Toxic Sludge" acts as a personal hand guide for the public to recognize the strategies PR reps use to manipulate us. This book strongly suggests that we need to be more skeptical of what we hear on the news, and it elaborates on certain ways PR Representatives can blindfold us, such as improper use of VNRs.

Another work that explains the manipulation of news that feeds the public eye is Edward Bernays "Propaganda". This book is also a how-to manual, showing us how corporately funded PR firms seek public acceptance by manipulating a particular idea or product. Edward Bernays was Sigmund Freud's nephew, and by writing this novel in 1928, Bernays found a way to use his Uncle's psychoanalytic theories to recognize the manipulative ways that PR firms control not only consumer behavior, but also political thought. "Propaganda" is a conceptual model for governments, corporations, and lobbying firms to show the principles behind swaying public thought and opinion and controlling the masses.

These two important works allow the public to fight for their right of knowing the truth. We shouldn't have to be lied to anymore. By reading these texts, we can obtain the knowledge needed to fight propaganda and false information.

Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer. "Probe of Non-News News Sought". Hearst Communications Inc. November 2006. October 2008. <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/11/15/MNGB4MCURM1.DTL>

John Stauber, Sheldon Rampton. "Toxic Sludge is Good For You". Centre for Media & Democracy. 1995. October 2008.

Edward Bernays. "Propaganda". Ig Publishing. Brooklyn, New York. 1928. October 2008.