This is another very cool article Mr. Fitz. Yet after seeing government control in Brave New World and films such as “V for Vendetta” I do believe that the government influences what we the citizens of America believe. As this article was written under the presidency of Bush, things may have changed since Obama took office. I do recall seeing a lot of stories on the news about the War in Iraq more than I do today, but that may be because the fighting was tense or the government wanted civilian support. If people saw the war in such a way on television that several soldiers were killed in a car bomb incident, the people would want the soldiers home or if American soldier successfully captured a terrorist leader or faction, the people would want the rest of the terrorists gone as well. This simple idea of war propaganda is rather staggering because it can influence so many people at once about an incident that may well have been a fraud. With Obama in office, I have heard little to none about the war in Iraq because we are in trouble with our own nation. The United State’s economy, public health, environmental health and immigration are all massive problems. Almost every day I see an advertisement to support the BP Oil spill operation, a Money Mutual commercial, or a simple poster for a senator who wants to change the views of healthcare.
This topic is very controversial yet I still believe that the government may be behind advertisements, reports and articles to influence the citizens in the slightest way in order to gather support for a certain idea. Everybody knows that the FBI and the CIA are all working secretly to “protect” us citizens but they may be spying on me this instant as I type this sentence…..
Whatever the case may be, I also think the government keeps in touch with the citizens by these little influences in order to check on the public’s situation. With small nods to Iraq or the oil spill, the government tests the public’s opinion on whether the people will take action and assist in the clean up or support troops.
Thanks Jesse. As I just told Talia, I completely agree that there seems to be a shortage of war coverage in the main-stream media right now. I wonder why? You clearly already understand the powerful influence of the media, and quite frankly, the malleability of the American public perception. Depending on the story, most viewers will quickly change their opinions; you are right about this. I have two suggestions. In future posts, please do not address me directly. These posts are meant to address a broader audience. Imagine that you are free-lance writing for a local paper. Secondly, in future posts, please dig-into the text a bit more. The article addresses several interesting facts about the government’s relation to the media, but you never respond to specific text.
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