It would be nice if we were able to hold our government...

< Previous | Home | Next >

Reply to Msg 3486

It would be nice if we were able to hold our government accountable for their spending, but I'm not holding our breath on that one.

PR is everything in the world today, if you can put a positive spin on something through mass media, your battle for positive public opinion is half way there.

All you have to do to see how this works is look at how many years public opinion on Israel was positive, regardless of what they did to the Palestinians.

The Israeli lobbyist and PR people used their money well--completely dominating public opinion.

It is not until very recently, when Middle Easterners got into spending lots of money on CNN that a view of the issues from the Palestinian perspective started creeping into the news and special programs.

This was the beginning a slow process of changing the harts and minds of Americans on the issue.

Another example of PR spin is that the Bush Administration forbade any broadcasting on the caskets of dead soldiers.

They remember well that it was partly the coverage of these caskets by the media during the Vietnam war that escalated the anti war movements during that time.

An even simpler way of looking at positive PR is to see how it's used in commercials to influence what we buy. In the past on the US market (and to a degree presently), mostly blond haired children were used for selling children's products.

The impression was that blond reflected a perfect state of whiteness.

And therefore, any product attached to it would sell in a nation where whiteness was symbolic of perfection.

There are various other ways that PR through mass media is used. Jamaica for example has the highest crime rate in the Caribbean, but do you ever hear about that on the American news. I never did. Yet the slightest negative thing that happens in Haiti makes news here.

PR and the management of mass media is fundamental to how any country is viewed nationally and internationally.

Linda, September 25 2007, 12:58 PM

Topic: Why are so many eg mediocre representing Haiti?

Start a NEW topic or,
Jump to previous | Next Topic >

< Previous | Home | Next >

Messages in this topic

< Previous | Home | Next >