MeanMesa loves to watch the "news," not because important new information will necessarily be presented there, but instead because the latest "mind bending" propaganda will be very dependably injected into every subtle rat hole opportunity. How else would one determine just what the corporate media masters want to have bouncing around in the minds of their viewers like "marbles in a mayonaise jar."
Now, MeanMesa has already posted numerous articles on this blog about just this unpleasant phenomenon as it applies to specific political and cultural targets for such deceptions. The media loves to relentlessly present manufactured conflicts -- for example, the conflict between the TEA BAGGERS and the DEMOCRATS. Absent any reliable reporting, one might conclude that hordes of infuriated tea baggers were gradually taking over the entire political arena of the whole country!
MeanMesa visitors all realize that this gaseous proposition is no more than a cheap media gambit. The facts are simple enough. There aren't enough of these "precious tea baggers" of theirs to carry an off year election for dog catcher in Olathe, Kansas.
Of course, this isn't the only deceptive, home crafted controversy on their menu, either. John McCain is repeatedly trotted out as a "war expert." Health Care Reform is constantly presented over and over in the media's ALMOST COMPLETELY OBJECTIVE interviews (those would be friendly, believable chit chat sessions with some drunk in an American Legion bar somewhere...masquerading as a "ground swell" of public opinion) as a plan which will "bankrupt the country." Their Saint, Ronald Reagan, is endlessly presented as a President who lowered taxes and cut the deficits.
All of these outrages are "little stinkers" injected into the "news" by the media's corporate masters. Naturally suspicious, MeanMesa visitors would be looking for such mischief to be embedded in what passes for the "news" parts of these thinly disguised programs.
However, what about the crud which is presented in between the "news" segments? What about the commercials?
Now, some CEO somewhere has decided to spend his "hard earned profits" to pay for producing these slick little torpedoes of "feel good" story boards. Even more of his corporation's "hard earned profits" have been dedicated to their broadcast -- his commercials will fill roughly one third of the duration of the "news" program he sponsors.
All of this would be somewhat more palatable if the products advertised in these commercials were something that a "news" viewer might actually purchase. You know, something like the "Pocket Fisherman," the crystal crucifix with the Lord's Prayer laser etched into its base, the antibacterial, disposable window wipes or the Famous Bassomatic High Speed Blender.
However, this isn't the case.
Instead, we see Chevron advertisements about Human Energy, Monsanto advertisements about "being nice to farmers" and giant, savage banks touting their "concern" for their clients. The point here is that television viewers watching the "news" can't actually buy any of these products. Why is so much corporate money being funneled into these commercials? What, exactly, is the motive for such corporate advertising largesse?
We, as voters and tax payers, are being groomed just like dirty poodles in a pet salon.
Sometime in the future, at just the point when these "Captains of Industry" are preparing for another "looting expedition" into the halls of Congress, their prospective Senate and House purchases might have a a "constituent moment."
A "constituent moment?"
Yes, one of the greedy little "dirty shirt" representatives who is eagerly courting some of these corporate "campaign contributions" might, however unpleasant for him, momentarily consider whether or not this latest subtle corruption might upset the voters he is counting on to sustain his "business opportunities." Naturally, if his new owners have taken steps to saturate this congressman's base with "butterfly videos" describing what nice people and good citizens these would-be contributors are, his greedy little corruption scheme might have a better chance of surviving the next election.
In another case, MeanMesa watches the endless "tooth ache" of the pill commercials. Just as mentioned before, none of the folks watching these "pill commercials" can actually buy any of the pills that are advertised.
However, if you are a capsule packing salesman for some over-priced medicine, your marketing wet dream will be well served by having millions of "news" watching Americans begin to suspect that they have precisely the malady your latest elixer is supposed to cure. Of course, only licensed doctors can prescribe such questionable nonsense, but those doctors will be far more likely to prescribe it if they have been visited by generous sales representatives of the company producing the miracle and when hundreds of their patients, after watching these "pill commercials," present exactly the symptoms described in the advertisements.
Hey! Are you suffering from erectile dysfunction? Do you suspect that you have had a heart attack and not noticed it? Are you getting a little fat but still against the inconvenience of daily exercise? Does your poor little tummy churn painfully after you've eaten your eighth frozen pizza this week?
Commercials are only worth what they cost when there is a "prize on the table." If that, uh, prize doesn't really look all that marketable, corporations will act to "level the playing field."
Traditionally, this meant adjusting or improving the product which can't be sold. That, however, is "old school corporate thinking."
"New school corporate thinking" is to leave the product in its pitiable state and reform the market's opinion about just what a "good product" might be with slick, persuasive blather masquerading as product commercials.
The same goes with adjusting public perceptions about the citizenship of your corporation. The "old school idea" suggests that your company might improve its public image by simply behaving a little better. The "new school idea" suggests that, with enough advertising dollars, your corporation can change the idea of what "behaving better" might be.
So, "news" consumers, we need to pay attention to what oozes out of those televisions even in the commercials between the "talking head" sessions! Being well informed includes paying attention to the quality of your information nutrition, too!
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