EDUTUS College

Budapest



















Esther Molnar
molnr.eszter4@gmail.com
05.04.2014.
The most effective way to conquer a man is to capture his mind. Control a mans
mind and you control his body (Steven Jacobson)
Abstract

With the advent of the 21st century we faced an era that allowed everyone to get information
of everything and immediately. This globalizing trend led to a process in which everybody
watches the same movies, wears the same clothes and eats the very same hamburgers-in one
word: the cultures have been standardizing. McLuhan pointed this theme out in his work
Media Ecology for he investigated the relationship between media and culture or in what
extent do human inventions alter culture itself. He came to the conclusion that technology
shapes our perceptions, attitudes and behaviour for every medium emphasizes different senses
and encourages different habits. He divided human history into 4 periods:
-tribal age: senses of hearing, touch, taste, smell were far beyond developed
-age of literacy: visual point of view, turning sounds into visible objectsbut literacy jarred
people out of collective tribal involvement into civilized private detachment, transformed
group members into individuals
-print age: printing made visual dependence widespread
-electronic age: global village, retribalizing human race, the instant communication has
returned us to pre-alphabetic oral tradition, electronic media brings u sin touch with everyone,
everywhere, constant contact with the world becomes daily reality: all-at-once-ness! where
everyones business is everyone elses so no private sphere!
-digital age: rewiring global village, growing number of digital tribes, wholly electronic
The means to satisfy our information-hunger is simple: mass media (including tv, radio,
internet, news papers, etc). The disadvantage though is that it can be manipulated and leads to
mass-manipulation for the people are dependent on it. But how does the media-manipulation
function anyway?
Media=manipulation?
I. Media-manipulation tools
1

What is manipulation? : certain social attitude, created on a purpose
in order to influence the reactions, behaviour of an indiv./soc. group.
converting the target, turning it into one dependent on the influence of the source
transmitting the message.
Two forms of manipulation:
-persuasion: any attempt to convince your collocutor to accept your ideas, adopt certain
behaviour, used in propaganda. eg. WWII: Pearl Harbors case: passionate speeches of the
president in which he called the Japanese people gangsters, traitorsresult: Uncle Sam
and enrolments into warAnother example: Rambofor the support of the war in
Cambodia..
The image of Rambo=even non-American people all over the world saw these movies
and swallowed the idea of the indestructible all-mighty American soldier whose actions
are always right.
-misinforming: misinforming is creating a false reality so convincing that the enemy considers
it fair (G. Veraldi).
what is it good for?: finding excuses, distracting attention, discredit a personality, create
conflicts betw. nations, manipulate public opinion.
Manipulation can only be done on public level for the mass of people acts and reacts under
the majoritys pressure.
In changing the opinion, the group a person belongs to has a very important role in
changing or keeping a certain opinion despite the new information presented. The groups
pressure works as a gatekeeper for ideas and opinions stream.
Manipulative effect: depends ont he intensitiy of the informationthe mass media
influence can be immediate: the role of information is to cause the process of rearranging the

1
Blbe, Iulia (2005): Manipulation through Mass Media. Brief
Analysis of Means

data existing to that moment; on long/medium term: this effect is more important and it lasts
longer (a stream of information on a period of years can shape even mentalities.
Important is that we remember neg. content more! eg. Strauss Kahn case
The source will be forgotten but the information stays, and so does the created opinion.
Why is the media dangerous? For it creates dependency: Peoplere vulnerable to manipulation
as the media creates dependency. They need information which is vital in order to be prepared
to confront with daily problems and thats why theyre under the medias influence, because it
controls all the resources of information.
II. Mind manipulation

Steven Jacobson: Mind Control in the United States (1985):
-The aim of the media is the manipulation of the subliminal perception: Subliminal
perception is a process, a deliberate process created by communications technicians, by
which you receive and respond to information and instructions without being consciously
aware of the instructions. (Jacobson, 1985:1)
How does the brainwashing function? : first is distraction for it focuses the attention of the
conscious mind in order to program the subconscious mind. This principle goes for illusion,
magic and propaganda. Second principle is repetition: repetition of the information imbeds
it in your sunconscious mind so that your acceptance of its truth (accuracy) becomes a
conditioned response () you accept this information as true without thinking whenever it is
presented to you again.
James Vicarys research on Hungry? Eat Popcorn during a movie
The connection betw. manipulation and the school system eg. George Orwell: 1984 or
Aldous Huxley A Brave New World.
The manipulation is reached int he school system through repetition (psychological
standadisation)
The false concept of the American Dream and its connection to mass-consumption.
The tendency of media ownership during the years:









As we can see therere 5 major companies that control all tv stations, newspapers or
Hollywood productions:
the new trend by forming new dynasties of political control through international financial
alliances. The goal was to create a world-wide system of financial control in order to
dominate the ecnomy of the world and the political system of each country (W. Cleon
Skousen, The Naked Capitalist, Salt Lake City, Utah: authors private edition, 1970: 7, in
Jacobson, 1985:25).

III. What you never hear in the media

Noam Chomsky Media Control (1997): his conception of democracy (people should
decide for themselves)
Walter Lippmann: theory on a specialized class( they have the state power and then
drive the stupid masses toward a future that theyre too dumb and incompetent to envision
for themselves(Chomsky, 1997:12).) The other part of society is the bewildered herd,
so a well-functioning democracy means a spectator democracy. His theory ont he
manufacture of consent. That would be the role of Public Relations as well..
How does it function? very easy: people arent allowed to gather or strike for their
rights..otherwise the Mohawk Valley method will be usedthese people will be
presented in the eyes of the public as traitors, etc. so turning the population against them.
The other method is to shout bullshit like Americanism: The point of public relations
slogans () is that they dont mean anything. They mean as much as whether you support the
people in Iowa. () Thats the whole point of good propaganda.
Chomsky saw this and pointed out what people are supposed to do: They ought to be
sitting alone in front of the TV and having drilled into their heads the message, which says, the
only value in life is to have more commodities or live like that rich middle class family youre
watching and to have nice values like harmony and Americanism. When they are like plants,
they are easily to be manipulated.
The other receipt is to create a monster (Osama Bin Laden, Hussein, ..now Putin): so was
the terrorism created..By this means all the population can be controlled the definition
of terrorism for federal purposes has been widened () Legal protests against the government
could bring dozens of thousands of Americans wider federal surveillance( Bble, 2005:30). But is
a good tool to use for internal aggression like saving the people in Vietnam from themselves :D
Bernard Goldberg: Bias(2003): how the media boost the news and creates panic
among the population, creates hidden homeless people!! or the AIDS.

Literature:
Blbe, Iulia (2005): Manipulation through Mass Media. Brief Analysis of Means
Chomsky, Noam (1997): Media Control. The Spectacular Achievements of
Propaganda, Seven Stories Press.
Ellul, Jacques (1973): Propaganda. The Foundation of Mens Attitudes, Vintage
Books. A Division of Random House, New York.
Goldberg, Bernard (2003): Bias. A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort
the News, Harper Perennial.
Jacobson, Steven (1985): Mind Control in the United States, Critique Pub.
Mills, John Stuart (1974): The Occult Technology of Power Alpine Enterprises,
Michigan.
Skousen, W. Cleon (1970): The Naked Capitalist, Salt Lake City, Utah: authors
private edition.
Vision Report Watch: A New World Order Watch Media Publication, May 2012
Issue 23.