Articles with the Tag Other Topics

Psywar

Other Topics
Published on

Created on Sunday, 26 September 2010 12:39

'Psywar’ (2010) explores corporate and government use of propaganda and public relations, to manipulate the American population and the world at large.

The movie exposes government and corporate activities which are intended to blur (or even erase) the lines between real news and fake news, as well as the development over time of public relations misinformation campaigns, strategic corporate campaigns to generate goodwill and the perception of 'good works'.

It shows for instance how the U.S. government staged events to manipulate public opinion about the Iraq war, like the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch and the supposedly spontaneous mob that pulled over the statue of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Other topics of discussion are the Pentagon pundit scandal and the hidden activities of the Rendon Group – a PR firm specialized in spinning war.

Related

An Example Of Propaganda – Obama Commercial

Edward Bernays – Propaganda

Mind Control Theories and Techniques used by Mass Media

Weapons Of Mass Deception

Other Topics
Published on

Created on Sunday, 26 September 2010 12:56

"There were two wars going on in Iraq – one was fought with armies of soldiers, bombs, and military force. The other was fought alongside it with cameras, satellites, armies of journalists, and propaganda techniques. One war was rationalized as an effort to find and disarm WMDs – Weapons of Mass Destruction; the other was carried out by even more powerful WMDs, Weapons of Mass Deception."

 

Weapons Of Mass Deception (2004) explores the story above with the findings of a media insider-turned-outsider, former network journalist, Danny Schechter. Schechter is one of America's most prolific media critics. He wrote thousands of words daily about the coverage of the war in Iraq for Mediachannel.org, the world's largest online media issues network, and then collected his columns, blogs, and articles in his book, ‘EMBEDDED: Weapons of Mass Deception’.

 

This documentary tracks the media war through February 2004.

 

Genocide, Worse Than War

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Published on

Created on Sunday, 26 September 2010 12:35

With his first book, the #1 international bestseller ‘Hitler’s Willing Executioners’ Daniel Jonah Goldhagen – then a professor of political science at Harvard University– forced the world to re-think some of its most deeply-held beliefs about the Holocaust.  ‘Hitler’s Willing Executioners’ inspired an unprecedented worldwide discussion and debate about the role ordinary Germans played in the annihilation of Europe’s Jews.

 

A decade later – and more than half a century after the end of World War II – Goldhagen is convinced that the overall phenomenon of genocide is as poorly understood as the Holocaust had once been. How and why do genocides start? Why do the perpetrators kill?  Why has intervention rarely occurred in a timely manner?  These and other thought-provoking questions are explored in Worse Than War. It's the first documentary to step back and focus on the general phenomenon of genocide – offering viewers profound insights into its dimensions, patterns and causes, and tragic role in politics and human affairs.

 

Worse Than War documents Goldhagen’s travels, teachings, and interviews in nine countries around the world, bringing viewers on an unprecedented journey of insight and analysis as he speaks with victims, perpetrators, witnesses, politicians, diplomats, historians, humanitarian aid workers, and journalists, all with the purpose of explaining and understanding the critical features of genocide and how to finally stop it.   (Excerpt From PBS website)

 

Before The Music Dies

Other Topics
Published on

Created on Wednesday, 16 June 2010 14:17

With outstanding performances and revealing interviews, 'Before the Music Dies' takes a critical look at the homogenization of popular music with commentary by some of the industry's biggest talents like Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Elvis Costello, Erykah Badu, Branford Marsalis, Bonnie Raitt and others. Using historic footage the film looks at the evolution of American music and the artists who created it.

The film pulls back the curtain -in a very creative way- to expose the sad truth behind today's artificial music stars. "The reality is that superficiality is in," says Marsalis, and depth and quality are kind of out."

This documentary also explores the reason why so few companies currently control the music played on the radio and for sale at retail stores, and whether corporations really have the power to silence musical innovation.