Pattern Recognition in the Bush Media Era

ALARAB/Media Channel - Danny Schechter

In a remarkable video constructed by David Olson and posted on Mediachannel.org some months back, we hear President Bush speaking explicitly in one of his often incoherent speeches about "catapulting the propaganda." The President shares his belief -- and no doubt the advice of his advisors -- that repetition of key phrases and message points is essential to influencing public opinion.

"See in my line of work," he told students in Rochester New York on May 24, 2005,"you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."

"Catapult": http://youtube.com/watch?v=u7WTL9RFCOg

It is this key Pavlovian insight that animates the GOP media offensive and is often critical to its success. Let me repeat: It is this key Pavlovian insight ... How else to let "the truth to sink in?"

Here we have a President who seems so flustered and unfocused revealing just how calculated he is about what he says and how he says it. He knows he is spewing propaganda and is proud of it.

In a media environment of so much "noise," clutter and contentious argument, oft-repeated simplistic phrases easily break through into public consciousness at a time when impressions and thought by association often drive meaning. This approach is not fact-based but rather uses symbols and stylized sincerity more than serious explanation. That's why it's effective in an already dumbed down media environment. Read more [It's alarab - not Firefox friendly]