Interview: The Propaganda Function of the Mainstream Media

I joined Michael Raanan on his podcast to discuss the very important issue of how the mainstream media fulfill the propaganda function of manufacturing consent for criminal government policies.

Specific topics we discussed include the following:

• How I got started doing independent journalism after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, by sharing information about how the government had lied about the events of that day and was using 9/11 as a pretext and lying to the world about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to wage an illegal war of aggression for the purpose of regime change.
• The important lesson I learned about human psychology after trying and failing to awaken friends and family to the fact that they were being lied to.
• How I felt compelled by my conscience to utilize my analytic skills for the purpose of discerning truth and sharing that knowledge with others to try to do what I could as an individual to help shape a future in which such senseless violence is a thing of the past.
• What I mean when I use the word “propaganda” to describe the nature of mainstream media reporting on important issues.
• How Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky in their important book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media present a detailed analysis of how the supposed “free press” in the US fulfills a propaganda function despite the state not having direct ownership or control over the media.
• How the media frame ostensible “debate” on important topics within a narrow framework of allowable opinion that totally marginalizes legitimate dissent and criticism.
• How tactics like gross mischaracterization of sources, omission of critical context, strawman arguments, ad hominem attacks, and self-censorship are used to fulfill the propaganda function, as well as the role of what I call the “state religion” and confirmation bias.
• The importance of overcoming our own confirmation bias and not letting other people tell us what to think.
• How everyone needs to develop savvy news consumer skills that journalists should have, but unfortunately most professional journalists seem to be incompetent with.
• Why I don’t trust any media sources and the importance of seeking out information from a wide variety of sources and as many perspectives as possible.
• How news media and social media companies have colluded with the government to censor truth and propagate government-approved lies, such as with the COVID‑19 lockdowns and their coerced mass vaccination endgame.
• How the mainstream corporate media characterize themselves as the sold credible sources for information while trying to delegitimize truly independent journalism.
• How, for example, my reporting and publication of articles critical of the US intervention in Syria, which included arming Islamic extremist groups, resulted in my website being censored for ostensibly propagating “Russian disinformation”.
• How, for another example, the entire body of literature on what is called “vaccine hesitancy” is premised on the absurd assumption that there are no legitimate reasons for people to choose not to follow the CDC’s vaccine recommendations.
• How, for yet another example, I was censored on LinkedIn for sharing an article accurately reporting how the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been found to be contaminated with DNA from the manufacturing process that poses risks such as genomic integration with human DNA and cancer.
• How the greatest purveyors of misinformation and disinformation about vaccines or pretty much any other critically important topic are the US government and mainstream media establishment.
• How the problem starts with the government school system indoctrinating children into the belief that the government is benevolent, and we need the government to take care of us, resulting in so-called “journalists” believing their own propaganda.
• How the media use emotional triggers to manipulate people’s opinions, and particularly how the government and media use fear to manufacture consent for criminal policies.
• How, for example, the CDC has used an explicit policy of fear marketing to increase demand for flu shots.
• The critical importance of independent journalism for correcting and ensuring accountability for harmful mainstream media misinformation.
• Why it is so critically important for every news consumer to develop savvy news consumer skills and to share empowering knowledge with others.

(Note: This interview was recorded on October 26 and published on December 27. Watch on YouTube or Rumble, or listen on Spotify.)