And michael, I know I’m pressing quite hard on these points. I’ll be open about it; I do want you to question some of the attitudes you express here. You may well not read any of the titles I listed but we’re all surrounded by many people who do, so we’re immersed in the opinions they project; it’s impossible to escape from such opinions or be unaffected by them. Speaking against them can prove unpopular.
Politicians are as affected by this just as much as the rest of us, as are people who work for other, supposedly more independent media organisations. When people see the word ‘propaganda’ they usually think of the the government controlling the news media, but I think the converse, media influencing politicians, is actually more significant. Politicians and other media personalities are a more valuable target for corporate propaganda because they have more power and reach.
In this sense, propaganda is like covid; we tend to think of its effects upon us each of us personally, but its effects upon society as a whole are more significant.