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| source: globalresearch.ca |
It's is near impossible to present a new ideology, thought, or opinion
in a 1000 words editorial or a 40 minutes commercial laden talk show.
It is the great media disguise which has turned cynics such as
Haroon-ur-Rasheed, Irfan Siddiqui, Oria Maqbool Jan, and Ansar Abbasi into
self-posed intellectuals. These characters occupy the media screen and
rote the same piece of information again and again to make it a part of our
sub-consciousness. They repeat meaningless sentences which makes them
meaningful for the commoners, for example:
"Imran Khan will clearly win the next election"
"There was no terrorism before September 2001"
"Zaradari and Gillani are corrupt"
"Everything's wrong in Karachi due to MQM"
"Haqqani's a traitor"
"We need a saviour!"
These actor-cum-journalists try to pose themselves as if they are some great
intellectuals who should be respectfully heard. Their distorted chatter in at
par with the chattering at any local bus stops. They have no respect for
alternate opinions and ruthlessly interject anyone speaking against the general
media propaganda. For example, Ansar Abbasi posed himself as an Islamic
Ghazi in Hamid Mir's program in an effort to nullify Dr. Hoodbhoy's
logical claims. A similar case occurred when Asma Jahengir was on
line in a talk show while Haroon-ur-rasheed constantly interrupted her.
The question is, why does the nation listen to such clowns? This is a
wrongfully constructed question. It assumes as if the nation listens to few
independent observations and then arrives at a decision through a personal
dialectical process. The media propaganda process is never an individual thought
process. The nation hears the general media perception times after times, which
then became a subtle opinion in their minds. In prime-time programs (7 pm-10
pm), many actors solidify the agenda of the day. They
use poignant speeches, rhythmic poetry, flaring eyes, beatific
rhetoric, some pieces of Islamic history, sometimes they even cry out, and so
on. It is such a master piece of drama that
it mesmerises everyone.
The process of deciding the propaganda topic of the days is still
an abstruse process. No one really knows how the system works. We don't
have a book like Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent for
Pakistan. I hope one day, some Pakistani intellectual will try to demystify
this propaganda mechanism is Pakistan. Despite that, we can still understand
the outline of this media propaganda mechanism through everyday news
articles.
Consider the Hussain Haqqani case.
The media projected Mr. Haqqani as a traitor. Aforementioned Journalist
(or TV clowns) used every tactic they had to pursue this 'holy' goal. The story
of tagging the ex-Ambassador as a traitor doesn't start with the memo myth;
rather it goes back to the issue of the Karry-Lugar bill.
Pakistan army was agonized when two US senators subjected US aid to
Pakistan to some internal congressional conditions. This included a check as to
where the American money is being spent by the army. The bill also insured a
future of sustainable democracy in Pakistan. The army was in no mood to accept
such 'democratic' conditions, which triggered the media propaganda mechanism.
The army loathed Hussain Haqqani whom they accused was
responsible for passing this bill. Working on the dictates of their masters,
the paid journalists took on the goal of defaming the Pakistani ambassador.
With all their rhetoric, the defamation campaign again Mr. Haqqani
was a failure. The army failed to defame Mr. Haqqani. This agony of losing against
a civilian was what triggered the memo myth. This time these extremist
journalists were supported by cricketers and politicians. More anti-Haqqani
rhetoric was on-air. Baseless sentences were written by columnists in news
papers. With the naturally backing by the armed force, the media propaganda
mechanism was at its peak. The judiciary was also subdued. This time
the manufactured consent was more powerful and
more absorbent in the general sub-consciousness. Haqqani has no
chance to win, and thus an unarmed civilian lost the battle.
In the Memo myth, one visible fact is the synchronization of army's
opinion with the media's opinion. The media propaganda mechanism always tries
to increase confusion in the general public, while completely harmonizing the
media-army relationship.
"Conflict" is the catchword for any great drama, and the news
media knows how to keep conflicts alive. The net beneficiary of this conflict
is always the armed forces and media groups; always belittling politicians and
civilians.
This propaganda mechanism theory is applicable in many cases, for
example, media propaganda regarding Asma Jahangeer and Prime Minister Gillani. Moreover,
the mechanism applauds all actors who are speaking with the
same tongue as the military elite of Pakistan, for example, Imran
Khan and Right-wing Islamist extremists.
The propaganda mechanism described above is not quite clear yet. More
scholarship and research is required to decipher the internal working of this
system.
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