JOH Herman & Chomsky

Greetings ~

Good and creepy reading this week, eh? It appears propaganda lies within all aspects of media, as I'm sure it has for ... ever. To be able to sell some thing, mission, product, or ideology efficiently and effectively has been and will always will be a favorite in our capitalistic culture. Whether we are convincing support for a war, or portraying a war as all evil, the propaganda machine is sure to grab the eye or ear of the busybody.

The flak concept is a critical component, as asserted in the essay, though it does exist with strings attached:

"The ability to produce flak, and especially flak that is costly and threatening, is related to power" (M 276).

First of all, I really didn't know that when someone said "Hey, quit giving me flak!" that they were using a real word. That aside, the concept of flak and its reliance on power drives my thoughts to how flak has been utilized by those who lack direct financial power, yet have grouped to such a degree that they have still been able to "do damage." I feel as though I have a habit of continually referencing the media (as junkfood) and our role in its consumption. I guess it sort of irritates me. I wonder if there ever will be a popular movement towards more positive leveraging of media.

One thought that causes doubt in me is the reality that nearly every time I ask a coworker, or someone in the elevator how they're doing, I receive some form of negative feedback. Seminole County engineers work on the second floor (my school is on the third), and they always respond to me with some version of "boy aren't you glad to get your ass out of there?!" Who wants to hear good news anyway, unless it involves winning the lottery for oneself, one would rather discuss John Kerry's joke or the latest car bombing in Palestine.
WILL THERE EVER BE FLAK APPLIED WITH THE AIM OF REDUCING NEGATIVE FEEDBACK IN THE MEDIA? Of that I am not certain, though I might guess not. As our theorist of old posited that the media is part of the event - I'll add that those who hold the fork taste the meat.