A compendium of media chicanery

This is excellently done: Freeper “Starbase” has unveiled a project I wish I’d thought to do: A Directory of Modern Propaganda Techniques

1. Guilt By Association:

This is used to damage someone’s reputation by associating them with an unattractive person or organization. It doesn’t matter if there is an actual association or not.

Example:
Kristen said that too many people were moving into the South without the input of Americans already living there. “This land is for my grandchildren, not world wide social experiments. She lives a couple states away from where David Duke has his national office, and some think many in the region feel the way she does.

2. Backstroke:

Systematically belittling the goals of the subject of the article as the goals are being listed. For every step forward for the subject, the propagandist pulls the reader back.

Example:
This year the political party’s stated goal is to give the rally a warm atmosphere. We walked into the cave-like coliseum as the preparations for the rally were taking place. “We’re trying to create a family atmosphere” said one representative of the party as he squinted into the harsh lights. “There are the children’s rides” he said happily pointing to where union workmen smashed open wooden crates with iron crowbars.

There’s lots more. It’s well worth putting in your hard-drive. My favorite, of course, is the “He Said, She Said.”

Well done, Starbase! H/T Ed Driscoll.

Slightly O/T. Look for an announcement very soon that Couric is the CBS Evening News Anchor.

Dumb Moonves. He never listens.