Let's Start talking about American Propaganda
I want to start writing some notes and observations about American propaganda work. If you'd like to support more of these short newsletters, send me a tip here
Political control over media is a spectrum of moving parts. Rather than a solitary centralized board approving or disapproving of stories, there is often a range of state media ranging from newswires to tabloids. In the age of social media, propaganda will often include influencers and people that exist to stoke virality and content creation initiatives.
Paramount has been this interesting component of Propaganda work for the Trump Administration. Prior to the rather damp UFC fight to commemorate President Trump's Birthday, I could scarcely open a YouTube video without some advertisement about the bouts happening at America's seat of power, where a garish metal cage slathered in sponsor logos has been under construction. Fight cards and promotional photos have been placed front and center by the ideologue-owned media company. Trump most likely enjoyed this event better than the far less controlled audience of the New York Knicks finals game where he was overtly booed.
All of this and more has been fodder for American propaganda by networks and outlets that have done different aspects of work bolstering state power.
Within this corrosive ecosystem, CBS occupies a focal point. Acquired by Paramount and with sentient slimeball of bigotry Bari Weiss heading its news operations, CBS has quickly shifted to censoring its own reporters and producing saccharine, pathetic packages of patriotism and whiskey tastings.
Outside of formalized propaganda networks, there is a second type of propaganda that is worth recognizing and including in threat assessments. American propaganda as it currently exists is inextricable from something called stan culture. To illustrate this, I'm going to pick a celebrity that hasn't had a recent scandal: Barry Manilow.
Suppose our Copacabana man did have some sort of social media faux-pas that has landed him in the public eye. Stans, which are die-hard supporters that will love their chosen idol no matter what, will leap to Barry's defense. They will act as rapid response and attack dog to critics. They will make content threatening anyone that besmirches the good name of Manilow. They will launch pseudo-campaigns of support to boost Barry's streaming numbers and social media presence on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter. This happens regardless of any input from Barry Manilow or his representatives. Stans are something of a force of nature that blur the politics of consumption and power. They are not really convinceable without a significant amount of effort, time, and tenacity.
When stans comprise a lion's share of political support, the consequences are more far-reaching than anything to do with popular culture impact. Politicians are able to allow fan activity to obfuscate politics, blur the stakes of what they stand for and really muddy the waters on substance. It is in this area where Bari Weiss and Donald Trump have flourished. These people, though far apart in tools and language, love to lob non-sequitur cultural wars at the general public as a twisted bread and circuses routine. They start talking about Caribbean countries as "shitholes" or sowing panic about trans activists bullying helpless parents. The subsequent oxygen sucked out of the underlying laws and regulations making things worse for Caribbean immigrants and the LGBTQ community gets less room to self-advocate.
Within this push-and-shove dynamic, what also functionally happens is that propagandists can run the clock. They buy more time for a corrupt and bigoted Supreme Court to issue rulings gutting Title IX or almost killing Birthright Citizenship. And this is what their stans wanted the whole time. So what are we going to do about that?
