Manipulative Form of Propaganda - Essay Example

The essay examines the specific propaganda mechanisms advanced in the July 22nd, 2010 episode of the CBS Evening News News with Katie Couric.
Viewers familiar with the CBS Evening News are aware that the show starts with a nightly overview of what will be included in the broadcasts. This specific episode indicates that the broadcast will include: the BP Oil Spill, the Shirley Sherrod incident, an examination of the immigration debate, and a piece on how researchers used Twitter to determine the country’s mood. Already in this programming outline several ideological assumptions are readily present. While the news is mythologized as existing in an objective vacuum, where relevant content is reported to the public, it’s clear that the format is much more aligned with the dramatic principles required to draw and hold an audience. In this instance, the CBS Evening News includes the most somber, yet startling information first BP Oil Spill. It seems this ultimately has the effect of catching the viewer up on past occurrences; for instance, the daily reports on the minutest details of the BP Oil Spill come to represent a sort of daily drama for viewers, with continuity being made from past broadcasts. The plot twist for the night’s broadcast is that a potential storm may sidetrack the clean-up crews. While the information is presented as direct news, its hidden ideological assumptions are clearly that BP hasn’t done enough in aiding the coast, and now they are further failing as may be unable to accomplish its clean-up before the oncoming storm. While it’s arguable that the Evening News is simply reflecting the perspective of the millions of individuals who have been harmed by BP’s actions, the inclusion of the material at the top of the broadcast and with dramatic flair leads one to note both the white and grey propagandistic mechanisms at hold.
The Sherrod controversy’s placement next in the order also shares with the BP Oil spill a level of dramatic continuity. In this segment, the White House has recognized that Sherrod’s firing was done erroneously and has now called to apologize for the incident. While on the surface such a story can be considered relevant as Sherrod’s potential rehiring can directly affect individuals working in the agriculture industry, a more thorough inspection reveals that it is an element of propaganda on the part of the Evening News, the White House, and Sherrod herself. In his seminal text Propaganda, Bernays writes,
In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct, or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind. (Bernays, pg. 1)

With Sherrod's story, as well as the BP Oil Spill, propaganda is being implemented exactly as Bernays has indicated; namely, the country’s ethical assumptions regarding Sherrod’s firing are being publicly altered through the president’s phone call. The episode's final inclusion of the Twitter story functions as a carrot and stick technique, as there is an ‘if you eat your vegetables then you can have your dessert’ mentality implemented. Its inclusion also concludes the episode with a happy ending, just as one might see in a Disney film.
Ultimately, what is seen in the CBS Evening News is an understanding of American society as childlike and necessarily manipulated into understanding that the oil spill is bad and that sometimes even the President makes mistakes that need to be corrected by a simple phone call. While few would argue that most Americans are capable of making independent decisions, the inclusion of these news segments is so artfully presented by dramatic standards that most viewers never even recognize their propagandistic functions. Indeed, America is not watching Katie Couric for news, but for a guidebook on how to ethically think about the world – a scary thought indeed. Read More