Do you buy in to the news conspiracy theories?

After a while I watched Bowling for Columbine again the other day as I saw it on Netflix Micheal Moore seems to suggest that the news in America focuses only on the bad news to keep the citizens in a state of fear as ''a scared population is easy to control''

Now I don't really buy in to it all but I do find it quite interesting.

I do however think a lot of news is exaggerated and with so many different news publications available now you do have to choose who you're going to believe or at least take more notice of.

I have been noticing trends regarding what I consider to be the big 3 of the year. ISIS, NK, terrorist attacks (could also claim this falls under ISIS) However the point I'm making is when one dies down and stops becoming profitable one of the others then pops back up as a new threat to the world and our way of life.

I'm aware it's all a bit tinfoil hat but I am interested to see if anyone takes the popular news sites/papers etc as constant truth or who completely dis-regards it. I don't think there's a conspiracy to keep us all scared for our lives so we will follow any order. Though a few good news stories wouldn't go a miss once in a while.

From what you've posted above I'm reminded of the brilliant documentary series - 'The Power of Nightmares' aired about 10 years ago on the BBC:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Nightmares

IIRC, its scope is wide but looks at how the 24hr news creates a climate of fear (particularly in relation to 'the war on terror'), and how this fear is used for political gain.

Available on YouTube & Definitely worth a watch.

I don't think that it's that far into the tinfoil hat area to suppose that the powers that be hide news stories that put them in a bad light on the days of other bad things in order to lessen the effect on them. For this one reference Jo Moore sending round a memo on 11 September 2001 about it being a day to hide bad news. I'm sure that it happens all the time, it's just that on that day the memo got leaked to the press.

In other ways I'm sure that the modern media phenomenon facilitates the fear much of the time. In the days before 24 hour news channels all sorts of atrocities could have happened in every corner of the world but we simply wouldn't know about it because there's a limit to the amount of news that will fit in a newspaper or a news bulletin on radio or TV. The statistics are that a huge amount of life is substantially safer than it has been (proportionally) for pretty much all of the time that the figures have been recorded through history.

The same applies to things like child abuse. It's not a modern phenomenon, we just hear about it now because of the aforementioned media cycle therefore it feels ever present and ever dangerous. In truth, according to all of the statistics, even though there's never any way to be absolutely certain that all of the instances are taken into account in statistics, the world is getting safer for children (proportionally), when compared to all past recorded periods.

This statistical analysis of the losses of WWII compared with the modern day is a long watch video, but is really rather interesting, in a dreadful kind of way. It makes the point that compared to any time since WWII, we live in a really quite amazingly safe period.

https://www.indy100.com/article/this-video-shows-the-scale-of-losses-in-wwii--bklEQ5b3bZe

A good post, that. We get the media that we deserve, I think.

The media is owned, and therefore to some extent influenced, by a relatively small group of people.

These people are Billionaires, some self made and some hereditary , and by definition they tend to have impressive egos.

Do they therefore feel that they have a message to impart to the rest of us which we should accept and act upon?

Definitely.

Should we acquiesce to their desires?

All things considered, probably not.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjPzaCfzdfVAhUBM8AKHdqUAfIQFghfMAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbs.org%2Findependentlens%2Fdemocracyondeadline%2Fmediaownership.html&usg=AFQjCNEHV3jBwNQEI8S0PX_vOD3eb4LCAA

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjIgafkztfVAhVoAsAKHYFCByQQFghJMAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.independent.co.uk%2Fvoices%2Fbritish-people-think-their-media-is-the-most-biased-and-right-wing-in-europe-and-theyre-probably-a6860911.html&usg=AFQjCNG88OMGjaFjeYw7Fnp8F0XsvRe5Bw

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjQo7Sb09fVAhUFKsAKHVmQDgEQFggtMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmedia%2F2015%2Foct%2F21%2Fuk-media-plurality-threatened-by-dominant-group-of-large-firms-report&usg=AFQjCNERvoin0wNEJRof0PmPiIrgHsPPZA

It comes down to people realising and understanding that they have free will, and are not subjugated to anyone elses prejudices.

Realising that most, if not all, media information has an agenda, or at the very least a slight bias one way or the other helps to you step back and evaluate what is being said.

At the same time, not everything is slanted or biased in one way or the other and judging what is genuine and what is propaganda is all part of the fun.

Conspiracy theories are a bit like paranoia ' just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. '

'Just because you think it's a conspiracy, doesn't mean it isn't'

I think there are elements of the 'main stream media' being driven by people with one agenda or another. Be it Murdoch, the government, foreign governments etc. The coverage of some aspects leading up to the Iraq war for example seem to me to be directed to soften us up for a war. In this case probably driven by Blair/Campbell/No 10. The North Korea coverage, by the BBC in particular, seems to be acting in a similar way at the moment.

Conspiracies in order of size.....

The earth being a stationary flat plain

Their theory of evolution

911

Chemtrails

Global warming

Big Pharma mediSIN

Vaccination

Diplomat investigating the disappearance of flight MH370 has been shot dead in Madagascar. Nothing to be suspicious about here I'm sure

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4844348/Conspiracy-theory-diplomat-probing-MH370-shot-dead.html

Diplomat investigating the disappearance of flight MH370 has been shot dead in Madagascar. Nothing to be suspicious about here I'm sure

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4844348/Conspiracy-theory-diplomat-probing-MH370-shot-dead.html

Another link or Im assuming its a lie (not a reflection on you Alan, I do not trust the Daily Mail)

maybe hes not dead, hes sunning it on the moon with elvis, tupac, diana and that london bus?

Conspiracies in order of size.....

 

 

 

The earth being a stationary flat plain

 

Their theory of evolution

 

911

 

Chemtrails

 

Global warming

 

Big Pharma mediSIN

 

Vaccination

You're a right little meme aren't you. It would be funny if it wasn't so obvious. I suggest trying a little harder..

The video " Powers of nightmare" Is pure Muslem propaganda, I watched 20 mnutes of it and was disturbed, I don't think It's wrong when it talks about the " American Dream of wealth", but Christianity is an older relegion that promotes sharing, and working together to create a caring, sharing community. I believe we are all are now, selfish to some degree, as for conspiracy theories - Do you honestly think we are still in AUSTERITY with the Gov. spending £60B on the London underground (just finnished) another £60B on another underground line to be built before the £60B plan for HS2, AND THEN COMPLAIN about the £2B spent on an aircraft carrier, but give themselfs a payrise of 10% plus. The only ones tightening there belt in his country is the working class (as usual)

Funny how it all comes to £60B.