I only watch the mainstream (cable) news-networks when I'm doing research on propaganda, and so I'm writing this after subjecting myself to about an hour and a half of (torturous)
propaganda news reporting of the mall shooting in Maryland.
Obviously, by now we all know there is an epidemic of gun violence in this country, which is of course one more symptom of a dysfunctional social and political system captured by undemocratic forces (corporate cartels, including the NRA, and super-wealthy individuals).
The other day I heard about a man killing his wife, kid, and then turning the gun on himself. Murder-suicides are happening all over the country, and they are happening more frequently. Schools shootings are happening all over the country, and are happening more frequently, as well. And mass shooting are happening more frequently.
There are of course many reasons for this social sickness, one of the principal ones being the consequences of the massive looting of trillions of dollars by the Wall Street racketeering criminal cartel, which caused all kinds of economic dislocations for millions and millions of people. The consequences of that type of unprecedented and rampant looting and pillaging (with total impunity) can't be underestimated.
It is within that context that I marvel at the blatant police state propaganda in the aftermath of some mass shootings. In the latest case--the shooting at the shopping mall in Maryland--as I write this, it has been reported that a lone shooter killed two young people (in their 20's), employees of a mall retail establishment, and then turned the gun on himself.
Obviously, just like the shootings that happen every day across this country, this is also a tragic situation for the victims, their families, and their communities.
But the way these propaganda outfits (TV news media) exploit these events is truly shameful. The rampant speculation, the non-stop loops of photos and videos of what looks like entire army platoons in our streets; the huge militarized vehicles...
There is a hidden subtext to all of it... There is (whipped up) mass fear and hysteria (helped by the constant drumming of the story, and the images). And there is the allusion of heavily militarized police forces and all their equipment rushing in to establish order and security. The constant loops (on TV) of military-clad officers holding on to their heavy weaponry, huddling in earnest while they are seemingly strategizing as to their next moves. The helicopters, the ambulances, emergency vehicles...
I understand this receiving heavy media coverage where it happened, but why is this national news? And why is it receiving wall-to-wall coverage by all these cable news networks?
I've written about this many times, but knowing that I'm now done with my research, after subjecting myself to just 1 1/2 hour of that type of very harmful propaganda, I can't begin to imagine what it does to people who glue themselves to the nonstop coverage for hours at a time.
There is no redeeming value to it; it will do nothing to help bring about "sensible gun legislation," given the fact that 90% of people support it. It will not help prevent the next mass shooting; it will not help in helping people identify the root causes of the appealing income inequality that's helping bring about many of the social ills we are experiencing.
In the final analysis the only thing this type of overwrought exposure to what is essentially a local issue (one more shooting) does is to whip up fear (at a national level), and to serve as powerful propaganda for the police state.
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