- a way of marching with each person as close as possible to the one in front."the trio marched in lockstep"close adherence to and emulation of another's actions. "they raised prices in lockstep with those of foreign competitors"
The rise of television news, and its power over the mind, necessitated an agreement among the major networks:
On most issues, the networks would have to mirror each other’s coverage. Otherwise, the audience would experience an unacceptable level of confusion and cognitive dissonance.
This principle of agreement was basically about the rules of propaganda—-and nowhere was it more evident than in matters of medical science.
For example, suppose, recently, the COVID PCR test became an occasion for disagreement among NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and FOX?
Three networks fell into line with the CDC and the WHO in claiming the test was accurate and meaningful, while the other two strenuously reported on the irreparable and fatal flaws in the test. (I’ve exhaustively detailed those flaws in many articles.)
The network dissonance would upset a huge apple cart smack in the middle of COVID “science.” The public wouldn’t know where to turn.
Therefore, the truth of the matter had to take a back seat to conformity. All the major networks robotically echoed the CDC/WHO.
And the network anchors had to sell the PCR lies. Lester Holt (Lurch/ the Addams family); David Muir (Sears underwear model); Norah O’Donnell (student council president); Wolf Blitzer (“smart bombs went right down chimneys in Iraq”); a collection of shiny suits at FOX; they all had to pretend they’d looked at more than the opening lines of public health press releases.
The guiding light of network news is unanimity, and social media have adopted that m.o. as well.
Truth is the first casualty of The News.
Long before television secured its hold on the public (1923-1928), Edward Bernays, the father of modern propaganda, wrote: “This is an age of mass production. In the mass production of materials a broad technique has been developed and applied to their distribution. In this age, too, there must be a technique for the mass distribution of ideas.”
“Domination to-day is not a product of armies or navies or wealth or policies. It is a domination based on the one hand upon accomplished unity, and on the other hand upon the fact that opposition is generally characterized by a high degree of disunity.”
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.”
Today, vast numbers of people DO cooperate; they watch the news, which is a virtual construct.
The network editors, writers, on-air talent, and crews conspire and collaborate, every day, to fulfill Bernays’ prescriptions for society. And, for the most part, these plotters are true believers. They think they’re presenting fact.
This is what habit does to the mind.
The CIA has played its role in securing network unanimity of coverage. As soon as the Agency was created, in 1947, it set about researching mind control (MKULTRA). It planted agents in newsrooms. It followed the tenets of Bernays.
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