It is not for nothing that the mass media call the fourth estate - their influence on our worldview is undeniable. But in the context of a permanent information war, which is obviously being waged against Russia, this resource periodically becomes a means of mass destruction.
War of the Worlds
This weapon has been repeatedly tested on people for a long time.
In October 1938, the residents of the American states of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania were seized by panic: hundreds of thousands of adult capable citizens rushed to flee from aliens, whose attack was heard on the radio. The announcer in an alarming voice reported that UFOs had landed on the outskirts of Grovers Mill, from which battle tripods fell, striking earthlings with rays unknown to science. An appeal by the US Secretary of State to the nation on the introduction of martial law was read out. Reporters from the scene were talking about more and more details of the alien invasion … People hardly came to their senses when 40 minutes later they were told that they had listened to the radio play "War of the Worlds" based on the novel by science fiction writer Herbert Wells.
The CBS radio station, which broadcast, reached six million listeners that night. Let us remind you that it was 1938, when radio had a weighty authority and a corresponding influence on the life of Americans, not inferior to modern television.
Fourth estate
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Eighty years later, electronic media have the same, if not even more, power over the minds of people. That is why they are called the fourth estate. According to statistics, in Russia 90% of the adult population watches TV at least once a week, and the majority - almost 70% - do it every day. Channel One has an audience of about 28 million viewers, NTV - about 22 million. TNT is watched by every fourth Russian aged 18 to 30.
Today, a huge mass of the population lives in large cities, where special conditions have formed that negatively affect the well-being of people. Many residents of megalopolises experience stress, depression, depression, dissatisfaction with their lives, prefer to go into the world of illusions, including with the help of alcohol and drugs. The adequacy of the perception of the surrounding reality is greatly reduced, the media easily form fashion, ideals and norms of behavior.
Reality show
It is not surprising that modern wars are becoming more and more like a large-scale PR campaign, in which real combat operations are gradually pushed into the background, and soldiers are not so much fighting as they are participating in a directed reality show. There is no need to look far for examples: the war in Iraq was even called a "television war" due to the fact that the process of hostilities was widely covered in the media and strongly resembled a performance similar to the one that was staged on the radio back in 1938. But the number of real victims of this "performance" was truly terrifying. Serious funds were spent on the information support of the military campaign, and they were more than paid off: 75% of Iraqi servicemen who eventually surrendered confirmed that leaflets and radio broadcasts of the Americans influenced their decision most of all.
It all began in 1990 with the appearance in the world's largest media of a story about how Iraqi soldiers pulled fifteen babies out of a maternity hospital in Kuwait and put them to die on a cold floor. The story was passed on from the words of a witness - a 15-year-old girl who, as it turned out later, was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States, and most of the other "witnesses" to this incident were selected by Hill & Knowlton, a well-known PR campaign. George W. Bush also raised this story in his speeches, who as a result received the support of more than 80% of American voters and an indulgence for the United States to invade Iraq.
In fact, the unleashing of hostilities in Iraq was the beginning of a new generation of wars, in which information rather than force instruments of influence came to the fore. The psychological impact on its citizens and on the enemy, on political opponents and allies on a global scale turned out to be colossal. Subsequently, the United States effectively beat this scenario in Libya, using the same scheme against Gaddafi as against Hussein and in Yugoslavia, justifying the bombing of Belgrade by NATO troops and creating a deliberately exaggerated image of "bloodthirsty Serbs".
From an elephant fly
It should be noted that in an information war, the media usually become unwitting conductors of malicious information, completely not understanding what they are doing. An example given at one of the conferences on information warfare is an impressive illustration of this: the coverage of ordinary Russian-Belarusian exercises, which suddenly, by the media, turned into a supposed military action. A local blogger, seeing military equipment traveling to joint exercises, wrote in his blog: "There is movement of military equipment along our road today." The next day, a local newspaper published the news: "A local blogger wrote that Russian equipment is moving towards Belarus." A day later, the Polish press published an alarming one: "As reported by the Belarusian media, Russia is pulling troops to the border with Belarus, in all likelihood, an invasion is being prepared."
In fact, the case looks funny - but that's only if you don't know about its ins and outs. In order to manipulate human consciousness, the information message is always simplified as much as possible and presented in the form of an assertion. It is conveyed to audiences in a concise, energetic and impressive manner that cannot be discussed, i.e. thinking. Repetition of the message raises the necessary barrier against any opposite statement. The embedded idea turns into evidence that does not depend on time, place, or personality. The message is repeated over and over again until it penetrates into the depths of the subconscious, where the motives of our actions arise.
Color revolutions
The task of an information war at the initial stage is to change the assessment of the situation and the very criteria for such an assessment. The next step is to change the system of beliefs and values. And the result is the destruction of identity. As a result of the impact of information attacks, its objects (and this is the population of entire countries!) Change their views on current events, begin to behave in a different way than they did before.
An example of the results of such an impact is "color" revolutions. Moreover, the majority of people in the country affected by the information attack will not feel any discomfort; rather, on the contrary, they will experience genuine euphoria. After all, they are sincerely convinced by the enemy that victory is theirs - they are "involved" in some "advanced" values. Consciousness is brainwashed and people are not embarrassed that these values overwhelmingly contradict their traditional national way of life. They do not notice that similar events according to exactly the same scenario took place in a number of other countries and this had the most sad effect on the level and quality of life of their citizens. Someone else's negative experience does not in any way affect the assessment of the situation by the next victims of information wars waged against new countries that subject their inhabitants to informational influence.
How to avoid such a zombie? Knowledge is at the heart of protection against behavioral operations and human manipulation. Forewarned is forearmed. A critical attitude to information sources and an independent analysis of the incoming information is the main obstacle to harmful information on the way to your consciousness.
