The Enlightenment was an open experiment to establish fairness and create democracies that would serve people. A critical new element in such democracies was the realm of communication and the free flow of information to people, with the aim of transparency in order to prevent the control of people through controlling or restricting information. Stories of the influential and galvanizing power of media such as newspapers and pamphlets in the history of revolutions and new democracies have nearly mythological qualities. And yet, despite the essential value of media in the health of a democracy, it has often played a paradoxical role in Western democracies. It has oscillated between providing factual, informative news and promoting transparency within a government, to creating skepticism, taking sides, spreading gossip and indulging in misrepresentation. It deserves a closer look in order to understand how it got to the point of being a source of the manipulation of minds, and what can be done to address this critical issue.

The evolution of the freedom of expression during The Enlightenment became a vital part of the democratic machinery, as well as the growing capitalist environment. Media became an important platform for the parties and politicians to advertise themselves and their ideas. It also became a platform for businesses to advertise the sale of their products. These two seemingly different purposes psychologically merged at some point. The innocent and idealized idea of freedom of speech was co-opted by the power of advertisement. Eventually the giant media entities soon cemented their positions, having a powerful behavioral and psychological effect on the public. The machinery of politicized media developed advertising-marketing techniques to push public opinion in the favor of one interest group or another. Hence the development of a slanted media that was no longer dedicated to serving people objectively.

The clash between an objective media and a slanted media is a clash between the interests of people and political capitalism. The manipulating role of the media, in N. Chomsky and E. S. Herman words, was used for ‘Manufacturing Consent,’ creating narratives which served the interests of the political and financial elite classes. Social scientists have intensely studied the domineering role of the media in politics and marketing, including how it has been used to arouse patriotism and even manufacture opinions in favor of wars.

Brainwashing Background 

It is intriguing, and rather sobering, to dig into the past and see how the media evolved into a tool of propaganda and manipulation used by entrepreneurs and politicians. Edward Bernays (1891-1995), the Austrian-American social theorist and nephew of Sigmund Freud, became an influential personality in the early 20th century world, developing ingenious advertising and propaganda techniques that tapped into the subconscious and created a subliminal way to methodically influence the masses. His skillful methods benefited those who wished to have a semblance of control over the minds of people, starting with manufacturers wishing to sell more products. For example, Bernays did pioneering work in the advertisement of cigarettes, especially aimed at overcoming women’s resistance to smoking (successfully accomplished in the 1920s.) He created a world of marketing in which we can say this; we actually do not buy things but we are sold things, even things we don’t need.

He gradually moved beyond marketing and began to focus his skills on the political spectrum. He supplied news and propaganda on issues that mattered vitally in the 20th century. His work extended to building support for war in the military in the U.S., to promoting the sales of bananas in America through manipulative means: when hired by the United Fruit Company to build their banana sale business, Bernays led a campaign using propaganda to accuse Guatemala of being a communist government, which led to the CIA’s successful coup there in 1954. Bernays developed rhetoric to support anticommunist sentiment in the U.S. and helped to strategize political campaigns for politicians.

Bernays’ “talent”, if it can be called that, was to manage to rebrand the negative term of ‘propaganda’ into ‘real’ news. He went on to build deeper ideas about governing people in a democracy by molding and manipulating minds. One method he pioneered was the use of polls. Bernays’ article in 1945 declared that polls decide the direction of politics, not ballots. He said this: “We are no longer led by men. We are led around by polls.” Polls proved to influence public opinion and inhibit thinking by invoking the power of the herd mentality that humans can so easily fall prey to if independent thinking is not strongly supported.  (Edward L. Bernays, “Attitude Polls-Servants or Masters?” The Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 3 (Autumn, 1945)).

Bernays and those who followed his methods had located a weak spot in the human psyche where incoming information could be manipulated in such a way that would sway people’s opinions and decisions. Bernays laid the foundation for future marketing strategies, and finally for propaganda and manipulation using the channels of media that has been inherited in the partisan media.

Sensational Takes Over the Essential

The kind of media which manipulates is a media that takes the minds for a short and sensational ride without any profound or impartial analysis. As the veteran journalist Bill Moyer explained, when the news media provide dramatic news, that’s the immediate side of the story. That’s what grabs our attention. It is, however, important not to be oblivious to the essential information and the deeper history that lies behind the immediate news. Immediate news can be easily taken out of context, whereas the essential can be intentionally suppressed by the reporter and the news outlet if there is hidden agenda by the media corporation.

In the 21th century, politicians and governments along with corporations continue to use media outlets to relay the news. Certain newspapers, TV channels and media centers are funded by corporations with specific interests or have editorial boards that are not impartial, and as a result, their news reports biasedly serve the interests of particular groups. Even many movies made by Hollywood that focus on patriotic wars or excitable terrorists plots that stereotype Arabs, Muslims, or other groups are designed to orient and influence public opinion in a particular direction.

Given the importance of freedom of speech, I am not so clear about the solution to the problems of media influence. People need to better equipped to see through what they read or hear. There is no immediate solution to curb the source of media manipulation, propaganda and slanted information because of the freedom of speech, or rather the paradox of freedom of speech. Everyone is entitled to a podium and opinion. A diversity of opinions is democratic and is to be taken to heart. Ideally, the collective interest of a society as a whole can be expressed in a variety of ways but all with honest intentions. In the Second Enlightenment, governments and civil and social organizations are expected to weigh the truthfulness and intentions of the media industry. In order to make people aware, it would be decisive to have certain independent international committees to oversee and caution the harm and benefits of slanted media.

Our new world order and future peace means a society that is more trust-worthy, which means everyone has essentially the same goals in mind for the society, rather than goals of control and domination. A non-divisive media brings people closer to each other. It is a new era that we should not be controlled by media without our awareness of it. A deft awareness and understanding of the essential (historical) over the immediate and sensational may lead to more open and thoughtful minds in order to keep the influence of the media at bay.