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Also note, "Facebook hired PR firm that wrote negative articles about rivals: NYT" [1]. Really makes you wonder how much news is actually corporate propaganda.

Also note, "Facebook hired PR firm that wrote negative articles about rivals: NYT" [1]. Really makes you wonder how much news is actually corporate propaganda. Reminds me of pg's article called, The Submarine [2]. [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/14/facebook-hired-pr-firm-that-wrote-negative-articles-about-rivals-nyt.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/14/facebook-hired-pr-firm-that-... [2] http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

cirgue 8y ago
There’s no magical one-asshole-at-a-time rule.
- panarky 8y ago
  No, but only a really special kind of asshole can complain about media reports that happen to be true, while simultaneously acting as the primary vector for spreading and amplifying false, hateful and vile disinformation.
ilamont 8y ago
A lot. Many non-"hard news" articles are spawned by PR agencies or PR arms of large companies through relationships with journalists or non-stop pitching of ideas to reporters and editors. They may be disguised as a human interest story, profile, or something else lighthearted. The Sunday New York Times is filled with them. They're not hard to spot, though. Some are obvious (a profile of celebrity X, who happens to be releasing a new movie). A casual mention of BigCo or a BigCo product is another giveaway. Example: the sudden flurry of articles about the ISS robot this week. Oh, look, it's powered by Watson! https://www.google.com/search?q=iss+robot+watson& https://www.google.com/search?q=iss+robot+watson&
kirsebaer 8y ago
See the classic 1928 short book Propaganda by Edward Bernays, early public relations specialist. Bernays estimates around 80% (or around there, I don't remember) of news articles are placed by PR agents. And he explains how and why they do this. http://b-ok.cc/book/814789/06bb6e http://b-ok.cc/book/814789/06bb6e
- oceanghost 8y ago
  “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. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” ― Edward Bernays, Propaganda
  - flyinglizard 8y ago
    Absolutely correct, and I’d say that these people serve as a dampening mechanism on public emotions. Once you remove them out of the loop - like social media does - you lose this societal stability.
    - carapace 8y ago
      Huh... like the amygdala of the social mind? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala
    - deltron3030 8y ago
      Doesn‘t the dampening just take place at a lower, maybe local level with social media? I mean it‘s basically an extension of the local sphere and peer to peer relations.
- IfOnlyYouKnew 8y ago
  Let's see: The current NYT front page, top to bottom until I stop caring: 6 x GHW Bush 2 x "Wisconsin Republicans Approve Stripping Power From Incoming Democratic Governor" "Facebook..." 3 x CBS' Moonves showed dick to actress, tried to get her roles to keep it quiet, lied to investigators 3 x New data on World-Wide Greenhouse gas emission Trump/China OPEC Meeting Markets down "The Best Movies Of 2018" None of these come anywhere close to what Graham describes, i. e. "Dude Ranches are the New Trend in Gender Reveal Outings" or whatever. Except maybe the list of movies, where it's generally understood that reviewers enjoy the luxurious bribes that are free tickets (and still dare to publicly rubbish films, with no discernible trends that neatly align to some production companies figuring out how to reliably buy good reviews) You can make this conspiracy theory work by insisting there some groups that profit from each of these stories, in some convoluted scheme. And most of these groups probably engage in PR, because everyone does. But then you have just arrived at a useless truism. So what's the purpose on insisting that everything is manipulated, and that there's some dark powers scheming to manipulate us, apart from the smug feeling of superiority? There's a point where critical thinking just becomes nihilism.
IfOnlyYouKnew 8y ago
I love how you are turning Facebook's attempt to manipulate the media, which was exposed by the media, into a talking point against the media, and thereby furthering Facebook's agenda.

cirgue 8y ago

There’s no magical one-asshole-at-a-time rule.

panarky 8y ago
No, but only a really special kind of asshole can complain about media reports that happen to be true, while simultaneously acting as the primary vector for spreading and amplifying false, hateful and vile disinformation.

ilamont 8y ago

A lot. Many non-"hard news" articles are spawned by PR agencies or PR arms of large companies through relationships with journalists or non-stop pitching of ideas to reporters and editors. They may be disguised as a human interest story, profile, or something else lighthearted. The Sunday New York Times is filled with them. They're not hard to spot, though. Some are obvious (a profile of celebrity X, who happens to be releasing a new movie). A casual mention of BigCo or a BigCo product is another giveaway. Example: the sudden flurry of articles about the ISS robot this week. Oh, look, it's powered by Watson! https://www.google.com/search?q=iss+robot+watson& https://www.google.com/search?q=iss+robot+watson&

kirsebaer 8y ago

See the classic 1928 short book Propaganda by Edward Bernays, early public relations specialist. Bernays estimates around 80% (or around there, I don't remember) of news articles are placed by PR agents. And he explains how and why they do this. http://b-ok.cc/book/814789/06bb6e http://b-ok.cc/book/814789/06bb6e

oceanghost 8y ago
“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. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” ― Edward Bernays, Propaganda
- flyinglizard 8y ago
  Absolutely correct, and I’d say that these people serve as a dampening mechanism on public emotions. Once you remove them out of the loop - like social media does - you lose this societal stability.
  - carapace 8y ago
    Huh... like the amygdala of the social mind? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala
  - deltron3030 8y ago
    Doesn‘t the dampening just take place at a lower, maybe local level with social media? I mean it‘s basically an extension of the local sphere and peer to peer relations.
IfOnlyYouKnew 8y ago
Let's see: The current NYT front page, top to bottom until I stop caring: 6 x GHW Bush 2 x "Wisconsin Republicans Approve Stripping Power From Incoming Democratic Governor" "Facebook..." 3 x CBS' Moonves showed dick to actress, tried to get her roles to keep it quiet, lied to investigators 3 x New data on World-Wide Greenhouse gas emission Trump/China OPEC Meeting Markets down "The Best Movies Of 2018" None of these come anywhere close to what Graham describes, i. e. "Dude Ranches are the New Trend in Gender Reveal Outings" or whatever. Except maybe the list of movies, where it's generally understood that reviewers enjoy the luxurious bribes that are free tickets (and still dare to publicly rubbish films, with no discernible trends that neatly align to some production companies figuring out how to reliably buy good reviews) You can make this conspiracy theory work by insisting there some groups that profit from each of these stories, in some convoluted scheme. And most of these groups probably engage in PR, because everyone does. But then you have just arrived at a useless truism. So what's the purpose on insisting that everything is manipulated, and that there's some dark powers scheming to manipulate us, apart from the smug feeling of superiority? There's a point where critical thinking just becomes nihilism.

IfOnlyYouKnew 8y ago

I love how you are turning Facebook's attempt to manipulate the media, which was exposed by the media, into a talking point against the media, and thereby furthering Facebook's agenda.