4 ms·

There obviously are an incredible number of lobbyists and interest groups that try to influence political opinion -- in all countries. It is obviously big busin

by berntb 16y ago

There obviously are an incredible number of lobbyists and interest groups that try to influence political opinion -- in all countries. It is obviously big business. Also, everyone tries to play this game, if they want to make a difference for what they want to achieve. But you read as something from a conspiracy theorist. If you e.g. analyze some random TV program about cooking, you can infer a multitude of hidden meanings just from the spices they use! I personally have more hope for insights from internal documents published on WikiLeaks, instead. But, well, good luck. The world needs competent alternative viewpoints.

espeed 16y ago
MIT professor Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman (Wharton School) presented the "Propaganda Model" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model) in their 1988 book, "Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent:_The_Political_Economy_of_the_Mass_Media http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent:_The_Poli...). In their research they describe the dynamics between the government, corporations, and the media. As they show, it's not so much a conspiracy, but instead it's part of the political economy.
- berntb 16y ago
  My point was rather that analyzing articles looking for conspiracies will find them everywhere. And I acknowledged that the ideas of lobbying/influencing is universal. (Chomsky is an activist/idealist. You should apply salt to him, too...)
  - espeed 16y ago
    I am not suggesting that we analyze articles looking for conspiracies. I am suggesting that we look for well-defined techniques, the mechanisms used, regardless of the messages' meanings.
    - berntb 16y ago
      My point is still relevant. A bunch of idealists looking for patters of conspiracies in text will find them. You need some verification subsystem; a scientific method, if you want. Otherwise, you'll reinvent an even worse version of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_studies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_studies Edit: Good luck inventing something new. I mean it.
      - espeed 16y ago
        The verification system will be built into the Web service. To account for human error in the identification process, the system will be designed so multiple users are used verify identifications made by other users. Similar systems are used to ensure the accuracy of, for example, transcriptions through reCaptcha (http://www.google.com/recaptcha/digitizing http://www.google.com/recaptcha/digitizing), and reCaptcha is able to achieve 99.5% accuracy.
      - espeed 16y ago
        Thank you :)

by berntb 16y ago

espeed 16y ago

MIT professor Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman (Wharton School) presented the "Propaganda Model" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model) in their 1988 book, "Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent:_The_Political_Economy_of_the_Mass_Media http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent:_The_Poli...). In their research they describe the dynamics between the government, corporations, and the media. As they show, it's not so much a conspiracy, but instead it's part of the political economy.

berntb 16y ago
My point was rather that analyzing articles looking for conspiracies will find them everywhere. And I acknowledged that the ideas of lobbying/influencing is universal. (Chomsky is an activist/idealist. You should apply salt to him, too...)
- espeed 16y ago
  I am not suggesting that we analyze articles looking for conspiracies. I am suggesting that we look for well-defined techniques, the mechanisms used, regardless of the messages' meanings.
  - berntb 16y ago
    My point is still relevant. A bunch of idealists looking for patters of conspiracies in text will find them. You need some verification subsystem; a scientific method, if you want. Otherwise, you'll reinvent an even worse version of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_studies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_studies Edit: Good luck inventing something new. I mean it.
    - espeed 16y ago
      The verification system will be built into the Web service. To account for human error in the identification process, the system will be designed so multiple users are used verify identifications made by other users. Similar systems are used to ensure the accuracy of, for example, transcriptions through reCaptcha (http://www.google.com/recaptcha/digitizing http://www.google.com/recaptcha/digitizing), and reCaptcha is able to achieve 99.5% accuracy.
    - espeed 16y ago
      Thank you :)