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Has there been a more powerful vehicle for projection of 'soft power' than the BBC? 100 years of programming, pulsing out the British perspective for a world t

Has there been a more powerful vehicle for projection of 'soft power' than the BBC? 100 years of programming, pulsing out the British perspective for a world that was hungry for new sources of media. Leaked documents from the CISA recently revealed operations to shape the 'cognitive infrastructure', by planting agents into moderation and product roles in online platforms - they have nothing on Brits, who have been showing the US how it is done for decades

themikesanto 4y ago
Leaked documents from the CISA recently revealed operations to shape the 'cognitive infrastructure' Source?
nolongerbanntd 4y ago
I get what you're saying, but I'm thinking that from such a global perspective, it's more accurate to focus on the whole of English language and culture; rather than on the government institutions from places which take it as a 1st language. This way it's possible to realize that it's a later version of what Latin once was, and even french got to be for a bit. It's the state-of-the art in natural language expressiveness. It has a uncommon relation to writing (literal) that is somehow different from most other oral-first languages. It's the language of trade (of commerce, of merchants), and it has an "ergonomic" (so to say) way to allow expressing complex thoughts. I still wish to better understand what is it about english orally (spoken) and english literally (written) that's somehow different from other cultures|languages. It is almost certainly one of the easiest languages to learn as a 2nd (i.e. not 1st) language; and I mean this is a GOOD THING.
- lazide 4y ago
  I think you’re likely reversing cause and effect - English is so widespread because the English ruled over the majority of the world for quite awhile. When you speak the language or starve for generations , the language has to be pretty bad to lose it’s power. Notably, the same was true for Latin for a very long time. Pax Romana and all.
imdsm 4y ago
We're just a small island nation. Nobody needs to concern themselves with us. They have nothing to fear. What could we do? We're so small.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
someotherperson 4y ago
I mean the BBC did fake an entire chemical attack in Syria, complete with a fake documentary, when the British were trying to push for intervention. Then they proceeded to purge and memory-hole the entire thing when it was finally released and turned out to be worse than a low-budget film. It was full of voice dubbing doctors, repeated takes, and actors coming out of the woodwork to try to stop investigations[0]. It's called "Saving Syria's Children." Of course, the standard Western narrative exists in its own sphere, and the only groups to challenge it are the opposition (Russians, Iranians). As a consequence, even generally rational people will immediately dismiss the opposition as being malicious/untrustworthy and will as a result ignore the arguments being presented. Even though the arguments are not originally Russian/Iranian. The outcome is we now have Western news sources being wholly unchallenged (and vice versa) and BBC continuing to be considered reliable since anyone who would question them is, as a consequence of the culture that has been established, suddenly unreliable. [0] https://bbcpanoramasavingsyriaschildren.wordpress.com/identification-of-possible-participant-in-the-napalm-bomb-event/ https://bbcpanoramasavingsyriaschildren.wordpress.com/identi...
varispeed 4y ago
Read about Nudge, TNI etc. BBC is being used for psyops and to manipulate people into making "correct" choices, including when it comes to voting. It's a nasty organisation and anyone with a brain avoids consuming it.
jvm___ 4y ago
Time as a vehicle of conquest of other nations is an interesting perspective. https://www.noemamag.com/the-tyranny-of-time/ https://www.noemamag.com/the-tyranny-of-time/ In reality, this process of switching from local time to Railway time or Greenwich Mean Time had already been taking place throughout the 1800s as a result of European colonialism, imperialism and oppression. Colonialism was not just a conquest of land, and therefore space, but also a conquest of time. From South Asia to Africa to Oceania, imperialists assaulted alternative forms of timekeeping. They saw any region without European-style clocks, watches and church bells as a land without time. “European global expansion in commerce, transport and communication was paralleled by, and premised upon, control over the manner in which societies abroad related to time,” the Australian historian Giordano Nanni wrote in his book, “The Colonization of Time.” “The project to incorporate the globe within a matrix of hours, minutes and seconds demands recognition as one of the most significant manifestations of Europe’s universalizing will.” In short, if the East India Company was the physical embodiment of British colonialism overseas, GMT was the metaphysical embodiment.
traceroute66 4y ago
> Has there been a more powerful vehicle for projection of 'soft power' than the BBC? That was then and now is now. Just like UK 'soft power' dropped off a cliff in the run-up to and post Brexit, the BBC is now only impartial when it suits them. Case in point, their continuous failures to correctly attribute interviewees, e.g. repeated attribution failures in relation to the Tufton Street right-wing lobby groups and thinktanks. "A mistake repeated more than once is a decision" ... as the old saying goes.
pessimizer 4y ago
> Has there been a more powerful vehicle for projection of 'soft power' than the BBC? Which makes it that much more stupid that they defunded and destroyed most of the world service. > they have nothing on Brits, who have been showing the US how it is done for decades With zero subtlety, too: Revealed: How MI5 vets BBC staff [1985] https://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/mi5.bbc.staff_obs_18aug1985.html https://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/mi5.bbc.staf... The vetting files: How the BBC kept out ‘subversives’ [2018] https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-43754737 https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-43754737

themikesanto 4y ago

Leaked documents from the CISA recently revealed operations to shape the 'cognitive infrastructure' Source?

nolongerbanntd 4y ago

I get what you're saying, but I'm thinking that from such a global perspective, it's more accurate to focus on the whole of English language and culture; rather than on the government institutions from places which take it as a 1st language. This way it's possible to realize that it's a later version of what Latin once was, and even french got to be for a bit. It's the state-of-the art in natural language expressiveness. It has a uncommon relation to writing (literal) that is somehow different from most other oral-first languages. It's the language of trade (of commerce, of merchants), and it has an "ergonomic" (so to say) way to allow expressing complex thoughts. I still wish to better understand what is it about english orally (spoken) and english literally (written) that's somehow different from other cultures|languages. It is almost certainly one of the easiest languages to learn as a 2nd (i.e. not 1st) language; and I mean this is a GOOD THING.

lazide 4y ago
I think you’re likely reversing cause and effect - English is so widespread because the English ruled over the majority of the world for quite awhile. When you speak the language or starve for generations , the language has to be pretty bad to lose it’s power. Notably, the same was true for Latin for a very long time. Pax Romana and all.

imdsm 4y ago

We're just a small island nation. Nobody needs to concern themselves with us. They have nothing to fear. What could we do? We're so small.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

someotherperson 4y ago

I mean the BBC did fake an entire chemical attack in Syria, complete with a fake documentary, when the British were trying to push for intervention. Then they proceeded to purge and memory-hole the entire thing when it was finally released and turned out to be worse than a low-budget film. It was full of voice dubbing doctors, repeated takes, and actors coming out of the woodwork to try to stop investigations[0]. It's called "Saving Syria's Children." Of course, the standard Western narrative exists in its own sphere, and the only groups to challenge it are the opposition (Russians, Iranians). As a consequence, even generally rational people will immediately dismiss the opposition as being malicious/untrustworthy and will as a result ignore the arguments being presented. Even though the arguments are not originally Russian/Iranian. The outcome is we now have Western news sources being wholly unchallenged (and vice versa) and BBC continuing to be considered reliable since anyone who would question them is, as a consequence of the culture that has been established, suddenly unreliable. [0] https://bbcpanoramasavingsyriaschildren.wordpress.com/identification-of-possible-participant-in-the-napalm-bomb-event/ https://bbcpanoramasavingsyriaschildren.wordpress.com/identi...

varispeed 4y ago

Read about Nudge, TNI etc. BBC is being used for psyops and to manipulate people into making "correct" choices, including when it comes to voting. It's a nasty organisation and anyone with a brain avoids consuming it.

jvm___ 4y ago

Time as a vehicle of conquest of other nations is an interesting perspective. https://www.noemamag.com/the-tyranny-of-time/ https://www.noemamag.com/the-tyranny-of-time/ In reality, this process of switching from local time to Railway time or Greenwich Mean Time had already been taking place throughout the 1800s as a result of European colonialism, imperialism and oppression. Colonialism was not just a conquest of land, and therefore space, but also a conquest of time. From South Asia to Africa to Oceania, imperialists assaulted alternative forms of timekeeping. They saw any region without European-style clocks, watches and church bells as a land without time. “European global expansion in commerce, transport and communication was paralleled by, and premised upon, control over the manner in which societies abroad related to time,” the Australian historian Giordano Nanni wrote in his book, “The Colonization of Time.” “The project to incorporate the globe within a matrix of hours, minutes and seconds demands recognition as one of the most significant manifestations of Europe’s universalizing will.” In short, if the East India Company was the physical embodiment of British colonialism overseas, GMT was the metaphysical embodiment.

traceroute66 4y ago

> Has there been a more powerful vehicle for projection of 'soft power' than the BBC? That was then and now is now. Just like UK 'soft power' dropped off a cliff in the run-up to and post Brexit, the BBC is now only impartial when it suits them. Case in point, their continuous failures to correctly attribute interviewees, e.g. repeated attribution failures in relation to the Tufton Street right-wing lobby groups and thinktanks. "A mistake repeated more than once is a decision" ... as the old saying goes.

pessimizer 4y ago

> Has there been a more powerful vehicle for projection of 'soft power' than the BBC? Which makes it that much more stupid that they defunded and destroyed most of the world service. > they have nothing on Brits, who have been showing the US how it is done for decades With zero subtlety, too: Revealed: How MI5 vets BBC staff [1985] https://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/mi5.bbc.staff_obs_18aug1985.html https://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/mi5.bbc.staf... The vetting files: How the BBC kept out ‘subversives’ [2018] https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-43754737 https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-43754737