Mass media

"The more wonderful the means of communication, the more trivial, tawdry, or depressing its contents seemed to be." Arthur C. Clarke

"Media: Keep the adult public attention diverted away from the real social issues, and captivated by matters of no real importance." Bill Cooper

"The number of people who are no longer informed because of too much information is growing." Rudolf Augstein

"The mass production of distraction is now as much a part of the American way of life as the mass production of automobiles." Charles Wright Mills

"Quite frankly, having an uninformed populace works extremely well, particularly when you have a media that doesn't understand its responsibility and feels more like it's an arm of a political party. They can really take advantage of an uninformed populace." Ben Carson

"Don't let anyone turn you into a slave. You're a slave if you let the media tell you that sports and entertainment are more important than developing your brain." Ben Carson

"The mainstream media has been using a technology called neuro-linguistic programming for more than fifteen years. And that neuro-linguistic programming makes you think and believe things which are not true." John McAfee

"Without some form of censorship, propaganda in the strict sense of the word is impossible. In order to conduct propaganda there must be some barrier between the public and the event" Walter Lippmann

"Friends, the press and the government have begun a relationship so intimate and immoral that it would make Satan himself blush with shame. Journalists used to question reasons for war and denounce abuses of power. Now they are like toothless babies, sucking on pacifiers of misinformation, only to poop it out into the diaper we call the 6 o'clock news." Kent Brockman

"Not a day goes by without the mainstream media reporting on some war, epidemic, or other problem in the world. The problem is that this type of reporting, as we find it, is sheer madness. Information is distorted or not mentioned at all. It is the partial truths that make the press so dangerous. Wars are sold as “humanitarian interventions,” diseases are pushed to play into the hands of the pharmaceutical industry. There are always two sides to every coin, but we are only shown one side, which is supposed to be the “truth.” They show us what they want us to see and leave out what does not fit into their desired worldview. At this point, we should ask ourselves whether we want to continue consuming this filth and supporting it financially by buying certain tabloids such as Bild, Spiegel & Co. “Either you rebel, or you become complicit.”" Ignazio Silone

"When you're watching television, you're watching the news, you're being pumped full of fear. there's floods. There's AIDS. There's murder. Cut to commercial. Buy the Acura. Buy Colgate. If you have bad breath, they're not going to talk to you. If you have pimples, that girl isn't going to fuck you. It's just a campaign of fear and consumption. That's what I think it's based on. This whole idea of 'keep everyone afraid and they'll consume" Marilyn Manson

"During lectures, I have repeatedly noticed that it is beneficial to clarify this obvious fact: No, the news is not a reflection of reality, not even a poor one. When we use mainstream media, we observe power relations in terms of definition. Who brings their topics and their view of things to the public? Who can I safely quote, who or what can or must I refer to? Which terms are appropriate and which are not? If the mainstream media say that there is a virus and a disease that I should be afraid of, then I have to take that seriously because those who decide about my life take it seriously. I can claim the opposite and attack the power of definition, but then I have to expect to lose all reputation (Wendler, Hildmann), being transferred (like Friedrich Pürner, head of the health department in the Aichach-Friedberg district until November 2020), or being kicked out of important committees (like Christoph Lütge from the Bavarian Ethics Council in February 2021) without any public resistance." Prof. Dr. Michael Meyen

"In former times, torture was used. Nowadays, the press is used. That is certainly progress." Oscar Wilde

"The possibilities for manipulation have, of course, increased considerably in the age of mass media." Arthur Miller