“The United States of Distraction”
“Be Bold America!”
Sunday, September 25, 2022 at 5:00pm (PDT)
Sorry. It’s a terrible thing to say. But bring it on, Donald. Keep going… It may not be good for America but it’s damn good for CBS. ~ Les Moonves, (at the time) the Executive Chairman and CEO, CBS Network
The United States of Distraction: Media Manipulation in Post-Truth America explains that the role of news media in a free society is to investigate, inform, and provide a crucial check on political power.
But does it?
It’s no secret that the goal of corporate-owned media is to increase the profit of the few, not to empower the many. As a result, people are increasingly immersed in an information system structured to reinforce their social biases and market to their buying preferences. Journalism’s essential role has been drastically compromised, and Donald Trump’s repeated claims of “fake news” and framing of the media as an “enemy of the people” have made a bad scenario worse.
Ever since the few began to control the many, disinformation, fabrications, and distractions having used to shape consent, impose submission, and maintain domination. – Ralph Nader
Interview Guest:
MICKEY HUFF is the director of Project Censored, founded in 1976, and president of the Media Freedom Foundation. Since 2009, he has coedited the Project Censored yearbook, including its most recent volume, State of the Free Press 2022. He is coauthor, with Nolan Higdon, of United States of Distraction: Media Manipulation in Post-Truth America and Let’s Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy.
In 2019, Mickey was recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter, for their annual James Madison Freedom of Information, Beverly Kees Educator award.
Mickey continues to co-author articles on media and propaganda for several scholarly journals and news publications. He co-directed Project Censored’s latest documentary on fake news and critical media literacy, “United States of Distraction: Fighting the Fake News Invasion.”
