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Mark Histed
@markhisted.org

Great thread. It’s about how manipulating salience — raising the profile of facts that fit a desired narrative — is a potent form of propaganda. I’d go even further: this is the most important way public opinion is changed today, and it’s the core method used by rightwing media. 1/

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò@olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social

I've watched the right use this communication strategy (and close cousins of it) my entire life - and of course, it is much older. quick examples: "solar panels fail at night", "not all men" etc. In each case a true statement is made, yet each is a case of the bad kind of propaganda. 2/

145 reposts486 likes

Simon
@simon437.bsky.social

The terrifying part is that it doesn't require lying. It just requires a very specific set of highlighters. We aren't being deceived by falsehoods; we're being blinded by a curated selection of truths.

Mark Histed
@markhisted.org

It’s super important to note: Fox, WSJ Opinion, etc are mostly NOT telling lies (although they do some of that). They’re elevating ideas and frames they want to push. Remember “caravans” in 2018? The Murdoch media wanted everyone to talk about that before the election. xcancel.com/brianstelter...

x.comBrian Stelter (@brianstelter) on XThis is a day-by-day look at Fox's "caravan" coverage before and after election day. This week the subject dominated Fox's pro-Trump talk shows, in anticipation of more migrants arriving along the bor...
Mark Histed
@markhisted.org

The “Biden age” thing at NYT is a clear example of how directing attention can be powerful. First, we were often talking past each other about the problem. Criticism of NYT about its volume of coverage is fundamentally a hard argument to make: about the only way to do it is to count stories.

Mark Histed
@markhisted.org

And many took criticism as being abt content. Peter Baker: “Every WH I’ve covered complains about our coverage. It comes w the territory. But because of Trump, there’s this new assumption that the NYT and other media are supposed to put their thumb on the scale and take sides and we don’t do that.”

Mark Histed
@markhisted.org

But probably the biggest issue was not about the words used, or what was reported, it was the volume of the coverage and how it set the agenda of what other media and content and the public discussed. (Again, nearly impossible to prove or disprove w data! We all end up hand waving about impact.)

BTS
@bigtentsocialist.bsky.social

Fox is the most brazen but all media outlets tend to push the narratives they prefer ahead of big votes. That’s what makes owning media worth it despite the financial losses. Viewer/reader beware.