Hillary Clinton's campaign team has, and is, using daytime TV stars to promote her agenda. This conscious blurring of lines between news and entertainment is so insidious, she apparently has no shame in exploiting it. In memos from a 2009 drafted by Clinton's campaign media spokesman (reported by Breitbart Jerusalem), she was advised that the State Department could use "Specialty Media" to get her foreign policy message out to the American public. It noted that the star power of TV personalities like Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, and the talk show The View, had immense influence and were willing to feature stories that would advance her policies, such as the then controversial nuclear agreement with Iran. The memo stated, "These outlets can create vital support for official policy or pending legislation among key domestic constituency groups but also create momentum for policy abroad." The writer went on to recommend Clinton's department "...utilize daytime talk shows with large female audiences." Allowing officials and dignitaries to speak about issues on talk shows is not new, but using the program itself as a platform for any politician to push for or to influence legislation directly, raises 'fairness' issues within the government controlled broadcast arena. Especially since the shows are clearly designed and promoted as entertainment programs, and are not subjected to the same standards and scrutiny as programs hosted by news journalists. In the most recent event, the New York Times spun a story about "claims that Trump" degraded and abused women in private. Of course there is no clear connection between the Times and Hillary, but it is apparent the Times is acting as a proxy to do damage to her presumptive Republican opponent. As are the 20 or so reporters at the Washington Post who are currently dedicating their time to digging up dirt on Trump. Besides the clear ethical considerations, this sort of bald-faced media perversion illustrates the conflict of crossing boundaries between true news programs, journalism, and propaganda. |
Archives
January 2025
|