The televised hearings into the Jan. 6 attack on Congress are gripping, no question. They keep getting equated to Watergate. I knew Watergate and this is no Watergate. Opinion by Rick Salutin
I know propaganda is supposed to be something that governments do, but we’re talking about America, where everything gets privatized, deregulated and commercialized. The term itself began in the Catholic inquisition, not in governments. Nor is it inherently a negative word.
It can happen when both sides make their case as strongly as possible, which can include respect for viewers’ intelligence along with their ability to discern blatant “bullshit” . Both sides put out their versions: Trump on Fox News and the internet; the Democrats on mainstream media and in the hearings. Then citizens can make an informed decision. It’s a bit like the adversarial system in court. You know both teams are making a one-sided case, but it’s ultimately up to the jury to decide.
So you have two sets of propaganda. One side does it for the previous regime, the other for the current one. Some is defter, some is uglier. I prefer the anti-Trump version in this case, partly due to the stakes for a democratic future., the Scot who coined the term “documentary,” wasn’t against propaganda — unless it was bad propaganda, like that of the Nazis in his time. He produced good propaganda for the anti-Nazi side.
I don’t like propaganda, but I can see Grierson’s case for it. It’s a bit like good and bad cholesterol. The point isn’t avoiding it altogether. It’s knowing which kind you’re consuming, or producing.