More people get their news from ABC News...(shudder)

[alexpgp]

pro·pa·gan·da noun
{New Latin, from Congregatio de propaganda fide Congregation for propagating the faith, organization established by Pope Gregory XV died 1623}
1 capitalized : a congregation of the Roman curia having jurisdiction over missionary territories and related institutions
2 : the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person
3 : ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also : a public action having such an effect

What the dictionary does not tell you is that the term has a pejorative connotation owing largely to the fact that the folks that talked the most about using it (the Soviets) more often than not spread false ideas and information to further their own cause.

So what are we to make of ABC's Michele Norris, who said "There are concerns that American children are being used in a propaganda campaign," referring to President Bush's request last Thursday night at his press conference for kids to donate a dollar apiece to help other kids in Afghanistan?

If this is propaganda, is it "Soviet style"? Is it a lie? Is someone concerned the money will be used to sow land mines in Afghanistan? Is the driving impetus insincere? Might people get the wrong impression about the U.S.? Are kids secretly being forced to contribute?

If it is not "Soviet-style" propaganda, then would someone explain why it is a cause for "concern" when the U.S. seeks to further its cause by encouraging our kids to help their kids?

Cheers...

Comments

[marxis.livejournal.com]

ABC isn't known for their objective reporting, with exception to Jon Stossel...

Hey, if the kids want to send letter and pictures with useful currencies to Afghan kids? Great...

But I think Afghan literacy was put at 20%, was it?

I'm not sure how the Afghan kids will respond, though...

[volkris.livejournal.com]

I would hardly call Jon Stossel objective... he is, however, more honest about having his crusades.

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

Stossel may be a breath of fresh air, but he is about as "objective" as any of the rest of them (i.e., not!). Stossel appears to pretty consistently take the libertarian position.

The program proposed by Bush involved kids sending $1 to the White House, where it would be transformed for aid for Afghan kids. (Think "March of Dimes," which was initially set up the same way by FDR.)

Cheers...

Re:

[marxis.livejournal.com]

Call me biased, but I'd rather have Stossel research and report than any other ABC "journalist..."

It's an issue of trust with me...

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

That trust is probably based on your sharing a set of basic beliefs in common in Stossel, e.g., that government does not know best, that people are (or should be) held responsible for their actions, and that individual freedom is important.

Cheers...

Re:

[marxis.livejournal.com]

Most definitely... Consensus is not scientific, nor should it dictate individual pursuits, but I'm more at ease with reporting in context then such writing in one periodical where it read something to the effect of...

"Bush' stax plan hit the Senate floor today which if not passed could open the doors for more children's health programs instead of just inflating the arms race..."

It's that type of reporting that just pulls my hair out...

We're talkign about a tax system, not a child's health or military budgets... We're talking tax tables... It just gets my goat more than once...

I'd love to have the Fridays of Dragnet on ABC.. "Just the facts, ma'am" And maybe one to put it in terms of relative importance on how it impacts our daily lives and our national policy...