Posts Tagged ‘smear campaign’
No hard feelings – present some facts
I know the spruikers I take aim at here now and then feel hard done by. So do some of their fans. I’m sorry for their hurt feelings. I really am. But the way I see it, they make their own bed and lie in it (— or lie from it, one could say). Actions […]
Critical? Who, me? Naaaah!
Some people might think my canine love story or Shaun Stenning: Monkey or Organ Grinder or Dean Letfus claims DEFAMATION! comments have been a bit harsh… but look at this recent campaign ad from Arizona… Imagine if I used language like that! (Roll on Friday, eh boys?)
Smear the messenger! (Groan)
The New York Times has been singled out as “unfair” (ahem) for its coverage of the Pope’s blame/knowledge/involvement in the cover up of serial sex abuser Father Lawrence C Murphy. Here’s how the NYTimes reports on itself … Vatican Official Defends Pope’s Handling of Case 31 March 2010 VATICAN CITY — A top Vatican official […]
Nice writing on a smear campaign
MSNBC took out a full-page ad in Friday’s Boston Globe for a ‘letter’ from their talk show host Rachel Maddow to her fellow Massachusetts citizens. This was a response to Senator Scott Brown’s claims (in an effort to raise money, apparently) that she is planning a run against him in 2012. Her letter contains some […]
Point and counter point … bottled water
Great example of an exposé of ‘Manufactured Demand’ for bottled water … Followed by a ‘fake journalism’ (complete with ‘noddies’) PR/propaganda fightback by the bottled water manufacturers*…’Good Stewards of the Environment’ How do they keep a straight face? *Let me know what BWM Report could possibly stand for.
Why ‘legal action’ can be sooo dangerous …
Look at the sort of thing comes out in the wash: For years, Viacom continuously and secretly uploaded its content to YouTube, even while publicly complaining about its presence there. It hired no fewer than 18 different marketing agencies to upload its content to the site. It deliberately “roughed up” the videos to make them […]
A tale of woe … or fevered imagination?
The vast majority of the world’s population will NEVER visit an online discussion forum. They don’t care. (More important things to do etc.) Those who do (visit, and care) can be divided into a few categories from lurkers (who look but don’t post) to occasional and regular posters, to fanatical networkers and naked self-promoters who […]
Now Attack ads?
This fantastic spoof of a political attack ad just works. Excellent! Like Fake Steve Jobs, it’s brilliant satire — all with the ‘aim’ of getting 37Signals’ new book REWORK ahead of Karl Rove’s Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight on the best-seller lists. I love the sunrise and the uplifting music […]
Scoundrels
I’m reading a version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island to my young son. This neat interchange caught my eye: Soon the Captain waved his hand for silence and we all stopped talking, except for the good doctor, who went on speaking loud and clear. The Captain glared at him and commanded —”Silence below decks!” […]
When propaganda turns into ‘demonizing’ …
Sometimes a zealot can go ‘too far’ …. even for his/her own supporters. I’ve seen it in political debate. I’ve seen it in business. The ‘object’ of the exercise — the debate, the contest of ideas — becomes somehow personal, and the ‘campaign’ can start to lose focus. It can be like a blood lust […]
The power of an appeal to decency
A recent reference to a made-up threat of ‘Death Panels’ led me to recall a famous political showdown. Legend tells us this interchange sparked the beginning of the end for Senator Joseph McCarthy. While McCarthy was not without opponents to his paranoid demagoguery, lawyer Joseph Welch went down in history as a giant-slayer. Welch was […]
