16 February 2005

CRETINISM TODAY

I've never had a great deal of respect for Medialens, but this item (thanks to Harry) shows an almost extraordinary stupidity about the differences between how the media work in totalitarian and democratic societies :

"The North Korean media function by simply keeping all dissent strictly off limits. The western system functions by allowing small islands of dissent in an overwhelming sea of conformist propaganda. Of the two, the western system is a far more effective and insidious form of thought control."

Now, I've read Marcuse and Chomsky, and I know where Medialens is coming from — but this bald statement is so ludicrous that it beggars belief.

Does Medialens consider that it would be better off if were simply "kept off limits" and banned by a totalitarian state? Or does it consider that it's preferable to be one of the "small islands of dissent" in the repressively tolerant west?

If the former, it should volunteer its PR services at once to Fidel Castro or disband itself. If the latter, it needs at very least to rethink its fundamental assumptions.

No comments: