{"id":15030,"date":"2015-05-13T12:28:27","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T12:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=15030"},"modified":"2015-05-13T17:39:37","modified_gmt":"2015-05-13T17:39:37","slug":"mainstream-media-most-prolific-purveyor-of-the-the-conspiracy-theory-label","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=15030","title":{"rendered":"<em>Mainstream Media<\/em>: The Most Prolific Purveyor of the &#8216;Conspiracy Theory&#8217; Label"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The \u201cConspiracy Theory\u201d Label: Powerful Tool of Media Disinformation and Political Discourse<\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"subtitle\"><strong>Cognitive Infiltration for the Masses<\/strong><\/h3>\n<div class=\"author\">By Prof. James F. Tracy<\/div>\n<div class=\"grDate\">Global Research<\/div>\n<div class=\"postThumbnail\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-single-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" title=\"internet1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.globalresearch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/internet1.jpg\" alt=\"internet1\" width=\"126\" height=\"100\" \/><\/div>\n<p><em>On March 18, 2014 Cass Sunstein released his latest collection of essays,\u00a0<strong>Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous Ideas.<\/strong><\/em>[1]<em> \u00a0Like his other works geared toward a mainstream readership, the prominent Harvard law professor, former Obama administration regulatory czar, and NSA advisor<\/em>[2]<em> points to numerous alleged dangers posed by even \u201crational people\u201d who are susceptible to adopting \u201ccrippled epistemologies.\u201d What Sunstein fails to explain throughout his most recent medley of gentle authoritarianism is how the \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d term has received vigorous promotion from the editorial practices of certain major corporate news media.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cConspiracy theory\u201d is not merely a flippant or off-handed water cooler term, but rather a powerful tool of political discourse. \u201cDeployed as a pejorative putdown,\u201d political scientist Lance deHaven-Smith observes,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The label is a verbal defense mechanism used by political elites to suppress mass suspicions that inevitably arise when shocking political crimes benefit top leaders or play into their agendas, especially when those same officials are in control of agencies responsible for preventing events in question or for investigating them after they have occurred.<em>[3]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Along these lines, \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d and its common variants, \u201cassassination buff,\u201d \u201ccrackpot,\u201d \u201cwacko,\u201d and so on, were essentially interpolated into news reports and commentary in the late 1960s by CIA media assets as the agency maneuvered to bolster the Warren Commission\u2019s \u201clone assassin\u201d explanation of John F. Kennedy\u2019s assassination.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4OIiOztc52g\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4OIiOztc52g\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4OIiOztc52g<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>When confronted in 2012, Sunstein does not \u201cremember very well\u201d co-authoring a 2008 paper, \u201cConspiracy Theories,\u201d the namesake of his most recent book.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Only in the past forty years or so has the label become an especially salient discursive technique for channeling political dialogue and inquiry. From the late 1800s through the first half of the 1900s the phrase can seldom be found in news discourse. A search of the <em>Historical New York Times<\/em> database finds that \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d is used 30 times between 1870 and 1960, often in accounts of criminal court proceedings. Yet from 1960 to 1969 alone there are 46 instances of the term\u2019s usage in <em>Times<\/em>articles. Since 1970, it is invoked in over 1,700 pieces, with a peak between 2000 and 2009 (728).[4]<\/p>\n<p>Today the pejorative not only acts as a disciplinary measure\u2013journalists and scholars alike fear such a trenchant smear\u2013but also as a technique to shape information and analysis. It serves as a more-than-subtle way of saying, \u201cLook here, not there,\u201d thereby guiding readers and viewers to place their reasoning faculties in abeyance and adopt what are often uncritical and even misleading modes of substantiation and conclusion. While this phenomenon is clearly demonstrable in print news media, it is also widespread in US-based cable and broadcast news.<\/p>\n<p>A LexisNexis search of news program transcripts for the dates March 1, 2011 to March 1, 2014 reveals 2,469 usages of the \u201cconspiracy theory\/theories\u201d term. Probing the surveyed time span reveals CNN (586 transcripts) and MSNBC (382) as the foremost purveyors of the phrase, with Fox News (182) a distant third. The US government\u2019s transcript service, US Federal News, comes in at fourth, suggesting persistent strategic usage of the label at federal government press conferences and similar functions to drive home official positions and dispel challenges to them. Programming on National Public Radio ranks fifth, with 115 instances.<\/p>\n<p>The following is a breakdown of the cable or broadcast outlet\/program referencing \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d or \u201cconspiracy theories\u201d in transcript text within the aforementioned three-year span.<\/p>\n<p>CNN Transcripts\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 586<br \/>\nGlobal Broadcast Database (local broadcast transcripts)\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 416<br \/>\nMSNBC\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 382<br \/>\nFox News\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 182<br \/>\nUS Federal News\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 144<br \/>\nNational Public Radio\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 116<br \/>\nAustralian Broadcasting Corporation\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 71<br \/>\nNBC News\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 67<br \/>\n<em>Congressional Quarterly<\/em> Transcripts\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 57<br \/>\nABC News\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 55<br \/>\nCTV TV (Canada)\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 55<br \/>\nCBS News \u2013 54<br \/>\nCNN International\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 48<br \/>\nImus Simulcast\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 39<br \/>\nFinancial Market Regulatory Wire\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 31<br \/>\n<em>PBS News Hour<\/em>\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 21<br \/>\nBloomberg: <em>Surveillance<\/em> Show\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 17<br \/>\n<em>Congressional Quarterly<\/em> Testimony\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 16<br \/>\n<em>The Charlie Rose Show\u00a0<\/em> &#8211;\u00a0 15<br \/>\n<em>Follow the Money\u00a0<\/em> &#8211;\u00a0 14<br \/>\n<em>Euro News\u00a0<\/em> &#8211;\u00a0 13<br \/>\n<em>Lou Dobbs Tonight<\/em> \u2013 12<br \/>\n<em>Cavuto<\/em> \u2013 8<\/p>\n<p>To be more conclusive, the specific contexts in which the term is mobilized might be more fully examined and delineated. An argument may also be waged that this metric is not exactly proper given the dissimilar breadth of content produced by each outlet. After all, a 24-hour cable news channel such as CNN simply has far more \u201cnews hole\u201d to fill than a daily one-hour broadcast like <em>PBS News Hour<\/em> or<em>Charlie Rose<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 96px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/e\/e7\/Rachel_Maddow_in_Seattle_cropped.png\/86px-Rachel_Maddow_in_Seattle_cropped.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"86\" height=\"120\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rachel Maddow<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Yet even here the variances are telling. For example, when comparing domestic CNN transcripts to those of the channel\u2019s counterpart, CNN International, the former uses the term <em>over twelve times as frequently<\/em>. Such findings suggest the execution of a clear-cut editorial policy to fulfill certain propaganda-related ends\u2013indeed, not unlike the Central Intelligence Agency\u2019s usage of the term to combat alternative interpretations of President Kennedy\u2019s assassination.<\/p>\n<p>Along these lines, further examination of the data sample distinguishes how even news personalities\u2019 bylines are correlated with frequent employment of the \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d label. Searching within the same data set, transcripts with CNN Anderson Cooper\u2019s byline possess the highest incidence of the expression (81), with MSNBC\u2019s Rachel Maddow and Al Sharpton tied for second place (77), and Piers Morgan (38) ranking third. CNN\u2019s Erin Burnett and MSNBC\u2019s Chris Hayes tie for fourth. Ostensibly conservative Fox News personalities Bill O\u2019Reilly and Sean Hannity use the expression less frequently.<\/p>\n<p>Anderson Cooper (CNN)\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 81<br \/>\nRachel Maddow (MSNBC)\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 77<br \/>\nAl Sharpton (MSNBC)\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 77<br \/>\nPiers Morgan (CNN)\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 38<br \/>\nErin Burnett (CNN)\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 31<br \/>\nChris Hayes (MSNBC)\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 31<br \/>\nSean Hannity (Fox News)\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 29<br \/>\nBill O\u2019Reilly (Fox News) \u2013 19<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 92px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/1\/15\/Anderson_Cooper.jpg\/82px-Anderson_Cooper.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"82\" height=\"120\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anderson Cooper<\/p><\/div>\n<p>With the exception of ABC (Australia) and CTV (Canada), all of the outlets are US-based, suggesting how the American population, well known for its limited historical comprehension and political sophistication, is expressly targeted with repeated usage of the \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d phrase. A population relying on sensation, caricature, and hearsay to understand national and world affairs has already forsaken its freedom.\u00a0 It is perhaps ironic that CNN and MSNBC in particular cater to audiences that see themselves as open-minded and \u201cliberal\u201d\u2013indeed, the opposite of cunning technocrats such as Sunstein. At the same time, if these two networks\u2019 continually depressed ratings are any indication, the public is becoming more and more skeptical of how it is being patronized.[5]<\/p>\n<p>A most profound political act any individual can undertake may involve adopting a basic regimen of intellectual self-defense that would include an increased awareness of the \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d label itself and a resolve to assess the term\u2019s utilization <em>vis-\u00e1-vis<\/em> the context in which it is employed, in an effort to better determine what it seeks to obscure, legitimate, and redirect attention to.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[1] Cass Sunstein, <em>Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous Ideas<\/em>, New York: Simon and Schuster, 2014.<\/p>\n<p>[2] \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/libertyblitzkrieg.com\/2013\/08\/25\/obama-picks-cass-sunstein-americas-joseph-goebbles-to-serve-on-the-nsa-oversight-panel\/\">America\u2019s Joseph Goebbels to Serve on NSA Oversight Panel<\/a>,\u201d <em>Liberty Blitzkrieg<\/em>, August 25, 2013.<\/p>\n<p>[3] Lance deHaven-Smith, <em>Conspiracy Theory in America<\/em>, Austin: University of Texas Press, 2013, 9.<\/p>\n<p>[4] See also deHaven-Smith, 126-131.<\/p>\n<p>[5] \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.journalism.org\/2014\/03\/26\/state-of-the-news-media-2014-key-indicators-in-media-and-news\/\">Key Indicators in Media &amp; News<\/a>,\u201d Pew Research Journalism Project, March 26, 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The \u201cConspiracy Theory\u201d Label: Powerful Tool of Media Disinformation and Political Discourse Cognitive Infiltration for the Masses By Prof. James F. Tracy Global Research On March 18, 2014 Cass Sunstein released his latest collection of essays,\u00a0Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=15030\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15030\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}