Mainstream Mass Media as Demagogues’ Best Friends

By Brigitte L. Nacos

Publicity is not only the oxygen of terrorism but also the lifeblood of demagoguery.

Just as terrorists try to motivate their particular in-groups to hate, scapegoat, and harm out-groups, demagogues promote their extremist political, social, economic, and personal agenda by pitting their “good” in-groups against “evil” out-groups.

To be sure, today’s preachers of hate and division do not have to rely solely on the mainstream media to carry their toxic messages, they establish their own web sites, utilize the sites of other hate-mongers, or simply communicate their propaganda via virtual social network vehicles.

Yet, the leading news organizations--newspapers, television and radio networks, and news magazines—still matter a great deal because they continue to have the by far largest audiences.

In the fierce competition for news consumers and advertising dollars, most news outlets are increasingly biased in favor of the most controversial and divisive self-promoters and bigots regardless of the harm they inflict both in the domestic and international context.  That is precisely why the mainstream media, not only the cable networks, were the midwives at the birth of the Tea Party Movement. Without the news media hyping the most outrageous among the uncivil protesters at town hall meetings during the health care debate and without reporting relentlessly on the most clueless attack dogs in the Tea-Republican Party line-up, the political climate would be healthier and more prone to actual problem solving. 

Or take the recent case of “pastor” Terry Jones of Gainesville, Florida and his announcement before the ninth anniversary of 9/11 that he and his congregation planned to stage the burning of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in commemoration of the attacks on September 11. For a few days, he was the number one newsmaker here and abroad. At the time for a conference in London, I was shocked that he made the front pages of most newspapers, the lead stories in newscasts of British, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese, and Arab television networks. Almost all international print and electronic media organizations failed to mention that this publicity stunt was the work of a man whose tiny “congregation” is not affiliated with a mainstream church and that he was characterized by his own daughter as a cult leader.

Without the media hype, without reports about every word he spoke and every move he made, the public wouldn’t have been deprived of learning about important events and developments. It was a lousy judgment on the part of literally all news organizations to devote even one sentence and one divisive image to this senseless attempt in demagoguery.

I couldn’t help but think of the media’s role in the promotion of the Tea Party movement and the publicity blitz of the Gainsville “Pastor,” when I read the New York Times this morning.  The lead story of the “Metropolitan” section is devoted to Pamela Geller who, according to the lead “attacks Park 51 as the ‘monster mosque,’ reviles Obama and calls herself, ironically, a “racist-Islamophobic-anti-Muslim-bigot.” I guess, this is the female version of a shock jock. 

Contrary to the above characterization in the Times, there is nothing ironical about this women; she is a textbook demagogue, a preacher of hate. Her campaign against Park51 elevated her to a celebrity. As the Times notes, “Over the summer, Ms. Geller, irresistibly appealing to television bookers, appeared on programs across the political spectrum as the face of opposition to the Muslim center.”

Obviously, she was “irresistibly appealing” to the Times as well. Why else publishing an unusually long article with an extraordinary number of pictures?  Ah, yes. That must explain the extraordinary length of this piece in the Times—more than two pages, including a collage of 16 pictures on page one of the section and additional four on two inside pages!  Not bad for the promotion of her book “The Post-American Presidency” that Simon & Schuster published last summer and the article duly mentions.

Not enough with devoting so much column space to this Islamophobic New Yorker, the Times “Sunday Styles” section features the right-extremist demagogue Ann Coulter in the lead story that spills over onto two inside-pages for a total of at least one full page. Why bother ones again to feature this dame? According to the Times, “increasingly outflanked on the right by the Tea Party, the conservative columnist Ann Coulter is trotting out a new image and seeking support of some unlikely places.”

While reporting that Coulter tries to bring more gays into the Republican fold, the article also mentions that she spoke recently at the Tea Party Rally in Texas. So, Ms. Coulter doesn’t really seek a new image. She simply wants to expand the audience for her well-paid speeches and, last but not least, for the steady output of outrageous books with the next one due next year. Coulter told the Times, “When I have a book out, I will do anything. I will do garage radio.”

I guess, we can expect for the Times to present us with another irrelevant Coulter story, when that book is published.

Never mind that all the above coverage comes at the expense of stories about truly important problems and issues here and abroad. To the extent that significant news is presented, it is rarely at the length and prominence provided to publicity seeking demagogues a la Terry Jones, Pamela Geller, and Ann Coulter. 

 

Comments

[Brigitte Nacos]

Tony: I am so glad to see from your message about that you are around--I really wondered what happened to you when I did not see any of your always thoughtful comments.

[Tony]

Professor, I am patiently awaiting more posts also.....

Warmly,
Tony

[Brigitte Nacos]

Brydon:
Thanks for your post. I have been so busy with research projects, book manuscripts, and conference papers that I haven't gotten to blog much lately.
As for the Tea Party, it cannot have the same effect as the emergence of the Reform Party years ago in Canada. The winner-take-all here rather than the proportional electoral system in Canada and elsewhere excludes third parties most of the time from winning seats in Congress. Not to mention that the Tea Party is so far a movement, not a political party. Best described, the Tea Party Movement has put its stamp on the Republican Party and Republican candidates. Certainly not for the better.
But I think I'll heed your suggestion and post on this.
Best, Brigitte

[Brydon Eady]

Hello Professor Nacos,

First of all, you're posting much too less. Almost daily I check to see if my RSS feed has a new post for you and I'm disappointed for months at a time. Put aside the fact that you're educating the minds of the future in New York, those of us in rural Quebec require updates!

Secondly, I was hoping you'd write about the Tea Party movement in the US. You mention even Ann Coulter is being outflanked by the right. Will the Tea Party divide the Republicans? About 15 years ago, the Conservative Party of Canada was split into the "Reform Party" and the "Progressive Conservatives". It split the right for almost 10 years, leaving the Liberals to enjoy consecutive majority governments.

Will the Tea Party do to the Republicans what the Reform Party did tot he Conservatives?

Thanks for your thoughts.

-Brydon