A little more insight into the media narrative. John Robb, a former USAF counterterrorism officer and Yale graduate, covered this topic extensively recently in his blog. (Bari - he would make an excellent interview...David Brooks at the NYT is a big fan of his.)
Robb said China used reflexive control information warfare to pummel the U.…
A little more insight into the media narrative. John Robb, a former USAF counterterrorism officer and Yale graduate, covered this topic extensively recently in his blog. (Bari - he would make an excellent interview...David Brooks at the NYT is a big fan of his.)
Robb said China used reflexive control information warfare to pummel the U.S. on this issue. Reflexive control operations build triggers that pierce the weak points in a target's information filter...so there is little to no critical evaluation of the information before a decision is made.
He said the trigger was on February 10 when the WHO released its results of the origins of Covid. Over the next few days numerous media stories appeared decrying a spike in "anti-Asian violence" (a new term). All the stories included empathy triggers - a picture,
video, or story that provokes a strong empathetic response in the people who see it.
China knew American media outlets would amplify the story...and they did.
The effect (and the one desired by China) was to politicize the violence, linking it to Trump's inflammatory rhetoric about the virus. This led to blaming Trump supporters for violence that statistically isn't their fault, sowing more discord throughout the country. From China's POV, mission accomplished.
This explanation gave me far more context about how the media narrative is being shaped here.
The only way to deal with this, and it's a double edge sword, but it may be necessary in todays instantly linked world, is to include "critical perception and thinking skills training in an era of data abundance" from third grade on.
So interesting, thanks for posting this. I just recently learned about the same "empathy" trigger tactic, and the manipulation is so obvious once it's pointed out. It's a Catch-22 also---you can't call it out while it's happening because you just get shoved into a box labeled "Unfeeling Monster" and disregarded.
A little more insight into the media narrative. John Robb, a former USAF counterterrorism officer and Yale graduate, covered this topic extensively recently in his blog. (Bari - he would make an excellent interview...David Brooks at the NYT is a big fan of his.)
Robb said China used reflexive control information warfare to pummel the U.S. on this issue. Reflexive control operations build triggers that pierce the weak points in a target's information filter...so there is little to no critical evaluation of the information before a decision is made.
He said the trigger was on February 10 when the WHO released its results of the origins of Covid. Over the next few days numerous media stories appeared decrying a spike in "anti-Asian violence" (a new term). All the stories included empathy triggers - a picture,
video, or story that provokes a strong empathetic response in the people who see it.
China knew American media outlets would amplify the story...and they did.
The effect (and the one desired by China) was to politicize the violence, linking it to Trump's inflammatory rhetoric about the virus. This led to blaming Trump supporters for violence that statistically isn't their fault, sowing more discord throughout the country. From China's POV, mission accomplished.
This explanation gave me far more context about how the media narrative is being shaped here.
The only way to deal with this, and it's a double edge sword, but it may be necessary in todays instantly linked world, is to include "critical perception and thinking skills training in an era of data abundance" from third grade on.
So interesting, thanks for posting this. I just recently learned about the same "empathy" trigger tactic, and the manipulation is so obvious once it's pointed out. It's a Catch-22 also---you can't call it out while it's happening because you just get shoved into a box labeled "Unfeeling Monster" and disregarded.
One would think the media would be smart enough to understand but perhaps we give them too much credit.
Outrage makes them money. Their only agenda is eyeballs for advertisers.
Precisely
They are smart enough, but they have an agenda.