Most of us have long been aware of just how corrupt the Fourth Estate has become and how the mainstream media (MSM) has lost virtually all credibility, to the point that much of its coverage isn't to be trusted as being accurate and reliable.
Where then to turn, for unbiased reportage and trustworthy information, free of the taint of spin-doctoring and disinfo?
In this, the alt-media is alluded to as being a source of escape from the corporate/government-owned news outlets and broadcasters which serve the function of gatekeepers. And yet, it's been said by some that the alt-media itself is 90% owned and infiltrated as well. Indeed, it has taken me several years of being a podcast enthusiast to finally come to the realization of this, myself; namely, that the majority of program hosts, researchers, and personalities within this so-called 'independent' subculture are or seem to be controlled opposition. Such is the extent and depth to which the contamination goes.
We tend to think this illusion of a free press and the existence of glaring media manipulation as being a fairly recent phenomenon, relegated to our own generation, and yet as this documentary shows, such isn't just limited to our own times but in fact dates back to at least a century or so ago. Early on in PEDDLING INFLUENCE, a 19th-century journalist named John Swinton is quoted, precisely commenting on this very thing. Throughout the film, other notable quotations are provided from early 20th-century men in the know, like Edward Bernays (circa 1928) who spoke of there being an 'invisible government' (those who pull the strings), and Walter Lippman (circa 1921).
Personally, I haven't watched the MSM in years yet continue to cringe whenever I, for even a few seconds, stumble upon news anchormen while channel-surfing, what with their appearing as one-dimensional, lobotomized mouthpieces. No doubt theirs will be another occupation soon to be automated.
PEDDLING INFLUENCE does a good enough job of pulling back the curtain to reveal all the behind-the-scenes goings-on of the alphabet networks and their manipulative shenanigans. We also are made to see how tragic events that occur in society are often exploited by insensitive opportunists who use these crises as a means of pushing their own political agendas. As for the annual farce that is the White House Correspondents' Dinner, this is treated to some exposure and shows just how inappropriately intimate the political class in Washington are with the (generally far-left, influential, and seedy) entertainment industry.
Although the more recent documentary film "Hoaxed" (2019) is much better than this one is in holding up a mirror to the MSM, PEDDLING INFLUENCE, for all its faults, certainly has its heart in the right place, even if it's not the most impactful of viewing experiences.
To its credit, the film reveals the depths to which news stories are slanted and twisted by the MSM, to the point they could at times be described as blatant partisan propaganda. (As a fairly recent example of this, one thinks of the Canadian Truckers Convoy of early 2022 and how this story was portrayed by the state-owned legacy media in totally dis-informative terms, in an attempt to mislead the public into thinking this was an 'insurrection,' in its smearing the character of those who had peacefully assembled in the nation's capital, there to simply exercise their democratic right to civil protest in defense of civil liberties.)
The main quibble I have with this film is that at one point it focuses on Israeli lobbying, as if this were a bad thing, and to the exclusion of highlighting other foreign lobby groups, such as the Saudis for one who, unlike Israel, are not even democratic states; in so doing, thus presenting only one side of the story and committing the very same one-sidedness in news coverage that the filmmakers criticize the MSM of. (Really, what is so wrong about the US being 'Israel-friendly' when, after all, this nation is a US ally?)
As for those who after watching this still refuse to believe that columnists and reporters who work for so-called respected news outlets and agencies are capable of consciously distorting info or of outright weaving stories out of whole cloth, consider the scandalous case of one Stephen Glass, once a staffer with the New Republic magazine and who had made quite a name for himself, prior to his being outed. 'Tis one such known example, as prodigiously portrayed in the excellent movie, "Shattered Glass."
Where then to turn, for unbiased reportage and trustworthy information, free of the taint of spin-doctoring and disinfo?
In this, the alt-media is alluded to as being a source of escape from the corporate/government-owned news outlets and broadcasters which serve the function of gatekeepers. And yet, it's been said by some that the alt-media itself is 90% owned and infiltrated as well. Indeed, it has taken me several years of being a podcast enthusiast to finally come to the realization of this, myself; namely, that the majority of program hosts, researchers, and personalities within this so-called 'independent' subculture are or seem to be controlled opposition. Such is the extent and depth to which the contamination goes.
We tend to think this illusion of a free press and the existence of glaring media manipulation as being a fairly recent phenomenon, relegated to our own generation, and yet as this documentary shows, such isn't just limited to our own times but in fact dates back to at least a century or so ago. Early on in PEDDLING INFLUENCE, a 19th-century journalist named John Swinton is quoted, precisely commenting on this very thing. Throughout the film, other notable quotations are provided from early 20th-century men in the know, like Edward Bernays (circa 1928) who spoke of there being an 'invisible government' (those who pull the strings), and Walter Lippman (circa 1921).
Personally, I haven't watched the MSM in years yet continue to cringe whenever I, for even a few seconds, stumble upon news anchormen while channel-surfing, what with their appearing as one-dimensional, lobotomized mouthpieces. No doubt theirs will be another occupation soon to be automated.
PEDDLING INFLUENCE does a good enough job of pulling back the curtain to reveal all the behind-the-scenes goings-on of the alphabet networks and their manipulative shenanigans. We also are made to see how tragic events that occur in society are often exploited by insensitive opportunists who use these crises as a means of pushing their own political agendas. As for the annual farce that is the White House Correspondents' Dinner, this is treated to some exposure and shows just how inappropriately intimate the political class in Washington are with the (generally far-left, influential, and seedy) entertainment industry.
Although the more recent documentary film "Hoaxed" (2019) is much better than this one is in holding up a mirror to the MSM, PEDDLING INFLUENCE, for all its faults, certainly has its heart in the right place, even if it's not the most impactful of viewing experiences.
To its credit, the film reveals the depths to which news stories are slanted and twisted by the MSM, to the point they could at times be described as blatant partisan propaganda. (As a fairly recent example of this, one thinks of the Canadian Truckers Convoy of early 2022 and how this story was portrayed by the state-owned legacy media in totally dis-informative terms, in an attempt to mislead the public into thinking this was an 'insurrection,' in its smearing the character of those who had peacefully assembled in the nation's capital, there to simply exercise their democratic right to civil protest in defense of civil liberties.)
The main quibble I have with this film is that at one point it focuses on Israeli lobbying, as if this were a bad thing, and to the exclusion of highlighting other foreign lobby groups, such as the Saudis for one who, unlike Israel, are not even democratic states; in so doing, thus presenting only one side of the story and committing the very same one-sidedness in news coverage that the filmmakers criticize the MSM of. (Really, what is so wrong about the US being 'Israel-friendly' when, after all, this nation is a US ally?)
As for those who after watching this still refuse to believe that columnists and reporters who work for so-called respected news outlets and agencies are capable of consciously distorting info or of outright weaving stories out of whole cloth, consider the scandalous case of one Stephen Glass, once a staffer with the New Republic magazine and who had made quite a name for himself, prior to his being outed. 'Tis one such known example, as prodigiously portrayed in the excellent movie, "Shattered Glass."