“TDS’s reappropriations call attention to the thorough mediation of news on the News and that indexing inevitably spins an event.” (Mckain)
The subject of the image are the last few panels of The Order issue #5 published by Marvel Comics. The quote is from the Aaron Mckain article that was required reading for the week.
I put them both at the start of this post to place the panels in context. The character being interviewed is up for the position of PR rep for California’s government sponsored super-hero team. The quote points out how The Daily Show is also guitly of spinning information for their stories.
I think these two things together speak to the prevalence of spin in Western media. Not only are people aware of it taking place in the news, politics, and celebrity culture, but even in the arts (as I’m sure The Daily Show and comic books can both be categorized.)
The Daily show spins stories to get laughs, which is different from how PR people spin stories, but it is still manipulation of information. It’s acceptable because the audience likes it, and is aware of the deceit. The lady in the comic book is mildly demonized by her willingness to refabricate information to suit her employers needs, especially because she works for the government.
I post this image from The Order because it reminds me of how popular fiction can reflect society at the time, and to me this part of the book speak to how the public (or at least writer Matt Fraction) is aware that the news, politicians, and celebrity culture is lying to them. If the medium is blatant about its manipulation, the public is not offended. Once of veil of truth is placed over top, the audience is more apt to get upset when it’s taken away.
Well, I think that’s the general theory anyways. It doesn’t always seem to be true, considering my non-reaction in class on the topic of PR firms packaging news stories.
I guess I wonder how discerning I can really be, and how much does it really matter to me that I know I’m being lied to? Also, I wonder how PR firms deal with an increasingly suspicious public?
one thing that strikes me about your post is the sense that most news uses spin to win over its intended audience. my question is in whose interests do the practitioners of spin serve? do the practitioners of political satire share a common agenda with the PR professionals (like the one you’ve alluded to in the order)? if so, what are the implications? my view is that PR professionals differ from political satirists not in their approaches to information dissemination (these strategies appear quite similar), but in their motivations for spinning. what about these motivations?
tell me more,
i.