"The Brainwashing of my Dad" documentary Explores the Scary Influence of Right-Wing Media

[ghostsinthemachine]

'The Brainwashing of My Dad': Documentary Explores the Scary Influence of Right-Wing Media
Filmmaker Jen Senko examines the effect of conservative media through the lens of her own father's radicalization and its impact on her family.


The new documentary The Brainwashing of My Dad explores one of the most bizarre media phenomenons in this country: the dangerous power right-wing media can have on everyday people.

As filmmaker Jen Senko tried to understand the transformation of her father from a non-political, life-long Democrat to an angry, right-wing fanatic, she uncovered the forces behind the media that changed him completely: a plan by Roger Ailes under Nixon for a media takeover by the GOP; the Powell Memo urging business leaders to influence institutions of public opinion, especially the universities, the media and the courts; and under Reagan, the dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine.

As Senko's journey continues, we discover that her father is part of a much broader demographic, and that the story is one that affects us all.

Through interviews with media luminaries, cognitive linguists and grassroots activists including Noam Chomsky, Jeff Cohen, George Lakoff and others, The Brainwashing of My Dad unravels the plan to shift the country to the right over the last 30 years, largely through media manipulation. The result has led to

MORE HERE http://www.alternet.org/media/brainwashing-effect-right-wing-media-my-dad-and-nation

[Kip Humphrey]

1. I lost a brother and a cousin.

[B Calm]

2. K&R

[bbgrunt]

3. there are countless causalties of this mind manipulation. Liberal media like

Air America just can't compete because they don't generate the self-sustaining rage.

[JudyM]

5. No worries. It's all "liberal media", after all.

[Cosmocat]

6. BINGO

The smoldering anger/rage is the touch stone ...

Can't beat it with rational thought.

[ghostsinthemachine]

10. And we arent poorly informed....

preaching to the choir with Air America. The people that watch FOX or listen to Limbaugh, that is all they get, their only source of things. We are not like that.


Democracy Now is excellent....

[awoke_in_2003]

4. I've seen my uncle

transform from being one of the biggest hippies in the world to somewhat who spouts RW gibberesh. He was such an intelligent person before.

[Cosmocat]

7. Lost my mother at the advent of cable news

My mother was a 60s Kennedy democrat.

Started watching CNN all day long at home during the late 80s/early 90s, really got into the Ollie North thing, loved that POS.

started watching Faux instead of CNN mid/early 90s.

I noticed that but we didn't talk a lot of politics.

I took her out to lunch during the 04 primaries and we started talking politics, and she blew a gasket over how embarrassing Howard Dean was. A man, the woman I had known, would have loved in my childhood. I knew she was gone then.

[Populist_Prole]

8. It made my father all but insufferable to be around

He was always on the preachy side but fox news and talk radio turned him into a bellicose high-pressure salesman for far-right conservative dogma. He used to be so fascinating to talk with, now it's a very tiring exercise of having to think ahead before I speak and try to choose my words with the utmost caution to prevent him from politicizing. It's exhausting.

[ghostsinthemachine]

9. I've got a number of former hippie friends

who are like this. One a Chiropractor who used to own the hippie massage parlor around town. 40 year later he is FOX news all the time. Only news he gets. And he gets it wrong. All the time. And I have to tell him, no that's not true, all the time. Annoying.

Another, a broke, nearly homeless guy who has wasted multiple insurance settlements of 200,00 dollars or more, and who won't work for less than 200 a day (then wont show up the day after you pay him) as a carpenter....He is the dumbest guy I ever met. he listens to Limbaugh and the crazy nighttimer guys.

[ghostsinthemachine]

11. I have a number of friends

Who are really intelligent successful, educated, but are completely clueless when it comes to any thing news.

Then last night I watched my local news followed by the national news, broadcast style. (NBC I think) no fucking wonder. Less than 30 seconds on the entire election season with ten of this to Trump, showing the bloody black guy as video.

That's all they get. It is all the time they have to give to that shit. FOX takes em to opposite land.

Then there's the radio. Rush etc on all day long for a lot of them. Working, driving,the radio is there and those guys tell ya not to become informed. "I'm all the news you need to know" or my favorite "you can get anything off the internet" as if the internet was George Soros himself.

[Initech]

12. Same here.

I know people who own businesses and are completely clueless when it comes to the government and are *ESPECIALLY* clueless when it comes to taxes. Thanks to Rush Limbaugh and the like people think it's OK to treat their businesses like piggy banks and abuse the IRS. But then again I live in Orange County which is the most bright red part of California. I definitely got to find a new place to live at some point.

[Liberal In Texas]

13. The great danger constant exposure to this propaganda causes

must be taken more seriously than it has.

I actually think some of our politicians are afraid to take this on. We've seen numerous murders caused by these angry gun carrying brainwashed dupes.

And now we have a situation where a major presidential candidate is whipping up his followers, who are these same deluded people, to the point of civil war.

It's terrible what's happened to our country.

[bhikkhu]

14. Bigotry is easy

...that's the simple answer. And its easily disguised as patriotism, religion, love of tradition or family or heritage, and many other things that we are considered virtuous. Its much easier to make a bigot than it is to "decompress" one, unfortunately, as there is a basic pleasure in being a bigot - the world is simpler to them, support and reinforcement is easy to find (our compartmentalized internet). We are taught from youth to trust what we feel, and bigotry is something strongly felt.