We're all about to embark in a Great Experiment....

[Junkdrawer]

How much propaganda can a people endure before they shut down and block it all out?

How much tension can exist between what people see with their own eyes and what they are presented in the media?

That is, IMHO, the main theme of Orwell's 1984. He thought that the capacity for externally imposed deception was nearly infinite. And that the State's security apparatus would mainly concern itself with identifying and eliminating those few immune to such manipulation.

Sadly, we'll see if Orwell was right.

[lunatica]

1. Even if people see it clearly what are they going to do about it?

Keith Olberman kept repeating one statement last night. Who's going to stop them? Not as a genuine question but as a statement of reality.

[NightWatcher]

2. I'm hoping it pushes us all to the streets, or to rise up against our corporate masters

I imagine a scene like Seattle during WTO talks but in ever major city

[truebrit71]

3. That will never happen..not as long as American Idol and 24 is on the teevee...

...How do you think we got in this mess in the first place?

[a kennedy]

4. got that right......

American Idol outperformed its second Tuesday airing from last season and, as expected, lead Fox to a big ratings win on the night. Biggest Loser soared in its second hour (free of American Idol) to a 25% overall increase from last week.

American Idol’s 9.9 adults 18-49 rating was 9% above its comparable second Tuesday last season (1/20/09) and it boosted a repeat of the Human Target pilot to a 3.4 rating, up 17% from its premiere. Conflicting reports on whether there was an Idol overrun into the 9pm hour that would effect the Human Target final ratings.

The adults 18-49 ratings for the first three airings of American Idol are down just 3% from the first three airings last year. That’s a relatively smaller loss than I had anticipated.

Scoreboard FOX NBC CBS Uni ABC CW
Rating: Adults 18-49 6.7/18 3.4/9 2.4/6 1.4/4 1.0/3 0.3/1
Rating: Adults 18-34 5.7/17 2.9/9 1.6/5 1.5/5 0.9/3 0.3/1

Total Viewers 17.611 8.701 11.995 3.607 3.106 0.748
(Millions)

<http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/01/20/tv-ratings-tuesday-american-idol-up-vs-last-year-biggest-loser-jumps/39405>