I’ve seen variations of this article on a number of right-wing American sites.
(Bolding mine.)
Naturally, it seems to be entirely absent from left-wing sites. Though I don’t know how the Chicago Tribune leans.
I’ve got news for you, MSNBC: your job is to inform us, not control us. Yes, I know news organisations are biased, but we take that into account when reading and viewing your articles.
IOW: Fuck right off.
Incidentally, that Chicago Tribune article is well worth reading in its own right.
Slip of the tongue, most likely. I’ve watched the show a number of times and MB doesn’t strike me as some far left, thought-police type person.
Tribune is mainstream media, and on the opinion page tends to be a little to the right. I don’t have time to research this now, but if the quote is as reported and in context, and not just some verbal fuckup, I doubt anyone here will disagree. I certainly won’t.
Trib leans right. Hard right. Still endorsed Obama for Pres.
Also, they had this to say when making their last endorsement (for the Libertarian):
The Republicans have nominated Donald Trump, a man not fit to be president of the United States. We first wrote on March 10 that we would not, could not, endorse him. And in the intervening six-plus months he has splendidly reinforced our verdict: Trump has gone out of his way to anger world leaders, giant swaths of the American public, and people of other lands who aspire to immigrate here legally. He has neither the character nor the prudent disposition for the job.
So, they control what you have to think… That figures.
As others pointed out it is more likely a slip of the tongue and she was referring to the first part, messaging is precisely information. And that is their job.
Mind you, it has to be pointed that I do remember when the same MSNBC group did gleefully tell the public that we should disregard what Trump did to the reporters at Univision during Trump’s early press meets. So I’m not very much willful to support those talking heads that willfully ignored the early warnings.
This. You can criticise her for being unclear and not realising how her poor phrasing could be misinterpreted, but although it’s unclear what she really meant “that” to refer back to, you’d be a pedant to insist she genuinely meant to say the medias job is to control people’s thoughts. That’s how human speech works, both speaker and listener add a lot of context and detailed transcriptions of face to face discussions are often close to unreadable.
No you can’t. What she said was crystal clear.
OH NOES! The secret media cabal gave themselves away! Of course they want to mind-control all us peons with their lizard-people technology, but they’re not supposed to say that on air! START THE REVOLUTION!
Or, y’know, maybe she flubbed the point she was trying to make. Either one’s legit.
Damn right. That explains the following blurb at the start of each MSNBC broadcast:
“Do not attempt to adjust the picture. MSNBC is controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. Sit quietly and MSNBC will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to – The Outer Limits of the News.”
So, thanks for that.
Yeah, I don’t get the whole GOTCHA! thing of trying to take one statement out of context and pretending it proves this whole grand point, despite massive amounts of evidence to the contrary.
But when certain people REALLY, REALLY want something to be true, they’ll reach for anything that proves it to them, and ignore that which doesn’t.
I’m frankly surprised to see you say this, and while I vehemently disagree, I respect your right to voice your opinion.
This.
I’m surprised anyone still listens to anything she has to say. If she’s not saying the blindingly obvious, she’s talking about her stupid chickens. MB brings nothing to the table. Put her on, “OMG, shut up”.
^This.
And its is No Way 1/10th as bad of a slip of the tongue as any random 30 seconds Kellyanne has given a news network.
Freudian slip - you know, where you say one thing, but mean my mother.
Regards,
Shodan
I want to commend my fellow snarkotics for steadfastly ignoring this set up for a richly deserved punch line.
The left wing, anti-American MSM has already lost whatever little credibility they had during the election cycle.
President Trump is absolutely correct when he calls them the enemy of the American people. They most certainly are.
They are all throwing hissy fits now, because their entire world has come crashing down, and good for them! I am very glad. They should be destroyed completely, and we will see to that.
As Noah said to God: Riiiight.
It is abundantly clear she didn’t mean that it is their job to control what people think and only and idiot or disingenuous troll would state otherwise.
Here is the transcript with the related sections bolded:
SCARBOROUGH: Exactly. That is exactly what I hear. What Yamiche [Alcindor] said is what I hear from all the Trump supporters that I talk to who were Trump voters and are still Trump supporters. **They go, ‘Yeah you guys are going crazy. **He’s doing – what are you so surprised about? He is doing exactly what he said he is going to do.’
BRZEZINSKI: Well, I think that the dangerous, you know, edges here are that he is trying to undermine the media and trying to make up his own facts. And it could be that while unemployment and the economy worsens, he could have undermined the messaging so much that he can actually control exactly what people think. And that, that is our job.
Poorly worded, but it is obvious that what she said was that they report on Trump’s malfeasance and idiotic policies with vigor - e.g. “go crazy” according to Trump supporters - because it is their job to report it.
Are you really that dumb? This is human live communication 101. When we refer back to previous sentences with words like “that” we humans very often do so in ways that by strict grammatical rules give another meaning than what we intended. Do you dispute this?
Do you genuinely believe this woman intended to say that the media’s job is to control what people think?
Messing up language while speaking without a manuscript is absolutely normal and we should use less time picking at it in general.