In the psychology and deception literature this is called controlling
the focus of attention. It is a fundamental part of deception and the
reason I asked members to participate is that I hope that by doing so we
can help to refocus ourselves while learning more about the tactic and
seeing a clear demonstration of how it is used and countered.
FC
Per the message sent by Tony Bartoletti:
> "In the future, every crisis will have its 15 minutes of infamy"
> (with apologies to Andy Warhol)
> Several months back, I recall reading an article by Brian Eno on this very
> subject. He is credited with coining the term "PropAgenda", and argued (as
> I recall) how the current administration has moved beyond the crude
> techniques of "propaganda" and spin to the more sophisticated (and
> deniable?) "propagenda".
> Fundamentally, it is the art of highlighting and/or demolishing
> convenient/constructed evil strawmen, in a manner and timing/sequence
> designed both to distract the public and, basically, to frame the issues
> themselves (thus the debate), as opposed to debating the issues.
> By constructing the playing field, you (stealthily) define reasonable play
> in advance of the game.
> I have long seen this tendency promoted by the endless strings of cop
> shows, crime dramas, and sensationalist news coverage. Not that the
> administrations are necessarily behind it, but the cumulative effect leads
> the populace to the very level of paranoia that they shutter their doors
> and windows and avoid eye-contact as they pass one another, reinforcing the
> effect of the believed "reality", and ultimately making it real.
> ____tony____
> At 11:42 AM 12/8/2003 -0800, you wrote:
> >Yesterday afternoon in a class I was teaching one of the students
> >mentioned that the media seems to have lost sight of the case of the
> >person in the Whitehouse who leaked the fact that an embasadore's wife
> >was a CIA agent.
> >
> >As I have been thinking about it, there seem to be many items such as
> >this that are being strategically ignored by the media - at least in the
> >US. Now I don't imagine that this is a conspiracy or anything like
> >that, but I thought it might be a good idea to make a little colleciton
> >of all the things that should be viewed as major stories but that are
> >being pushed off the front page by ... according to my local newspaper
> >... "Texas govern'd by Peoples' Will" and "Remembering Pearl Harbor"
> >and some sports items. The national news talks about the chaplain that
> >is being tried for crimes that John Deutche (remember - he took
> >classified home on his laptop a few years back?) actually committed and
> >didn't even get arrested for.
> >
> >As a result I would like to encourage the iwar group to consider what
> >techniques are in play that would cause the national and local media to
> >emphasize whatever they are emphasizing over things like domestic
> >terrorism and traitors in the White House and to discuss them on the
> >list.
> >
> >FC
> >-- This communication is confidential to the parties it is intended to
> >serve --
> >Fred Cohen - http://all.net/ - fc@all.net - fc@unhca.com - tel/fax:
> >925-454-0171
> >Fred Cohen & Associates - University of New Haven - Security Posture
> >
> >
> >------------------
> >http://all.net/
> >
> >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> Tony Bartoletti 925-422-3881 <azb@llnl.gov>
> Information Operations and Assurance Center
> Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
> Livermore, CA 94551-9900
> ------------------
> http://all.net/
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
-- This communication is confidential to the parties it is intended to serve --
Fred Cohen - http://all.net/ - fc@all.net - fc@unhca.com - tel/fax: 925-454-0171
Fred Cohen & Associates - University of New Haven - Security Posture
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Received on Mon Dec 8 16:45:17 2003
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