Milena Iakimova: Ordinary propagandists
In order to understand
disinformation, we need to look beyond its content. Bulgaria provides a stark
example of how structural changes in the media environment force journalists to
become unwilling participants in the propaganda cycle.
A common opinion among
journalists, academics and experts across the political spectrum is that the
hegemony of the liberal order has become increasingly insecure. However,
definitions of the ‘liberal order’ vary greatly. In some cases, the term refers
to globalized financial markets; in others, to individualism and its
‘excesses’; and in others still, to the rule of law based on individual rights
and the separation of powers. Various developments have recently
challenged these ‘liberal orders’: the global financial crisis of 2007–2008,
the migrant crisis of 2015/16, the decades-long policy of public spending cuts,
also known as austerity, and increasing social discontent against the new
inequalities.
What is called
‘disinformation’ merges different levels of economic, social and political
reality into a conspiratorial view of the world. It replaces deliberative
formation of collective identity and norms of social co-existence by collective
myths. It cultivates expectations, perceptions and feelings about one’s place
in society and turns critique – based on rational discourse and a commitment
towards political transformation – into fatalism.
However, the term
‘disinformation’ misses a crucial fact: that media messages act upon us
affectively and have done their job long before it occurs to us to check the
reliability of information. The term allows media content to be regulated
without the need for censorship – undoubtedly a practical advantage. But if we
want to understand what is happening in the media today, and what is happening
to us as media users, it is much more helpful to talk of ‘propaganda’. ... https://www.eurozine.com/ordinary-propagandists/
