Download - Foreign Military Studies Office - U.S. Army

TV reporting to avert a panic while the authorities try to solve the problem?
Clearly, manipulation, especially in its technical form, offers many challenges.
The idea of a manipulation operation does not initially stir the blood to
action. It is a bland, unexciting threat that does not produce loud bangs or
devastating physical destruction. Rather, its destruction is directed at the
disruption of computer processes and logical thought and the disruption,
distortion, or alteration of the context and information database on which
important decisions are made. This results in seemingly benign choices.
However, many of these choices can produce sheer panic or potentially
devastating consequences, as the examples above demonstrate. Will
manipulation be with us as we approach the next century? Most certainly, and it
would be foolish to believe otherwise. It will be used by many governments
worldwide. In the fight over national interests, every advantage and all
available assets will be exploited to produce favorable outcomes.
There are several lessons learned from this encounter with
manipulation phenomena:
• Everyone must be more sensitive to the manipulation threat. As we
read an article, computer message, or leaflet, it is extremely
important to understand who and what the source is and what
motivations are behind the report. Sometimes the publisher inserts
biases for monetary or ideological reasons. Readers must be more
attuned to the possibility of bias and view articles as information,
not facts.
• Readers and decision-makers must consider the context within
which reporting is conducted. Is it instantaneous? If so, one must
carefully weigh the information until all the facts come in. Is the
reporting well-reasoned? Has the reporter become emotionally
attached to the environment in which he is working? Even more
important for context is that today the political consciousness of
citizens around the world has advanced to what one author has
called the “proliferation of information.” Entire classes of people
who were once silent are now involved in the decision-making
process. If they are manipulated, these people can mobilize groups
and assets faster than ever before to support a cause or person.
After considering an article’s or television broadcast’s source
and context, the reader/viewer should decide if there has been any
attempt to manipulate his thinking. Were any of the devices
previously listed used? If manipulation is suspected or detected,
then the reporter’s intent should be questioned.
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