Psychological war against Romania?, poll

Does anyone else have the feeling Romania is subjected to psychological war, namely propaganda meant to lower the morale and spread defeatism and self-hatred?

I mean there are plenty of things to criticize, and in our situation criticism and even pesimism is legitimate, but the way it is done (severe exaggerations, no solutions offered except maybe "emigrate") and the insistence with which it is done is sticking out.

In my view one private news channel excels at doing this but I won't name it since it could be interpreted as politicking. I just wonder if anyone else here noticed this or believes it is taking place.

I voted yes.

I voted yes too. It is more interesting to know "Why ?" and "By who ?" I hove no answer ...

that is quite obvious: the jewish freemasons from hungary :D
or just as some well-known quasi-contemporan philosopher said: agenturili strainii

I felt some bad vibes, but from north-eastern direction... :ph34r:
And they were quite unsofisticated, nothing stealthy, like of one with a mentality from 100 years ago.. :roll:

I don't think so!
For such a scenario to be applied, I think it is necessary that someone, say a foreign power with malicious intent, would have aggressive intentions against our country. And the psychological war to be part of a broader strategy of aggression, which have resulted in achieving a political, economical or military interest for the aggressor. An psychological aggression by itself is meaningless. The only power that can be directly interested in such a thing can only be Russia. But Russia has right now other problems, and even if she wanted, would not use such action (psichological agression) alone, only in conjunction with other action (call them if there are any!). And anyway Ukrainian problem is more important for them now. If any of you have better scenarios, tell them...

The problem is that Romania has no proper journalism as such.
Im most civilised countries, there is a clear distinction between the many layers of journalism.

At the top should be reportage where the news report delivers the news raw, without comment, and leaves the listener/reader to process the information.
In the middle should be partisan press, with slants on the events dictated by political leanings, interests, etc.
At the bottom should be the gutter press that publishes the usual dirge photographed by paparazzi, mostly some two-bit "celebrity" fingering their nose, etc.
Al all levels, people should be free to choose the type of information they would like to access.
At all levels, there should "comment", where an analyst dissects the information and tries to "make sense" of it from their own perspective but "comment" and "analysis" must be the subject of separate programmes/sections, away from the "headlines".

The first problem in Romania is that the "news consummers" are unable or unvilling to differentiate between the many facets and layers of the media.
The second problem in Romania is that there is a very fine (almost inperceptibe) line between "reportage" and "gutter press" and every news reader wants to be an "analyst". There is no choilce for the consummer, no "straight reportage", no "raw news" that allows the listener (viewer, reader) make up their own minds. All news comes pre-commented/analysed, with a dramatic headline, backed up by dramatic music. Headlines are designed to stir emotion and create a gut-reaction, usually visceral anger. Everyone feels the need to be "concerned" about the silliest thing. There is no proper analysis, only partisan manipulation. Look at the "F-16 scandal" where a "gift" was turned by the Romanian media into a "theft". Everywhere else in the world, that deal is regarded as extremely favourable to Romania, but in Romania it is described as a national disaster. No wonder this issue is regarded with so much anger in Romania and stupor in the rest of the world.

Bad taste and professional incompetence are the main traits of Romanian journalism.

For anyone used to, for example, BBC News, EuroNews or CNN, watching a news programme in Romania is a bizarre experience.

You can get EuroNews in Romania. Watch that instead, and nothing else, to get your "news". I can guarantee that your outlook on life will change within one week.

I did not vote. I fail to see how this poll can change anything other than point out the obvious.

HTH
Radu

Well said, Radu !

I voted "no". IMO it's mass hysteria induced by the low level of education and the poor quality of journalism (but successful financial-wise). They keep feeding the trolls :D

I agree with you at that point, I don't look to news at Romanian chanels. But for all the average persons, for whom the only information source is TV-set, is quite different. They are the target of the manipulation, and they have the same power like us, the vote. My vote is equal like every one of the one who look just at Romanian TV news.

Here is an interesting article on this subject:

http://www.lumeamilitara.ro/index.php?mod=...sina%20timpului

From it:

What are the pervasive opinions, emotions and attitudes shaped by the Romanian press and mass media? Personally I think most of the things induced are negative opinions about ourselves and our country and negative emotions and attitudes about the same subjects.

So add economic problems + negative propaganda + open borders + the lack of a national "plan" (now that we're in NATO and EU we lack a long-term project) and what do you get. People leaving in large numbers and the ones staying behind being demoralized, almost "apatrizi" and becoming largely detached from public life (huge voter absence).

Watching EuroNews or Discovery or HistoryChannel is a solution like Radub said, however when was the last time you saw a Romanian-made history documentary about an important event in Romanian history?

:D Maybe there are not that many "important events". :D
Maybe most "events" are just "regular events".
All news channels in the civilised world just give you the news. Not every news item has to be an "explosive" revelation.

To paraphrase someone more famous than me, "in every Romanian journalist's satchel there is an "analyst'" baton". No Romanian journalist will be happy to just give you the news. NOOOOO! They need to explain it for you and then add something to make it more "juicy".

I will give you an example:

BBC report: "President Basescu met the Prime Minister of Romania to discuss a solution to the economic crisis".

Romanian report: "The controversial president of Romania, Traian Basescu, more famous for drinking in Bamboo with Gigi and for selling the fleet, met the diminutive and incompetent Prime Minister to discuss the national disaster that they caused by allowing corrupt politicians to rob off the national heritage. This "call to heel" given to the Prime Minister is one more step taken by the power-hungry president in his attempt to become the de-facto dictator of Romania."

I hope you can see the difference. The strange thing is that everyone you speak to in Romania is unable to just tell you the news without adding the "gossip". When was the last time that someone told anyone else a story about "Basescu" without adding something demeaning about him, be that a "slow laughter" or "sa traiti bine", or "flota" or some other stupid irrelevant thing. When was the last time anyone in Romania said anything about Boc without calling him "piticul"? All of this diminution of the standing of our leaders is perpetrated by journalists who lost the run of themselves and see themselves as mainly "opinion formers" rather than just "suppliers of information".

The main problem is that this kind of bias and overt manipulation is perpetrated by ALL news outlets, especially the public service channels paid by the taxpayer, such as TVR, which should remain impartial.

There should be a news outlet in Romania where one can just access the news. If they need to access commentary, that should be separate from the news. News should be just that: news. Commentary must be separated from news.

Radu

Yes Radub, that's clear partisanship. However that's not necessarily what I had in mind.

Here is the examples I had in mind. A certain tough guy that has a one-man press review show on TV said this only in the past two days: "Romania is a primitive country", "Romania is a pigsty fraudulently called a country" and "this is the country where nobody wants to live unless forced to". And I caught these "gems" without watching every minute of his show so I imagine there were more like these. He has made statements like these for a long time, although he seems to have lost it completely after the last elections. And there is hardly a talk-show without similar ideas being put forth although not in such a violent form.

But he clearly states at the end of each show that it is only a "pamphlet" and they are only his personal opinions. :D

That programme is a commentary, not news. I fear that the evening news with repeated/looped images of wailing hags and gruesome accidents, all backed by dramatic music and terrible headlines is far more insidious and damaging. Not everyone watches "vitezomanu", but everyone watches the evening news. And that sets the tone.

Anyway, you can always ignore him.
Want to see bigotry, bile and assault on values? Try to watch Bill O'Reilly on the O'Reilly Factor. :)

Radu

O'Reilly is mild compared to some other nonsense shouters WE have here.

IMO this stuff is all over the world. The networks, driven to panic by the internet, are desparate to glue peoples eyes to the box. Solution? Cheap "news" programs ; all you need is an idiot and a camera. Add to that people scared s---less about the economy and you have a recipe for negativity, if not disaster.

Case in point: yes you have the BBC, and it's generally excellent. But look at the feeding frenzy the tabloid press/TV in UK is having today over Brown's so called gaffe.

(he left the mic on after an interview and was caught jumping on his staff for letting him get ambushed by a "bigot" in a campaign stop....never mind that she probably WAS one....)

Shoot your TV (in the words of someone, forget who).

cheers.

Exactly my point: BBC just reported it. The gutter press went bananas.
The point I was trying to make was that there is no equivalent of BBC in Romania, only gutter press.
Radu