At the same time as his "restoration of the Republic" and the creation of his new political style, Augustus also set in motion a program to "heal" Roman society. The principal themes were renewal of religion and custom, virtus, and the honor of the Roman people. Never before had a new ruler implemented such a far-reaching cultural program, so effectively embodied in visual imagery; and it has seldom happened since. A completely new pictorial vocabulary was created in the course of the next twenty years. This meant a change not only in political imagery in the narrow sense, but in the whole outward appearance of the city of Rome, in interior decoration and furniture, even in clothing. It is astonishing how every kind of visual communication came to reflect the new order, how every theme and slogan became interwoven. Again, however, there was no master plan outlining some sort of a propaganda campaign for the revival of Rome. As in the development of imagery after Actium, much happened as if of its own accord, once the princeps had shown the way and taken the first steps.
(Paul Zanker, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus, 1990: 101)
Propaganda takes time. It is a slow process. Effective propaganda occurs imperceptibly. When done well there is no difference between culture and propaganda. They are one and the same.
In Zanker’s classic study The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus this point is made in detail. Augustus didn’t become “Augustus” overnight. It took decades of cultural construction through art, literature, city-planning, architecture, religion and politics, in which all facets of society came to orbit the idea of “Augustus.” One day there was a Republic and then the “Republic” became res publica restituta, the Restored Republic, which was simply a euphemism for an authoritarian imperial state.
When propaganda is done well you cannot even notice it. You cannot notice it because you have become part of it. You have assimilated its underlying ideological program and you mirror it back to the world around you.
And once you see it you can never unsee it.
CBC and Irony
I will simply post some of the CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices. You probably have not read them.
As you read through them take a step back; remove yourself from your ideological vacuum; replay in your mind the discourse of the Canadian government and the reporting of the CBC on that discourse. For a moment, be objective.
Then ask yourself if the CBC actually follows its own standards and practices.
CBC Journalist Standards and Practices or how to feed you bullshit with a smile.
Our Mission
We are Canada’s national public news and information service. We are rooted in every region of the country and report on Canada and the world to provide a Canadian perspective on international news and current affairs.
We provide Canadians with information when and how they want it, through an evolving range of media.
• To serve the public interest
Our mission is to inform, to reveal, to contribute to the understanding of issues of public interest and to encourage citizens to participate in our free and democratic society.
• To reflect diversity
We are committed to reflecting accurately the range of experiences and points of view of all citizens. All Canadians, of whatever origins, perspectives and beliefs, should feel that our news and current affairs coverage is relevant to them and lives up to our principles.
We have a special responsibility to reflect regional and cultural diversity, as well as fostering respect and understanding across regions.
• To protect our independence
We are independent of all lobbies and of all political and economic influence. We uphold freedom of expression and freedom of the press, the touchstones of a free and democratic society. Public interest guides all our decisions.
• To act responsibly and to be accountable
We are aware of the impact of our work and are honest with our audiences. We do not hesitate to correct any mistake when necessary nor to follow up a story when a situation changes significantly. We do not plagiarize.
The office of the Ombudsman reviews our practices against the standards set out in these policies. We openly provide the public with the means to judge and hold us to account by sharing with it research we may use to measure the quality and standards of our journalism.
We manage our resources responsibly. We strive for journalistic excellence and best practices in all of our journalistic endeavours.
Our Principles
• Accuracy
We seek out the truth in all matters of public interest. We invest our time and our skills to learn, understand and clearly explain the facts to our audience. The production techniques we use serve to present the content in a clear and accessible manner.
• Fairness
In our information gathering and reporting, we treat individuals and organizations with openness and respect. We are mindful of their rights. We treat them even‑handedly.
• Balance
We contribute to informed debate on issues that matter to Canadians by reflecting a diversity of opinion. Our content on all platforms presents a wide range of subject matter and views.
On issues of controversy, we ensure that divergent views are reflected respectfully, taking into account their relevance to the debate and how widely held these views are. We also ensure that they are represented over a reasonable period of time.
• Impartiality
We provide professional judgment based on facts and expertise. We do not promote any particular point of view on matters of public debate.
• Integrity
The trust of the public is our most valued asset. We avoid putting ourselves in real or potential conflict of interest. This is essential to our credibility.
*It goes without saying, but the CBC does not reflect an accurate view of reality. It reflects a jaundiced ideological framework of intersectional leftism. It is not fair. It silences and omits perspectives that run counter to the narrative the CBC constructs. It lacks total balance. One view point is acceptable. All others are defamed. There is little impartiality. The journalists are no more than Liberal Party activists. The CBC has lacked integrity for more than a decade now.
Funding for the CBC: https://tnc.news/2021/04/19/liberal-budget-promises-new-funding-for-the-cbc/
The new federal budget released on Monday promises millions in new funding for CBC and Radio-Canada despite declining viewership.
Over the next year, Canada’s state broadcaster will receive an extra $21 million in addition to the CBC’s annual $1.2 billion federal grant.
“Budget 2021 proposes to provide $21 million in 2021-22 as immediate operational support to the CBC/Radio-Canada,” the budget document reads.
“This funding will ensure its stability during the pandemic and enable it to continue providing news and entertainment programming that keeps Canadians informed.”
Take a moment and reflect on what you have read. If you do not think there is a conflict of interest between the CBC and the Liberal Government of Canada this is because you have been subsumed by the propaganda.
You are a consumer of it, and you agree with the ideology it parrots, but your agreement with the ideology is a product of the effectiveness of the propaganda.
This elision between the Government Narrative (Nudging) and the CBC has never been more evident than since the start of the COVID pandemic up through the Trucker for Freedom Convoy.
The effectiveness of this kind of propaganda demonstrates one of the chief characteristics of modern masses. They do not believe in anything visible, in the reality of their own experience; they do not trust their eyes and ears but only their imaginations, which may be caught by anything that is at once universal and consistent in itself. What convinces masses are not facts, and not even invented facts, but only the consistency of the system of which they are presumably part … they are predisposed to all ideologies because they explain facts as mere examples of laws and eliminate coincidences by inventing an all-embracing omnipotence which is supposed to be at the root of every accident. Totalitarian propaganda thrives on this escape from reality into fiction, from coincidence into consistency … Before they seize power and establish a world according to their doctrines, totalitarian movements conjure up a lying world of consistency which is more adequate to the needs of the human mind than reality itself…
(Arendt, The Origins, 2004 [or. 1951]: 452-4)
Owning the Informational Ecosystem
But the problem of COVID propaganda extends far beyond the CBC. I will gesture here to corporate entities which have ownership stakes in Pfizer and Moderna as well as ownership stakes in various media outlets.
I will not provide analysis.
You can see the conflict of interest.
The very media outlets that have been screaming to take the vaccine are owned by the very same owners of the vaccine itself. See how that works? This is not rocket science.
Roll up your sleeve.
Metatron Capital Sicav PLC 100.00% 5,612,866,598 $279.52B
Vanguard Group Inc 8.29% 465,274,925 $23.17B
Blackrock Inc 7.30% 409,985,644 $20.42B
State Street Corp 5.07% 284,816,832 $14.18B
Capital World Investors 4.22% 236,858,416 $11.80B
Wellington Management Group 3.94% 221,419,680 $11.03B
Geode Capital Management LLC1.80% 101,065,073 $5.03B
Northern Trust Corp 1.21% 67,992,185 $3.39B
Bank Of America Corp 1.02% 57,448,235 $2.86B
Bank Of New York Mellon Corp 0.97% 54,674,452 $2.72B
*On Metatron Capital see here.
Noubar Afeyan 19.39% 78,627,365 $11.20B
Baillie Gifford Co 11.29% 45,772,079 $6.52B
Blackrock Inc 6.82% 27,661,473 $3.94B
Vanguard Group Inc 6.76% 27,426,570 $3.91B
Flagship Pioneering Inc 4.34% 17,581,016 $2.50B
State Street Corp 3.67% 14,863,370 $2.12B
Stephane Bancel 3.64% 14,760,907 $2.10B
Robert Langer 2.84% 11,509,357 $1.64B
Geode Capital Management LLC 1.49% 6,032,463 $859.45M
All information below can be found here (Harvard’s Index of Mainstream Media Ownership.) The great take away from Harvard’s index: nearly all of our informational ecosystems are polluted.
CNN
According to SEC filings, the biggest shareholders include: Randall L. Stephenson, John J. Stephens, John T. Stankey, The Vanguard Group, Inc. (7.43%), BlackRock Fund Advisors (4.85%), and SSgA Funds Management, Inc. (4.13%). CNN’s operating revenue jumped to $1.65bn in 2020, from $1.4bn in 2016. Elliott Management took a $3.2 billion stake in AT&T in September 2019, (the company was worth $210 billion May 18, 2021), calling in a letter for “improved strategic focus” and “enhanced leadership.” NY Posts report the hedge fund’s execs weren’t in the room when negotiations to were taking place.
ABC News
The largest shareholder is the Laurene Powell Jobs Trust, which holds stock that she inherited from her husband Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs received the Disney stock when they acquired Pixar. Majority voting shareholders are Robert A. Iger, Christine McCarthy, Disney Senior Executive Vice President and CFO; Alan Braverman, Disney Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel. ABC News is a branch of ABC, which is a branch of Walt Disney Television, which is a branch of Disney Media Networks, which is part of The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Company who also own ESPN, ABC, Lifetime, History, A&E, and FX, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm. The Vanguard Group, Inc. (7.66%), BlackRock Fund Advisors (4.36%) and SSgA Funds Management, Inc. (4.11%). ABC has 8 owned-and-operated stations, and 30 ABC affiliates under Nexstar and 41 ABC affiliates with Sinclair.
Fox News
Rupert Murdoch Executive Chairman, News Corp, son Lachlan K. Murdoch, Co-Chairman, News Corp, Executive Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Fox Corporation, Executive Chairman, NOVA Entertainment Group. Fox News is owned by the Fox Corporation, which is owned in part by the Murdoch Family (39% share). It’s also important to point out that the same person with Fox News ownership, Rupert Murdoch, owns News Corp with the same 39% share, and News Corp owns the New York Post, HarperCollins, and the Wall Street Journal. Other top share owners: The Vanguard Group, Inc. (13.05%), Independent Franchise Partners LL..(7.76%), Yacktman Asset Management LP (5.55%), BlackRock Fund Advisors (4.99%). Grew operating revenue to $2.9bn in 2020, from $2.5bn in 2016. Fox has 28 owned-and-operated stations, and 43 FOX affiliates under Nexstar and 59 Fox affiliates with Sinclair.
NBC News
The owner of NBC and MSNBC is Comcast. NBC’s parent company is NBCUniversal, an umbrella company that also owns Fandango, Hulu, Universal Pictures, and Telemundo. NBCUniversal is then owned by parent company Comcast. Brian L. Roberts is Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation. Since 2013, the company has been wholly owned by Comcast, which bought GE's ownership stake. Three biggest shareholders: The Vanguard Group, Inc (8.11%), Capital Research & Management Co. (4.57%), BlackRock Fund Advisors (4.26%). NBC has 11 owned-and-operated stations and New England Cable News, and 35 NBC affiliates under Nexstar and 24 CBS affiliates with Sinclair.
CBS News
The company's main assets include the Paramount Pictures film and television studio, CBS. Other major owners: The Vanguard Group, Inc.(10.19%), Credit Suisse Securities (USA) (6.25%), BlackRock Fund Advisors, (6.21%), SSgA Funds Management (5.88%). CBS News, owned by the CBS Corporation, is in turn owned by National Amusements. National Amusements has an 80% voting majority and also owns the major company Viacom, the company behind Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, CMT, and VH1. CBS has 29 owned-and-operated stations, and 50 CBS affiliates under Nexstar and 30 CBS affiliates with Sinclair.
MSNBC News
Roberts owns or controls about 1% of all Comcast shares and all of the Class B supervoting shares, which gives him an "undilutable 33% voting power over the company". Comcast owns NBCUniversal News Group which owns CNBC and NBC. Brian L. Roberts is Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation. Since 2013, the company has been wholly owned by Comcast, which bought GE's ownership stake. Three biggest shareholders: The Vanguard Group, Inc (8.11%), Capital Research & Management Co.(4.57%), BlackRock Fund Advisors (4.26%).
Gannett Company
The McLean, Virginia-based company recently slashed $654 million from the high-interest debt incurred by New Media Investment Group to fund Gannett's $1.2 billion acquisition in November 2019. New Media had borrowed these funds from private equity giant Apollo Capital Management through a five-year senior secured term loan facility. Apollo has now purchased Yahoo from Verizon, May 2021. Gannett refinanced that Apollo debt to $500 million of that Apollo debt into a convertible note with an interest rate of 6% and a maturation date of 2027, replacing debt that was owed to Apollo at a rate of 11.5% and due in 2024. In addition, they refinanced the remaining 11.5% term loan in February 2021 to a L+700 broadly syndicated (35+ owners) public Term Loan B. Here is a link to their release. Its largest public equity owners are passive investors / index funds. The IR team confirmed, "we do not have significant equity hedge fund ownership, our largest type of owner after passive investment is retail holders." Vanguard and Blackrock are the biggest institutional shareholders around 10-14%.
New York Times
For a hundred years, for better or worse, no institution has played a larger role in American culture and politics. And no corporation with comparable clout has been continuously controlled by a single family since 1896. Today almost a dozen Sulzberger cousins are at the NYT. The family has long seen itself as the keeper of the public trust. In 2009, Sulzberger Jr had to borrow $250m from Slim – at 14% interest. In Dec. 2020, the company said it had 6 million paying online readers, and for the first time more revenue from digital than print subscribers. The Times had $800m on hand, with $250m available through a revolving credit line. It no longer has any debt, and last year it paid off a loan that allowed it to buy back its Manhattan headquarters.Other majority shareholders: Carlos Slim Helú and Fairpointe Capital (16%), Vanguard (8.11%), Blackrock (7.43%). In 2015, it was reported that the Ochs-Sulzberger trust elects 70 percent of the company’s board of directors.
Sinclair Local Television News
David Smith, whose father founded the company in the Nixon era, recently ended his 28-year reign as CEO, and along with his brothers maintains what an industry publication called “iron-clad control” of the billion-dollar media empire as well as the company’s majority financial interest. Sinclair controls 72% of US household local TV. David Smith, Frederick Smith and Christopher Ripley have the most control along with 3 largest shareholders: HG Vora Capital Management LLC 6.69%, Conifer Management, LLC, 5.62%, Vanguard Group Inc 5.56%, BlackRock Inc 4.54%. Sources: Pitchbook and New Yorker.
Gray Television
Diversified shareholders. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems. Gray is currently in agreement to buy Meredith's TV stations for $2.7 billion, adding 17 mostly Fox and CBS affiliates to its portfolio and also in the process of buying Quincy Media in Illinois. The company has #1 ranked stations in 77 of its 102 markets and #2 ranked stations in 16 markets. Gray network affiliations are weighted towards NBC and CBS.Top shareholders are Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (7.69%), The Retirement Systems of Alabama (6.83%), Capital Research & Management Co. (5.52%), The Vanguard Group, Inc. (4.73%), Darsana Capital Partners LP (4.66%), ClearBridge Investments LLC (4.58%), CEO Hilton H. Howell (4.39%) Robin Robinson Howell (4.30%)
CBS 60 Minutes
Chair is Shari Redstone, daughter of the late Sumner Redstone. The family still has majority voting shareholders of the parent company Viacom CBS Inc. The company's main assets include the Paramount Pictures film and television studio, CBS. Other major owners: The Vanguard Group, Inc.(10.19%), Credit Suisse Securities (USA) (6.25%), BlackRock Fund Advisors, (6.21%), SSgA Funds Management (5.88%).
Graham Media Group
Graham Media Group owns 6 local televisions stations and Social News Desk, headquartered in Atlanta, that provides its 2500+ worldwide newsroom-customers with a single dashboard to publish, measure, curate and monetize local news content on social platforms. Headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, and incorporated in Delaware, Donald Graham owns 11% with Blackrock and The Vanguard Group as the other largest shareholders. Graham Media Group is headquartered in Chicago with Emily L. Barr as president.
Slate
Graham Holdings Company owns Slate. This American conglomerate holding company once owned The Washington Post newspaper and Newsweek magazine. Headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, and incorporated in Delaware, Donald Graham owns 11% with Blackrock and The Vanguard Group as the other largest shareholders. Graham Media Group is headquartered in Chicago with Emily L. Barr as president. Graham Media Group seven local TV stations in Texas, Florida and other markets.
Five Thirty Eight
The largest shareholder is the Laurene Powell Jobs Trust, which holds stock that she inherited from her husband Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs received the Disney stock when they acquired Pixar. Majority voting shareholders are Robert A. Iger, Christine McCarthy, Disney Senior Executive Vice President and CFO; Alan Braverman, Disney Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel. ABC News is a branch of ABC, which is a branch of Walt Disney Television, which is a branch of Disney Media Networks, which is part of The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Company who also own ESPN, ABC, Lifetime, History, A&E, and FX, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm. The Vanguard Group, Inc. (7.66%), BlackRock Fund Advisors (4.36%) and SSgA Funds Management, Inc. (4.11%).
Foreign Policy
Headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, and incorporated in Delaware, Donald Graham owns 11% with Blackrock and The Vanguard Group as the other largest shareholders. Graham Media Group is headquartered in Chicago with Emily L. Barr as president. Graham Media Group seven local TV stations in Texas, Florida and other markets.
Life
Ceased regular publication in 2007 and now only prints collector editions. Owned by the Meredith Corporation who publish limited edition collectors books. Instititutional investors own more than 95% of the shares outstanding which is unusual. Top institutional investors in the company included BlackRock Fund Advisors (14.49%), Ariel Investments LLC (10.98%), Select Equity Group LP (10.22%) and The Vanguard Group, Inc. (9.915).
For ownership of Blackrock see here.
For ownership of Vanguard group see here.
And you wonder why your entire informational ecosystem is encouraging you from every which way to line up for shot, after shot after shot after shot.
Remember, propaganda happens right in front of your eyes, slowly and imperceptibly.
Once you see it you can never unsee it.