Benchmarking a reversal
Dictators in the early stages of modern communications (1920 to 1990) often relied on 'closed-circuit' media. Stalin and Khrushchev and Dear Leader Kim all used fixed-tune radios, or cable radio systems that were essentially intercoms. Orwell's telescreen wasn't meant to be a wild sci-fi prediction; it was just a slightly altered version of current reality.

As Orwell and other dystopians observed, holding onto the truth is hard work. As McLuhan failed to observe, it's easier in print. Reading involves a certain amount of pre-processing. You can spot a pothole or slippery spot at the edge of your headlights and start evasive maneuvers: either skip over the section or prepare your internal defenses to disprove the shit. You can't do that with audio or video media, unless they're organized like a lecture ... but that's exactly the opposite of expert propaganda. The whole point of TV is to slip the Cognitive Dissonance shitknife into your mind before you see it coming.

As the tendrils of tyranny penetrate more and more aspects of media, I've been narrowing my input step by step to save my sanity. I gave up reading novels and watching TV a long time ago. Until recently you could stay with 'money-talk' or Christian radio for background noise. You could be sure you wouldn't get HAMMERED with government-commanded toxin. Not now. Every available live channel blares the standard overmodulated duckspeak of Dear Leader. Thanks to Antipope Francine, even the EWTN network is no longer a refuge. The next GOTCHA is always around the corner.

At this point I'm down to self-selected OTR recordings if I need verbal input; if I'm not wanting words, I'll use the Muzak-like classical feed on a local educational FM station.

Benchmark. As of this year, the only NON-propaganda channels are closed-circuit feeds.
  ¶ 1:51 PM