Have you noticed a trend towards someone wanting to think for you pretty much everywhere you look? It's not blatant, until you start noticing it. Pharmaceutical companies want to help you decide to take their drugs rather than make healthy diet and lifestyle changes; politicians want to help you decide they should win an election; the national media whips us into a fear frenzy over terrorism, anthrax, mad cow disease and now the bird flu.
What I find most disturbing about this is our country's willingness to buy into whatever message the media sends our way. The media and those who can afford to influence it, whether by purchasing commercials or purchasing actual media conglomorates, are affecting more and more of our daily lives.
I'm speaking as an insider, I'm a marketing and public relations specialist. We are now in a position where politicians can truly buy their way into office through clever advertising campaigns that selectively craft a polished image of what the public wants to see. If you have enough money, you can buy the creative product and advertising space to put yourself into office. Think of it, we are heading toward a country run by the nations' wealthiest people making the rules that govern the rest of us. That bothers me.
Ann Teliczan
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