A Fresh Brand of Newspeak?

An old post that I'm just getting around to putting up. No, I'm not on an Orwell kick, although he is one of my favorites . . .


Floating about on the Internet right now is an anti-Hilary Clinton piece, a mash-up of the groundbreaking Apple Computer 1984 commerical.

It's very well edited and quite effective. The message concludes with a BarackObama.com tagline.

Here's a link.

Not surprisingly, the Obama camp is denying any connection.

Which begs the question, how has the Internet affected one's ability, especially a political candidate's ability, to speak with anonymity?

The tactic is far from contemporary. One of our country's earliest leaders, Thomas Jefferson, used press sources to slander John Adams in his bid for the presidency.

But by making it possible for the message to reach diverse and distant groups, anonymously, with lightning speed, the Internet is a weapon of much greater potency than a newspaper, television show or underground leaflet.

Think about it. Here are just a few Internet methods:

Internet news

Message boards

Instant messaging

MySpace

Blogs

RSS Newsfeeds

YouTube

Facebook

Podcasts

Camera phones

Spam

Webcasts

Streaming audio & video

Web-based games

Online communities

Commercials

All can be employed with a relative sense of anonymity, or at minimum can decieve the viewer regarding the true source of the material. Certainly these tactics can benefit one party directly or indirectly while at the same time preserving a candidate's ability to distance themselves from the message.

And, unlike a leaflet or letter, which one person must physically pass to another, an email or link can be forwarded by one person to hundereds of others with great ease.

Unlike a television news program, which is viewed traditionally only one time, Internet news programs and videos are preserved for as long as there's an interest in them.

Unlike a newspaper, which is read and thrown away, Internet news remains available for greater periods of time.

Unlike traditional media sources which are published daily or three times per day, Internet content can be revised nearly instantly. Got a leak to the press? You can bet that anonymous breaking news will be distributed via the world wide web.

Perhaps the 1984 piece was created by an anti-Obama camp, maybe even one loosely connected to Hilary Clinton. After all, anonymity works both ways. Could Clinton have created it to cast Obama in a poor light? It's possible.

So, a messaging cloak can both harm and help political candidates.

And as a concealer and message distribution system, nothing today works better than the Internet.

Orwell Again Shines Through

'Smith!' yelled a voice from the telescreen. '6079 Smith W.! Hands out of pockets in the cells!'1984, George Orwell

Text below from an article on England's plan to beef up their surveillance cameras with the ability to shout at offenders.

Dig the part toward the end where "tryouts for the voice" are mentioned.




That doesn't sound like the Youth League or The Spies, does it?

Terrifying.




Big Brother barks? Govt unveils shouting CCTV cameras

Talking" closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras which allow operators to shout at people behaving badly are to be installed across England, the government announced Wednesday.

The scheme lets local council workers in a control centre monitor pictures from the cameras and talk to them if they feel they are doing something wrong.

The cameras were piloted in Middlesbrough, north-east England, where they have been used to reprimand vandals and litter bugs, but now loudspeakers are being fitted to cameras in another 20 areas.

Britain has some 4.2 million CCTV cameras and the government's privacy watchdog, Information Commissioner Richard Thomas, warned last year that the nation risks "sleep-walking into a surveillance society".

Human rights group Privacy International says Britain is the worst country in the European Union at protecting individuals' privacy, citing "endemic surveillance".

And a powerful group of lawmakers -- the House of Commons home affairs select committee -- is to hold an inquiry into the extent of surveillance in Britain this year.

The "talking CCTV" move comes as Prime Minister Tony Blair's administration attempts to impose a "respect agenda" by cracking down on petty anti-social behaviour.

Home Secretary John Reid defended the scheme, saying it was aimed at "the small minority who think it is acceptable to litter our streets, vandalise our communities and damage our properties."

Reid added that schools in many areas were holding competitions for children to become the "voice" of CCTV cameras.

The scheme is likely to cost around 500,000 pounds (740,000 euros, 988,000 dollars).