Propaganda and Manipulation is as old as our planet. I apologize to religious people who come here, I understand there are plenty of you,  however, I believe, and this is just my opinion, the grandest manipulation of all is, Religion.

What better way to control humans, than with Religion? However, for the past 200 years, though Religion is still used to control masses, today takes a back seat, a second place if you will. Voila, I present you, The Media.

Media is used in an incredible way, from selling a product, to influencing your opinion on a product, an individual, country, company, politics, even the weather. The goal is, you don't need to think, we will form your opinion for you.

Lets take an example, something we had reported on in the past few months. China.

Several months ago, the crippling US and EU economies decided to do something about the new powerhouse, China. The first thing the Governments did, through the Media, put stories of poisonous toys coming out of China. What a better way to hit someones economy if not hitting their exports. The Media, as usual, looking to sell a story jumped on the train and put headlines like "Are you children safe?", "Where are your children's toys made in?" etc, you get the idea. Perfect example of Media forming population's opinion. People stopped buying toys made in China.

Then it came Tibet, as the Olympics are approaching. The Western Media tried to rattle China again, and Tibet is used as a launching pad. The massive propaganda displayed about Tibet (who had always been part of China) by Western Media was at impressive levels. BBC, CNN, Reuters, France Press put up questionable stories about the "violence" in Tibet. MINA reported on this. If any of you wonder why BBC, CNN and the rest employ 150 Graphic Artists, here is GOOD REASON, GOOD REASON 2. How powerful is the Western Media in influencing their population? French man attacked a Chinese lady in a wheel chair in his attempt to take the Olympic Torch away from her!

Macedonia. 

Macedonians are no strangers to propaganda, after all, we do live in the Balkans. 

In 2001, Macedonians were outraged when they watched CNN footages of the Croatian and Bosnian war. The problem was, CNN talked about Macedonia and were showing tanks with Croatian flags. CNN isn't afraid to do this, the average American recognizes only the American flag. Later the BBC was caught giving $50 to Albanian refugees to cry in front of cameras. They were so good, the BBC crew gave them $50 extra.

But this was in 2001, fast forward to 2008. Protest at the Athens Embassy in Skopje. About 30 youths gathered. Some of them were 16 year old girls. Two of the girls had pages of foreign history books that they taped to the Embassy door. Another taped a sign that said "You speak of history, then learn some". Nothing violent there. But this was in Skopje. What did Athens show? Greek Antena TV, when speaking of Macedonian protest in Skopje, showed footages of the Belgrade protest in front of the US Embassy throwing flares at it. Was this done by accident? Replacing images from another country and then putting Skopje on it? It is not an accident, because it requires work, editing, and producing. My favorite cliche is "Nothing is accidental".

Macedonian Elections: Again, Antena TV. Antena 1 TV must be popular. It showed footages of "people views" in the capital. The Antena crew spoke Albanian and spoke only to Albanians. They knew which neighborhood to go to, apparently. The views were extreme; this is not Macedonia, Macedonia is in Greece, this is Ilirida here, these were the comments. According to Antena TV, Albanians are minimum 40% and Skopje is split like Beirut, among Christians and Muslims! The disappointing fact here is while TV Antena misinforms their viewers about Skopje and Macedonia, it also misinforms them about Beirut as well. The propaganda levels in Greece are at its highest for the past 50 years. The Greek Media had already done its job on forming Greek opinion, demonizing Macedonians. It did its job so well, member of the Parliament Athanassios Plevris of LAOS party asked for death penalty for anyone who is a member of the Rainbow Party (Macedonian Party in Greece).

Propaganda came from other western media as well. UPI reported bombs were thrown at voting booths? This is not true, but it was reported, so people assume it's true. The individual who was killed, was killed because he first shot at a police officer, who fired back. Western Media reported as if the individual was executed and was also unarmed.

Bulgarian Media via the famous Anti-Macedonian Bozidar Dimitrov reported: "Serbia will take their part of Macedonia, Macedonians are running towards Bulgaria." Ever think why people who dislike Macedonia are sent to do reports from Macedonia? Amusing, isn't it?

Some people use the term 'Sheep' to describe people who are easily influenced and who do what they are told without questioning. I believe this isn't fair to the Sheep, there are always dogs barking around them. The more correct term to describe these people is "People".

Gorazd V.