Page 153 - Lunacy and the Age of Deception

Television had not yet been invented in 1918, the year the Lusitania sank, but silent movies were
commonplace and popular. No time was wasted in coming up with propaganda pieces to “regiment
the masses,” inflaming the emotions of Americans so they would enter the war on the side of
England. Following is a popular 9 minute animation which was shown repeatedly at movie houses
following the sinking of the Lusitania. It is an obvious piece of propaganda.

https://youtu.be/ko418jQabuY

It is apparent that this is an animated re-creation of the Lusitanian saga. It would be unlikely that
anyone would mistake it as an actual video of the event. Although this short movie is deceptive in
that it presents a false history of what actually occurred, it does not have the same power of
persuasion that actual footage of the event might wield. It would be an altogether different matter
if the media created fake footage of the Lusitania sinking and passed it off as authentic. Such an act
would constitute a betrayal of public trust. This in fact did happen. British media filmed a re-
enactment of people floundering in the water and fighting to get into lifeboats, showing the film at
movie houses while billing it as actual footage of the aftermath of the sinking of the Lusitania. The
scenes were in fact filmed on a London pond. Following is an excerpt from the documentary What
Happened On The Moon - Hoax, Lies, and Videotape.

https://youtu.be/om4vRZabtro

Before the advent of television, news reels were shown at movie theaters before the main film began.
They served as the equivalent of the network television news broadcasts of more recent years. As
far back as the days of silent movies, the news media was faking scenes and passing them off as
authentic. Special interests were using this new medium as a tool of deception. It would be naive to
think that network television did not continue the practice. Indeed, such deceptions have been
commonplace from the beginning of televised news and continue on a daily basis. Consider this
relatively recent example of a news broadcaster misleading viewers by making it appear that Nancy
Grace of Headline News was holding a conversation with Ashleigh Banfield of CNN at a remote
location. Examination of the background of both women reveal they were located in the same
parking lot about 30 feet apart. See link below for details.

http://www.thewire.com/national/2013/05/nancy-grace-ashleigh-banfield-cnn-parking-lot/64965/

The article gives a partial defense of the two newswomen by stating, “cable TV news often features
"remote" split-screen interviews with hosts and guests, even when they're in the same building.” In
other words, it was not such an egregious deception because it is a common practice. Although