S-11 Redux: (Channel) Surfing the Apocalypse
December 24, 2001 12:50 PM   Subscribe

S-11 Redux: (Channel) Surfing the Apocalypse So, in the face of our media's shameless propaganda campaign, we have taken it upon ourselves to intuit what the intentions and goals of this war truly are. In what is surely a departure from our traditional NewsVideo format, GNN presents S-11 Redux: (Channel) Surfing the Apocalypse. Culled from over 20 hours of television footage recorded over a one month period and across 13 networks, S-11 Redux is a sound-bite blitzkrieg that challenges the messages we have been fed from our mainstream media and the government it serves. Be warned - this video moves quickly and will require at least two viewings to digest its full impact. You may never be able to look at the coverage of S-11 and its post-impact coverage the same way, ever again
posted by Niahmas (31 comments total)
 
Any other video;s like this or EBN or negativland?
posted by Niahmas at 12:54 PM on December 24, 2001


Editing and playing about can readily turn anything into a piece of nonsense. But that still leaves some 4 thousand people dead from Sept 11 teeor attack.
posted by Postroad at 1:22 PM on December 24, 2001


Be warned - this video moves quickly and will require at least two viewings to digest its full impact.

"Channel-surfing" cable news channels is not informative, whether I do it or someone does it for me. I gave up half-way through the video.
posted by Carol Anne at 1:26 PM on December 24, 2001


What's the song playing that starts right after Patrick Stewart stops talking and goes over as the History channel plays footage of Nazi bombing? It's about 1/4 of the way through... it's driving me mad! I can't think of the name!
posted by geoff. at 1:27 PM on December 24, 2001


I thought it was a very good video. Excellent post Naihmas. (Keep in mind, I am viewing it from a non-American perspective.)
posted by Dark Messiah at 1:31 PM on December 24, 2001


Geoff, I don't remember the name of the song, but that's definitely Dave Brubeck.
posted by kickingtheground at 1:33 PM on December 24, 2001


Wow...that was some powerful stuff. Unfortunately, my Windoze Media Player could not play the visuals, but I enjoyed the audio nonetheless. I got a lot more (read: goosebumps) out of the second half, the more personal and philosophical quotes and speeches. I'm not a big fan of GWB, but I thought the "Deliverance" theme was a bit much.
posted by pudders at 1:37 PM on December 24, 2001


geoff: It's "Take Five", by Brubeck (score one for kickingtheground).
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:40 PM on December 24, 2001


So...would this be a self link on the front page or did I miss something important?
posted by davidgentle at 1:43 PM on December 24, 2001


oops, I think you forgot a </BIAS> tag there.
posted by starduck at 1:54 PM on December 24, 2001


in the face of our media's shameless propaganda campaign

Yeah, thanks for giving us some different shameless propaganda to look at instead.
posted by MrBaliHai at 2:02 PM on December 24, 2001


Would that be <BIAS slant="dove">video</BIAS>?
posted by Tubes at 2:03 PM on December 24, 2001


I 'spose if I had Premiere and some spare time I could make some wicked silly video from the "1,2,3,4-- we don't want a racist war" fellas too...
posted by owillis at 2:06 PM on December 24, 2001


Its a piece of art .. reminded me of Laibach .. the author missed a good opportunity at the end to talk about facism instead whineing new aged liberal voiced "it's up to us". Or maybe that was the point.
posted by stbalbach at 2:18 PM on December 24, 2001


"Editing and playing about can readily turn anything into a piece of nonsense."

Sampling and video splicing are methods of creating an argument using only what those of old media call "citations." The samples here are really little less reliable than the sources that one presumes the major news networks take advantage of. The major difference is that where it's patently obvious that the sampler has edited the hell out of his material, the newsman won't bother to make mention of the filters that his reports have gone through.

For example, note that "Bush worked in the oil industry for a decade in Texas, Evans headed energy company Tom Brown Inc., and Cheney spent 1995 to 2000 running Halliburton Co., an energy services company specializing in developing oil and gas production around the world. Bush said Cheney's ties to the industry would not lead to policies that favor oil companies over consumers."

Which is pretty common knowledge. Whereas the ties between time-Warner (who own CNN) and Mobil Oil are far less obvious.

I personally prefer the editing and motivations for my media to be obvious, or at least easily accessible. Though I'm not a member of the radical left, and certainly no conspiracy theorist, I certainly understand where they come from, as our society is controlled by a bulk of shady business dealings and power hungry lobbies.

"But that still leaves some 4 thousand people dead from Sept 11 teeor attack."

No one disputes that people died in the WTC attack, but to blindly endorse the war is sheer folly. If we throw discourse out the window in favour of patriotism, then we may as well throw the constitution out along with it. Not, of course, to say that we aren't already on our way to doing so.
posted by kaibutsu at 2:24 PM on December 24, 2001


Kaibutsu, is all endorsement of the war "blind," as you imply? I support the war. Do you think I support it blindly? Is my support necessarily "sheer folly?"
posted by Holden at 2:39 PM on December 24, 2001


great post,
seemed strange the way the video ended with George W. getting the last word...
I walked away thinking more about the motives of the makers rather than the actual content.
posted by Eric Lloyd NYC at 6:51 PM on December 24, 2001


in the face of our media's shameless propaganda

Niahmas, what's your country whose media you're talking about? Generally speaking, don't look for malice what stupidy can explain.
posted by semmi at 10:16 PM on December 24, 2001


I am in Good old USA> I just enjoy the fact that IRONY is the highlight of my Florida vacation.

I goto work everyday so that I can get up and goto work the next day. How am I getting ahead?

Sure I can invent something or goto school and get a better job but its all too easy to kick someone ass and take their vcr....as long as I have my big brothers to protect me.

Niahmas
posted by Niahmas at 11:28 PM on December 24, 2001


10 KICK ASS
20 GOTO 10
posted by darukaru at 6:00 AM on December 25, 2001


"...and so it really comes down to a very basic choice that we have to make as a civilization : either we will learn to bury the animosities of our ethnocentric, militant traditions and come to understand that Earth's survival depends on our collective, unified participation...or we will sustain this cycle of violence and revenge until humanity is returned to the status of primitivity and Earth reduced to the rubble of antiquity."

If it is granted that the 'we' in the commentary quoted above is not just America, or the West, but all of us, everywhere, I find little to argue with.

A beautiful piece of work.

We need more.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:28 AM on December 25, 2001


Very well executed. I hope the creators recognize the irony of playing with out-of-context sound and sight bites in delivering their message. If so, all the better. If not, nothing sets them apart from any other form of propaganda.
posted by holycola at 7:38 AM on December 25, 2001


Holden:
I said nothing to imply that _all_ support of the war is blind. What I advocate is an increase of dialogue; that we think about our actions instead of just towing the party lines. If you have seriously considered your stance, and have come to the conclusion that the present war is just, then more power to you. What I'm angry about is the popular belief that the fact "dead Americans" directly implies that Osama must die. I certainly agree that he must be brought to justice, and that we were right in shutting down the Taliban. I don't however, agree with a number of the domestic measures that the powers-that-be have been taken in recent times. And above all, I believe that as Americans, we should bring ourselves to think about our country's actions and their consequences, even if those actions and consequences are positive.
posted by kaibutsu at 12:58 PM on December 25, 2001


well-executed, but far from original, unless you were born yesterday, or a few weeks ago. It's the work of some young guy with some video equiptment who thinks that out-of-context fast cut images constitutes meaning. All it constitutes is cynicism. Hopefully the author is under 20 years old and will grow out of it.
posted by ParisParamus at 1:43 PM on December 25, 2001


Political stuff certainly seems to bring out the unpleasantness in some people, doesn't it?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:08 PM on December 25, 2001


When its hamhanded and condescending, yes.
posted by owillis at 10:08 PM on December 25, 2001


Speaking of condescending....
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:51 AM on December 26, 2001


I keep quasi-kosher, so I can't be hamhanded.
posted by ParisParamus at 7:00 AM on December 26, 2001


Stuff like this is useful more for illuminating the subtext of the event rather than constructing a viable argument about it. Seeing these familiar clips stripped of context helps illuminate the profundity/banality/etc of the event and the media coverage as a whole. It's clearly not fair to assert that any one individual is an asshole, or that one side is right or wrong based on this kind of media: that's called propaganda. All in all I thought the video was somewhat interesting, but more as a polemic than a documentary. How about that Steve Allen, though.
posted by eshepard at 2:37 PM on December 26, 2001


Technically, well executed propaganda. However, as argument it cannot be taken seriously.
posted by Real9 at 7:13 PM on December 26, 2001


Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Mr Steve Allen!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:25 PM on December 26, 2001


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