You are just a client, a reader, and a viewer, a buyer persona

You are just a client, a reader, and a viewer, a buyer persona

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Persuasion
Brexit doesn’t matter. It is only a thing of the past or at most, a minor issue. Do you agree with this? It is quite easy to persuade anyone to do anything only if you have got the proper tools and effective channels. And, of course, if you know how to influence people.
30/09/2021 19:542 years ago
Andrzej Mańka

Brexit doesn’t matter. It is only a thing of the past or at most, a minor issue.

Do you agree with this?

It is quite easy to persuade anyone to do anything only if you have got the proper tools and effective channels. And, of course, if you know how to influence people.

The current situation of shortage problem in the UK is an excellent example of how certain matters are gradually replaced (or even banned) from public awareness and how a favorable reality is constructed for the reigning political leaders.

Living in the UK has become fairly challenging as there has been a shortage of considerable items in the supermarkets, so many overseas products and services are no longer available for purchase (or it is very difficult to do so). Britons are panic-buying petrol leaving the UK petrol pumps dry. A lot of restaurants are permanently closed and many small businesses are severely affected.

And, at the same time, there is the success propaganda.

In Poland, the country I grew up in and learned how to deconstruct reality, made me see through the “propaganda of success” and conclude that it is associated exclusively with communist lies, while the West is regarded as the land of decent, objective information.

The common belief of western media informing and not engaging in party propaganda was based on the observation that in the western countries, such as the UK, there was a variety of different media outlets, whereas in a typical communist country you can use only official state-owned media.

If you can read or watch only state-owned media then you will get a simplified version of reality, there are taboos, there are things you cannot say publicly and there are distorted and censored versions of reality and often blatant lies. (By the way, if you read the British tabloids or sometimes even BBC, does this sound familiar to you?)

The problem with the media outlets is that they are owned by individuals inclined towards their gain.

Media can be a fantastic, profitable business. But as it is a business, the owners need to first instinctively look after their profit and goals.

However, profit and truth can be sometimes completely two different universes.

We do not consume news from our favorite media outlet to be informed. We primarily do so to be entertained, to be reaffirmed in our beliefs, and to learn that our enemies (real or imagined) are in a worse position than ourselves.

The media owners always try to create an impression of objectivity – which by the way is an illusion as we only have access to a subjective point of view and preconceived notions.

Let’s have a look at the current media-dominant narratives.

The majority of the UK mainstream media treat Brexit in the two following ways:

1) It is a minor problem, there are much more relevant issues such as the pandemic or changing global trends – BBC. It seems that they would be happy to ignore the term “Brexit” and focus on the pandemic and global economics.

2) It is a huge success and brings real joy to the lives of the British people, makes them proud of their supremacy and it is finally going to introduce a chance for a decent pay rise – Tabloids.

There is no doubt that Brexit is not the only thing that matters. We have had the pandemic and the global economic slowdown. The world has not stopped because of Brexit and the old deep-rooted problems did not disappear.

However, if you do your own research, compare different sources, which takes no more than 15-20 minutes, you might be surprised by what you find out.

From CNN to Al Jazeera, Indian to Australian media, you can read that Brexit is to be blamed for the current grim situation in the UK. The same conclusion is seen on local, national European media.

When you ask your friends who live in Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, or the Czechia, the shortage of fuel and overseas items have only affected the UK. The UK petrol pumps are left dry and supermarkets are left with a few costly options. The shortages have directly impacted UK’s blue-collar workers and the consumers and these problems are specific to the UK.

I am not saying that overseas life is like a peaceful haven, free of everyday problems or economic challenges. But when you develop a nuanced and critical approach to the information you gather from various sources regarding Brexit, it becomes clear that Brexit has been a major factor in the current challenging situation of the UK.

Brexit was quite an irrational decision, very detrimental to the economy and the international reputation of the UK. However, I am not saying that the EU is a perfect organization.

Of course not.

It has gradually taken a form of a super-state where national countries are being replaced by the central European institutions. It is not easy to say if this centralization would have any natural limitation, or what would it mean for European nations in the long run.

But so far the EU has been quite successful at keeping us, the European nations, to exist in harmony with each other and cooperate for trade and resources. And how the UK withdrew itself from the EU was very disastrous and improper.

As someone said “Brexit is a trade war the UK has declared on itself”

What benefits can you gain from ending your productive relationship with the biggest trade organization in the world? Let’s be honest, it is madness.

I do not doubt that Britain will eventually find its way to prosperity. However, the costs could be considerably high!

Propaganda is part of our lives. It seems to be no escape from it. It has different names: public relations, press conferences, commercials, ads, sponsor content, elections, and of course, breaking news!

The media does its job, but we have to do ours too. We need to learn to deconstruct reality, to recognize persuasion or manipulation, to make informed decisions, and to achieve our goals in this biased world constantly feeding half-cooked information.

So how can we deconstruct propaganda and have the credible and correct information for our knowledge?

First of all, we need to gather news from multiple sources to compare and verify the information.

Secondly, we need to learn how propaganda, influence, and persuasion work.

And lastly, to treat the media outlets as privately owned independent news sources.

It would be almost impossible to live without modern media. I love vibrant, professional media. Who does not?

But I treat them as individual news sources having their own motives and point of views, I observe them as a spectacle, and not necessarily as a reliable source of information that can help me in making rational decisions.

Remember, the media does not care about you. You are just a client, a reader, and a viewer, a buyer persona.

The media is interested in your attention, not your wellbeing.

 

Andrzej Manka

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