The hierarchy of modern propaganda is something that most people never think about. There are common tag-lines or catch phrases like “fake news” or “corporate media” that get thrown around depending on what side of the aisle you view yourself on. These distinctions, which will be articulated here, must be understand in both linear and non-linear terms. What that means is that there are some people who exist, that fit firmly within one segment or level of this hierarchy.
However, the substance of this list also relies on the understanding that several individuals, or groups, operate within some intersection of these groups. That means you can have people who are at both a high level of propaganda, as well as a low-level or sub-layer of the overall propaganda machinery.
Outline of The Hierarchy of Modern Propaganda
- Actual Rulers, Intelligentsia, and Financial Controllers
- Perceived (Party) Leaders, Public Figures, and Capital Managers
- Talking Point Producers, Branding & Advertising, Public Relations
- Journalism & Broad News Media
- Broadcasters (Talking Heads) and Podcasters
- Sources
- Participants
- Witnesses
- Perpetrators
- Suspects
- Officials
- Reporters
- Analysts
- Reaction & Commentary Machine (Echo Chambers)
- General Public, Private Citizens, Individual Businesses
Actual Rulers, Intelligentsia, and Financial Controllers
In certain conditions, the actual rulers, intelligentsia, and financial controllers of our world are visible, public figures you can find online. However, in many cases, these individuals have their identities and influence concealed, living somewhat private lives. These people include the representatives of family offices and trusts, university professors, lawyers, banking executives, and others who are empowered to authorize the highest level decisions that move metaphorical mountains around the world. Though we might all like to believe that the actual rulers of our world are the Presidents, Parliaments, and others whose profession would make them accountable to the public, the reality is more complex than that.
This is not a “deep state” conspiracy theory.
This is a recognition that the strings and things that bind power around the world are not always seen on the surface.
These people, their interests, and ideas, are generally unperturbed and unaltered by the lower rungs of the hierarchy of modern propaganda.
What that means, is that any movement which aims to alter this level of society’s control, needs to assume and ascend to this level of communication.
Perceived (Party) Leaders, Public Figures, and Capital Managers
Simply put, this rung of the hierarchy includes all the people you view as a leader within the political and governmental system, as well as those who manage capital such as Wall Street traders, fund managers, and the financial system in total.
These people essentially take their direction from those actual rulers, and generally remain in their lane, as mouthpieces and operators of the higher level strategy.
This explains why you may often hear or see a President saying and doing things that he does not appear to fully comprehend himself.
There is a fair bit of mixing between these first top two tiers of the hierarchy, especially these days, perhaps because of a breakdown in how modern communication & technology has made some of the distinctions here obsolete.
Talking Point Producers, Branding & Advertising, Public Relations
In prior eras, this tier would itself have been more delineated, albeit still in approximately the same rung.
You will see these days a lot of brands attempting to shove themselves into the political realm, and therefore their advertising is becoming increasingly indistinct from political propaganda. Major synthetic scandals around brands like Nike, Cracker Barrel, Bud Light, and American Eagle demonstrate the collapse of this aspect of the hierarchy of modern propaganda. You can see that the methods of product advertising, and political public relations, are nearly indistinguishable from one another in these instances. Are they selling a political agenda? Or shoes, burgers, beer, and jeans?
Both? All the above?
When you see a report that *MAGA is freaking out* about something, or that *liberals are going crazy* about something, in general, this is fomented, not actively reported.
That is partially why this group of propagandists are, for now, positioned as above the actual news industry.
Journalism & Broad News Media
The current state of journalism & broad news media is in total disarray. Their position in this hierarchy is lower, due not to their lack of importance. But rather, their midway position between the general public and the actual rulers. However, in many cases, you will now also see lots of intersectional crossover. Every so-called independent media outlet you know of relies upon YouTube, Twitter, or some other major platform owned by those forces they often criticize. Also, many people attempting to rise within the ranks of media, government, and finance, find themselves needing to blur the line between everything else and journalism & broad news media.
Broadcasters (Talking Heads) and Podcasters
I group these together, because nearly every broadcaster these days also has a podcast, which is often lauded a victory for so-called independent media. In reality, it is demonstration that the news media itself does not know where it fits. People who host a podcast present themselves as some kind of answer to the “mainstream media,” but the truth is, if mainstream is defined by broadest or widest reach/distribution, paying for views (which is done by any seemingly successful program these days) has corrupted the industry’s understanding of what is popular, and what is not.
These individuals are marked by their detachment from reality, their repetitious talking points which were sent from above, and their performative individuality.
There is no value coming out of any of them.
They are, more or less, simply different *voices* sharing the near-exact same information.
In fact, mocking and imitation of a straw-man version of some imaginary opponent, is such a common trope, you will essentially hear both sides of any debate or issue on every channel.
For example, Cenk Uyger from The Young Turks is notorious for a very theatrical rendition of what arguments he has fabricated for his supposed debate enemy. To his audience, they know when he is attempting to put forth something sarcastic compared to his *real* point of view; which is usually in line with a wider band of the same political spectrum.
Rather than fully removing the seemingly opposing idea from his broadcast, Uyger presents both – in his mind – which means you could theoretically get the exact same content from whatever media he considers his enemy i.e. FOX or “corporate media” on the “left.”
This effectively makes the broadcaster tier uniform and bland, without any substance or teeth.
Sources
Sources are the least actually part of propaganda, which is why even the idea of a source is under attack with things like “anonymous sources” only ever being used to describe some of the most important affairs of our world.
A source is somebody who witnessed, participated in, or is officially responsible for things that are happening and reported in the news. But when source is confused for commentators, you have people who are just issuing detached opinions among one another and call that journalism.
Reporters
In general, a reporter is somebody who writes stories about what sources do or say. Some reporters have a tight or limited beat, like covering a specific person (Elon Musk, Donald Trump, etc) while others might more broadly cover technology as an industry. A reporter having a bias, is often viewed as a problem, and often broadcasters are conflated with actual reporters or source gathering. With an avid readership, a reporter’s bias would not be strictly a problem. It is not the main problem, let’s say, if you understand the hierarchy of modern propaganda.
Of course, reporters like Ezra Klein and plenty of others, blur this line when they go about making podcasts or going on broadcast channels more than they are actually gathering source material and writing legitimate reports.
Analysts
Any good reporter analyzes information before writing and publishing about it.
But there are analysts who do not report publicly, and this may include government analysts or analysts from corporations and other organizations that are not specifically within news or broadcasting.
Analysts are often sources, or at least, their materials can be used as source.
When analysts fail, reporters are disempowered, but it does not deter broadcasters or talking point producers from pushing messages that an analyst should stop before it confuses the public.
Reaction & Commentary Machine (Echo Chambers)
This is basically all podcasts and broadcasts now, unfortunately.
This tier is where the general public and podcasters meet, within social media and YouTube comment sections. A sort of battle for control of this rung of leverage in narrative shaping is underway right now. Too often, though, people further away from the actual rungs of power & control, believe that this reaction & commentary machine is the same as the actual rulers’ opinions. That is how the echo chambers find themselves talking about partisan hack arguments, meaningless stalled debates that have not moved in decades, and fighting amongst each other as if podcasters hold enough power to worry about.
There are ways to utilize this layer for opinion-shaping on the way upwards; but it is difficult.
General Public, Private Citizens, Individual Businesses
In America, this is actually supposed to be where the power actually resides. However difficult it may be to create some amalgam of public opinion, measured against more experienced and strategic thinkers, to come to some consensus, that is the American system or goal. Too often, though, the hierarchy of modern propaganda inverts the power and will of the people to the point where many in this bottom rung of the system adopt and accept talking points or beliefs from the other rungs in the hierarchy. Though many people believe themselves to be more independent minded than this, the truth is, nearly 100% of the public is incapable of ascertaining the truth from this system.
From this part of the hierarchy, though, the general public and private citizens on an individual basis, do have the power to manipulate this system despite all these shortcomings and constraints.
But it does not require mass movement or demonstrations the way that most people have in their mind.
That is partially why things like “No Kings” or these other party-led movements have absolutely no effect. They are more infiltrators than they are genuine or authentic representatives of this tier of the hierarchy.
What To Do About the Hierarchy of Modern Propaganda
Accept it exists, and stop pretending you aren’t part of the problem.
