In case you haven’t noticed, the good doctor is back with yet another excellent post (apparently, the cats are fine). In a debate with Adriaan both agreed that it would be rather welcome if voters were to make an informed decision when casting their votes.
Ideally, this is so. You have a bunch of different sources, websites, newspapers, TV and radio channels as well as an occasional blog, the whole shebang. Today we will set aside the irony of an exponential increase in media companies actually leading to a decrease in amount of useful information. But media act as more or less effective “gatekeepers”, which – in part – gave rise to citizen journalism. Of course it didn’t take long for political parties to catch on (although “didn’t take long” should be interpreted liberally). As usual in Slovenia, it was left wing parties which mastered “new media” first and were sooner or later followed by their right-wing counterparts.
By employing tactics of citizen journalism, political parties finally got what they wanted all along. Unfettered access to voters, without the hassle of media scrutiny, no matter how superficial the latter may be. Their messages are delivered in their original form, with exactly the right spin and possibly omitting all the unpleasant details. In short – it’s propaganda in its purest form.
Unless, of course you fuck up. Like Janez Janša’s SDS did in their “how to vote” video hosted by Eva Irgl, MP.
(thx to dr. fil for an excellent catch)
Admittedly, you wouldn’t shy away from Eva if she surprised you naked in a shower on a Friday evening, holding a glass of champagne in one hand and a big fucking dildo in the other, possibly with a girlfriend in tow. However, even though she is a former TV hostess and was even featured as Friday Foxy, she is apparently only good for reading from a script. Because if you hadn’t noticed by now (or don’t understand Slovene), Eva Irgl says in the video above that “citizens of all twenty-seven member states will cast their vote on Sunday in European elections“.
Something tells me that voters in United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland, Czech Republic, Cyprus, French colonies, Italy, Latvia, Malta and Slovakia would not agree. Voters in these states will cast their votes on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This may seem trivial, but the fact that the party, which only a year ago boasted that it is single-handedly running the EU, doesn’t know the basics, is just sad.
So much for informed decisions.
My oh my, this gal sure spurred your imagination. I wonder why the picked *her* to instruct voters on how to do it.
I have just wasted my lunch time on a fruitless discussion with a bigot, which did serve as a reminder that the species is alive and well. Then I had some strawberries.
@Mr.P: Very amusing post. As an aside, perhaps unusually in the UK it is right wing “citizen journalists” who have had the most success, presumably because we have a (nominally) left wing government.
Indeed one, Guido Fawkes (a self proclaimed right wing libertarian), seems to be almost single handedly bringing down Gordon Brown’s government. By contrast, most of the bloggers on the left seem impotent.
@Dr. Fil: I hope I wasn’t that bigot! 🙂
Adriaan, a debate with you is never a waste of time 😈
@Dr Fil: You say the nicest things. Bon Voyage!
GG go home!