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When Memes become poisonous

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basilio

Joined
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Yesterday in the Subtle Humour thread a meme was posted that skewered the ABC.

My observations then was this was a particularly clever of destroying the credibility of the ABC and those people who view it . It works in a number of ways and I wanted to unpack it further because to date most posters have seen it as somehow credible ?

The observer is cool, assured, articulate. He is genuinely concerned about his poor confused friend who appears to be divorced from the real world . This old friend is believing things that "the observer" knows are clearly untrue. Is the friend going ga ga ? What is causing this ?

Then the answer. Ah he was watching the ABC ! Obviously he couldn't be getting a real view of the world watching the ABC . Everyone knows that, don't they ? After all I do and so do all the other "cool, assured , articulate people" in the know.

So there goes the credibility of the ABC down the toilet . And for good measure lets use the ABC logo to identify the cause of this mass dementia.

Who are these people affected by such obviously untrue information ? Are they wild eyed ranters ? No. The picture is one of "pity" . In another context it could be a loving older couple. They could be supporting each other as they walk the road. In this context however we see an old man and his wife representing all the poor misguided ABC viewers who have just lost lost with reality.
 
So in a few words this meme has destroyed the credibility and respect of the ABC. It has denigrated all the people who watch it and packaged them as demented and decrepit. An obvious extension to this is that the organisation itself and all its employees are functionaries in such a comprehensive attempt to create a totally untrue view of reality. Powerful isn't it ?

I wonder how a defamation jury of 12 people would view such a meme? Would they recognise the damage it was trying to do to such an institution ? How would they view the depiction of all those poor demented/decrepit viewers ?

Brilliant isn't it ? That is the magic of the words, style and picture.

But what if we change the Subject ?
 
It seemed to me that on ASF because this meme targeted the ABC it was seen as fair game. But how would one feel if the target was another organisation or person or institution.

For example.



Then I realised he was following Facebook .

How does that go down ?
 
How about



Then I realised he was reading Aussie Stock Forum .

A bit closer to home ? How would we feel if Aussie Stock Forum was depicted as a bunch of demented, decrepit oldies ranting into the ether with quite ridiculous certainty on politics, science and the Media ?

I think Joe would quite rightly be very, very upset. No doubt many other posters.

And so would I. Totally. I'm pointing out that this particular meme is exceptionally poisonous because of its structure and resonance. It is intended to destroy the credibility of its target and any respect (beyond "pity") for people who follow that source.
 
So who else could be in the punch line ?

Some obvious candidates

Donald Trump,
Elon Musk
Russell Brand ?
The Church, (Catholic, Fundamentalist, whatever
Muslims
Scientology
The Murdoch Press
Fox News

And keep going...

All of them could be easily fitted into the punch line. The same mental process would happen.
 
basilio said:
An obvious extension to this is that the organisation itself and all its employees are functionaries in such a comprehensive attempt to create a totally untrue view of reality. Powerful isn't it ?
Click to expand...

I've been a long term fan of the ABC, but that only lasts while they present a totally unbiased account of national and world events.

Unfortunately, in some instances this is no longer the case.

Their gay marriage coverage was completely slanted in order to get the result that they wanted.

The same applies to their Voice coverage.

They play many more interviews with Voice proponents than the No case, they run positive propaganda on Aboriginal communities and never mention the issues of crime, drunkeness and domestic violence that inflicts these communities.

They have had to apologise after their aboriginal reporter called citizens of Alice Springs racists for being concerned about rising crime in that area.

Political correctness is rampant in the ABC and it is affecting their credibility.

Not that Newscorp is any better, but the people finance the ABC and we expect a higher standard from them.
 

Rumpy there is no "totally unbiased account of national and world events". There never can be. There never will be. That is an impossible demand to make.

Why ?

1) Selection of what to report. Selection on how to report it. Care with understanding the full picture. Capacity to investigate
2) Fake information. Working as a reporter/company to understand when you are being stooged by Company Press releases, political press releases, or stories created by people for their own purposes
3) Business/Political pressure. If you a commercial network then uncovering business financial scandals, or business behaviour that exploits the community is not going to be good news. That is why , in theory, teh reporting side of a commercial media is supposed to be kept separate from the advertising side. And theoretically the media should hold all politicans and political parties to account.
 
SirRumpole said:
True, but when long term viewers of the ABC notice bias then it's time to take stock of their standards.
Click to expand...
Rumpy I suspect that what you are seeing is the effectiveness of the "woke" attack line as well as the "political correctness" attack line. Both of these strategies are used to deflect any discussion about the good points/poor points/better ideas on an issue. In stead of discussing the merits of a case those in opposition to it will just claim it is "Woke Culture" . No one actually can define what this "woke"culture is but tarring a proposition with that label is a quick short hand way to dismiss it without discussion.

Similarly the "politically correct" label is a handy one to apply when anyone raises issues about racism or workplace sexual harrassment.

Sound familiar ?
 
basilio said:
Similarly the "politically correct" label is a handy one to apply when anyone raises issues about racism or workplace sexual harrassment.
Click to expand...

Politically correct implies no criticism of minority groups regardless of what they say / do.

That's certainly something that the ABC practises in my opinion.
 
Re the ABC news coverage. I just came across this story on the pile of derelict cars threatening to overrun Tonga.
Worth checking out to see how an indepth, thoughtful investigation can bring together many elements of an issue.

Tonga is running out of space for more than 30,000 abandoned cars. But it has a plan to fix that​

ABC Science
/
By Petria Ladgrove for Pacific Scientific
Posted 2h ago2 hours ago

Tonga's relative isolation and small amount of land has collided with accelerating demand for imported consumer goods.(ABC Science: Petria Ladgrove)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article

Link copied
The Kingdom of Tonga looks like paradise, but its lush coconut palms nurse a hidden problem that threatens the health of its people.
Thousands of cars are imported here every year, but, due to the cost of removing them, they never leave.

When a car comes to the end of its life, it's usually abandoned. Tropical downpours wash the rusted metal, chemicals from flaking paint, and oil residue into the earth, contaminating the drinking water supply.

In the past few decades, scrap cars have accumulated. The main island of Tongatapu has about 30,000 — equivalent to one rusted hulk for every three people.
Now, Tonga is racing to deal with this mountain of a problem before it's too late.

Tonga has tens of thousands of abandoned cars. Now there's a plan to crush them and ship them home

The Kingdom of Tonga looks like paradise, but its lush coconut palms nurse a hidden problem. Now, the country is preparing to deal with this car-sized problem, before it's too late.
www.abc.net.au
 
Bas, the very fact you started this thread, to a large degree supports the belief that the ABC has a propensity to support a left leaning agenda. As I stated in another thread, those who fall at the extremes of the bell shaped curve, will gravitate toward media that aligns with their beliefs.
Yourself and Danny highlight the trait daily, by having a constant to fro over Trump and Biden, you both source information from biased media which is understandable.
Your indignation, over what many think was an accurate meme, just highlights how left leaning the ABC is. That is exactly why the ABC is losing viewers and listeners, they are only resonating with half of the population, those who have a strong left leaning ideology.
That is the very reason you probably don't watch Sky as is your right, but if someone posted up a similar meme about Sky, would you still be as indignant? I think not.
By the way I don't watch either, because I know they are going to support an extreme view.
On the subject of abandoned cars, when I took the family across the Great Central road in 1992, to keep the kids entertained I had them count the abandoned cars on the side of the road.
By the time we arrived at the Olgas, they were at 850, these days the Sims metal truck does a run and picks them up apparently.
 
Yes, you wouldn't get that in the Murdoch media , so good report.
 

SP I started this thread to attack the meme itself. That is why I went through how effectively it undermined firstly the target and then the supporters of that target.
 
AS I said Bas, would you be up in arms if any of those you mentioned were in the meme, I think not.
I would guess you have made worse comments about Trump or indeed Murdoch..

But the ABC is not funded by advertising or money obtained through direct sales, it is funded by taxpayers and all have a right to a fair hearing which they don't get, as is shown by the falling viewer numbers.

This is also causing more and more division in society, as the young are not being given balanced accounts by the media, therefore they gravitate toward like minded people on social media.
The ABC and the Murdoch press are responsible for this IMO, but I don't pay to help Murdoch pedal their agenda, where as I am forced to with the ABC, therefore people have every right to make up memes to vent their frustration and as I posted below an elderly viewer watching the ABC, is actually not far off the mark.

Not everyone is an inner city Sydney/ Melbourne elite who works for the ABC and cheer along left wing agendas, many people live in the real world.

Less than 8pc of the ABC’s flagship news viewers are under 40

And more than 70 per cent of the audience for Insiders and Q&A are over 55, leaked data shows. The broadcaster has been scrambling to pursue younger audiences.
www.afr.com
More than 80 per cent of the broadcast viewers for the ABC’s marquee news program, the 7pm bulletin, are over 55 years old – with a staggering two-thirds of viewers older than 65, internal data circulated to managers shows.

Less than 8 per cent of viewers for the bulletin are under 40, the figures obtained by The Australian Financial Review show. It is this information that has caused concern among the broadcaster’s executive, with one senior manager describing the audience as “the grey-BC”.
Executives, led by the ABC’s head of news and current affairs, Justin Stevens, have used an increasingly urgent need to pursue younger audiences as justification for cutting some positions at the broadcaster, including the contentious departure of political editor Andrew Probyn.

Documents obtained by the Financial Review detail viewership information for the 7pm news bulletin across one week in late June, and for the broadcaster’s two prominent news panel programs, Q&A and Insiders.

The ABC is not alone among broadcasters to see audiences age. Young people have been turning away from television for more than a decade as viewership shifts to streaming platforms like Netflix and to YouTube.

To counteract this, broadcasters have been investing heavily in their own streaming platforms and building channels on YouTube and TikTok. However, even including viewership on the ABC’s iView video-on-demand service, the organisation’s audience numbers for Q&A and Insiders tell a familiar story – more than 70 per cent of the viewers are over 55.
 
Last edited:
basilio said:
SP I started this thread to attack the meme itself. That is why I went through how effectively it undermined firstly the target and then the supporters of that target.
Click to expand...
Were you personally offended by it?

The meme isn't the problem. Thinking we need to ban, or censor them however....
Not sure I agree with your creeping totalitarianism.
 
moXJO said:
The meme isn't the problem. Thinking we need to ban, or censor them however....
Click to expand...

I suggest that the meme is the problem. Lets take its application closer to home.



Then I realised he was reading Aussie Stock Forum.

As I said earlier that sort of statement with the picture of the elderly couple would be a incredibly offensive and unfair to ASF posters and incidental readers. I explained why I thought the meme was so effective earlier. Would we accept such a defamatory depiction - particularly if it destroyed other people respect for us ? For instance would Joe countenance such a meme on the front page of the website ?

In 2023 we have politicians like Donald Trump who ruthlessly use abusive and defamatory language at judges and legal officers to destroy public respect for the people and their office. I suppose because he gets away with it the assumption is "Why not be a xick ?" "Whose gonna stop me ?" And if I can destroy the reputation of someone I despise or who is standing in my way lets go for it.

I realise that ASF has no censor power over the net. Having said that we can individually, collectively or as operators say this is not acceptable on this forum. We can challenge the meme, call out the defamation.

Or it can be accepted in the name of Free (defamatory, insulting, demeaning) Speech.
 
I've got a different take.

Because it's being portrayed as (most likely) a female talking about a male being wrong or having Alzheimer's, I conclude she is wrong or has dementia.

I mean, after all, if a man speaks out loud these days in the forest, and no woman hears him, is he still wrong?
 
Nothing wrong with pointing out opposition to a meme and why you think it's wrong. But memes were basically troll posts. I'm not sure anyone puts that much weight in them.

Social media has created a world of narcissists and codependents with an 8 second attention span. There's worse things out there that are a lot more insidious. Depressing really.
 
One of the new things I've been alerted to is the act of "Right Washing".

Seems if a lefty has a dubious past they will move right (often with the conspiracy theory mob) as the right will protect them.
A guy mentioned Russell Brand was doing this a while back.
 
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