Author Archives: bfialindathieman

John Drury: A Message of Thanks

Posted on July 15, 2004 by bfialindathieman

John Drury: A Message of Thanks Dear Democracy for Iowa Democrats: Thank you for all the continuing support and encouragement you have given our campaign.  And today, thank you for all you did encouraging Democracy for America to name us … Continue reading →

Posted in Candidates, Main Page | 1 Comment

Iowa Gets First Dean Dozen Candidate: John Drury, Democratic Candidate, Iowa Senate, District 6

Posted on July 15, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Iowa Gets First Dean Dozen Candidate: John Drury, Democratic Candidate Iowa Senate, District 6 John Drury Counties: Winnebago, Worth, Hancock, Franklin, and part of Cerro Gordo  Democracy for Iowa is thrilled to announce that one of our own candidates, John … Continue reading →

Posted in Candidates, Main Page | 3 Comments

Terrorism Threatens the Ballot Box, or, What WON’T The Junta Do To Hold Onto Power?

Posted on July 14, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Terrorism Threatens the Ballot Box, or, What WON'T The Junta Do To Hold Onto Power? AlterNet.org The administration is warning that large-scale terrorist attacks could force postponement of the November elections Will terrorists, aiming to disrupt the November presidential election, … Continue reading →

Posted in Main Page, National News | 1 Comment

Call to Action: Rialto Theatre in Pocahontas

Posted on July 14, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Call to Action: Rialto Theatre in Pocahontas According to a Blog for Iowa reader in Laurens, the Rialto Theatre in Pocahontas will not be showing “Fahrenheit 9/11.”  The manager, Tonya Speer, says the one-screen theater is booked through August 12 … Continue reading →

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In Which America Do You Believe?

Posted on July 14, 2004 by bfialindathieman

In which America do you believe? by Darrell Lewis The Radical Right's America… In this America, we live under a constant state of fear.  We fear terrorists and go into unjustified wars.  We fear Muslims, because they are not like … Continue reading →

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Fridley Uses Propaganda Techniques to Publicly Justify His F 9/11 Ban

Posted on July 13, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Fridley Uses Propaganda Techniques to Publicly Justify His F 9/11 Ban

Behind The Scenes at Democracy for Iowa

Last week when news of the Fridley ban of “Fahrenheit 9/11” came out, Trish Nelson, Co-coordinator of Rapid Response – Iowa, and I took up a little project.  Trish researched the 31 towns with Fridley theaters in Iowa and located a local newspaper for almost every town.  She set up a system to fairly quickly email or fax these newspapers.  For my part, I wrote up a press release from DFIA objecting to the Fridley ban, and sent it over to Trish, who then sent it out to the local newspapers.

We do not know how far our protest will reach, but we received confirmation from the Manchester Press that they will be running a story on the Fridley ban today and they will be quoting me (no Internet access to the story, I’m afraid).  I found from personal experience during the Dean campaign that Iowa’s local papers frequently provide excellent coverage of issues that are overlooked by the big, corporate-owned media, and that many a reporter welcomes a fresh source for lively quotes.

Towards the end of last week, R.L. Fridley, owner of the Des Moines-based Fridley Theatres, issued a press release because, it seems, he was being bombarded by emails, faxes and phone calls regarding his decision to prevent rural Iowa from viewing the documentary.  He requested that this be the end of the matter.  Trish and I, however, could not let it drop.

Trish did some more research and added to her list of local newspapers to include not only the Fridley towns but also towns with newspapers in the surrounding areas.  I, in the meantime, set about writing another press release from DFIA.  This press release is a little different and probably a bit too long, but hopefully, it will attract some attention and perhaps get a few folks to work on their “critical thinking” skills.

I’m including the full text of the press release below, with sources.  I know it sounds a little strange to be quoting myself since I’m the one who wrote it, but in any BIG operation, I would not be the one writing the press release.  And besides, I always make myself very available to me for comment!  Here, in its entirety, is the most recent DFIA press release that went out yesterday.

Linda Thieman


Fridley Uses Propaganda Techniques to Publicly Justify His F 9/11 Ban

Storm Lake, Iowa (July 12) – When R.L. Fridley, owner of the Des Moines-based Fridley Theatres, banned the showing of Michael Moore’s documentary, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” from 31 small-town Iowa theaters, Fridley opened a Pandora’s Box of dissent.  One point in the flurry of controversy that seems to have been overlooked was the blatant propaganda techniques that Fridley himself used in issuing his statements to his company managers and to the press – a huge irony since Fridley claimed that he would not show the film because it was “political propaganda.”  Here is an inside look.

Claim: Fridley Theatres do not “play political propaganda films from either the right or the left.”

According to propagandacritic.com, “the name-calling technique links a person, or idea, to a negative symbol. The propagandist who uses this technique hopes that the audience will reject the person or the idea on the basis of the negative symbol, instead of looking at the available evidence.”  

In Mr. Fridley’s case, the term “political propaganda” is the negative symbol that he chooses to link to Moore’s film.  “This particular claim of Mr. Fridley’s is also highly debatable,” says Linda Thieman of Storm Lake, co-founder of Democracy for Iowa, a grassroots organization formed as an off-shoot of the Howard Dean presidential campaign, “since, if a ‘political propaganda film’ from the right were to come out, Fridley would no doubt not define it as propaganda.”  

This “either from the right or the left” claim is a propaganda technique called a “Glittering Generality.”  According to the Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA), “the Glittering Generality is, in short, Name Calling in reverse. While Name Calling seeks to make us form a judgment to reject and condemn without examining the evidence, the Glittering Generality device seeks to make us approve and accept without examining the evidence.”  

Thieman explains.  “The unsuspecting victim of Fridley’s propaganda technique says to him or herself, ‘Yes! In all fairness, he wouldn’t show propaganda from the RIGHT or the LEFT,’ making Fridley’s decision seem reasonable.  It then appears as an acceptable excuse to Fridley’s larger audience while at the same time obscuring the real issue – that Fridley refuses to let his would-be audiences in small-town Iowa make up their own minds.”

Claim: “The film incites terrorism”

Claim:  “Our country is in a war against an enemy who would destroy our way of life, our culture and kill our people,” Fridley wrote. “These barbarians have shown through [the September 11 attacks] and the recent beheadings that they will stop at nothing. I believe this film emboldens them and divides our country even more.”
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Posted in Dean Rapid Response - Iowa, Introducing DFIA, Iowa in the News, Main Page, Media Bias | 5 Comments

Grand Opening: Art Small for Senate Campaign Headquarters -July 16th

Posted on July 13, 2004 by bfialindathieman

  You Are Invited To the GRAND OPENING of the Art Small for U.S. Senate Campaign Headquarters! Located in the OLD CAPITOL MALL in beautiful downtown Iowa City Find us on the 2nd floor next to the Johnson County Democrats … Continue reading →

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How Beltway Democrats Sank Howard Dean

Posted on July 13, 2004 by bfialindathieman

How Beltway Democrats Sank Howard Dean By Joshua Frank, Counterpunch.org [Attempts to sink the grassroots movement are still going on everywhere. Just keep an eye out for it. I'm just sayin' . . .] Howard Dean's Titanic campaign began to … Continue reading →

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Progressive Vote at DemocracyFest

Posted on July 13, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Progressive Vote at DemocracyFest   A Message from ProgressiveVote.org This has been an exciting week at Progressive Vote. We have mobilized our base toward action around the announcement that a bipartisan committee found the intelligence used to take us to … Continue reading →

Posted in Dean News, Main Page, National News, Progressive Community | 1 Comment

“OutFoxed”: How Rupert Murdoch Is Destroying American Journalism

Posted on July 12, 2004 by bfialindathieman

“OutFoxed”: How Rupert Murdoch Is Destroying American Journalism AlterNet.org A review of Robert Greenwald's new documentary investigating the Fox News Channel As “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Michael Moore's powerful indictment of the Bush Administration, is influencing millions of Americans in the heartland, … Continue reading →

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