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Deception in Media Operations Alan Svejk Picture: Pixabay.com Special Security Services Counter-PSYOPS, Counter-Propaganda, Counter-Slander Online Reputation protection, Counter-Oppression (Social Media) Counter-Social Engineering, Counter-Honey traps, Counter-Surveillance Information Security (INFOSEC), Frauds prevention, Crisis Management Counter-Infiltration, Counter-Extortion, Counter-Urban Mining Page 1 Deception in Media Operations by Alan Svejk

Deception in Media Operations by Alan Svejk

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Page 1: Deception in Media Operations by Alan Svejk

Deceptionin Media Operations

Alan Svejk

Picture: Pixabay.com

Special Security ServicesCounter-PSYOPS, Counter-Propaganda, Counter-Slander

Online Reputation protection, Counter-Oppression (Social Media)Counter-Social Engineering, Counter-Honey traps, Counter-SurveillanceInformation Security (INFOSEC), Frauds prevention, Crisis Management

Counter-Infiltration, Counter-Extortion, Counter-Urban Mining

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ALAN SVEJK PUBLIC RELATIONSCreate Persuade Influence★ ★

Special Media Operations PSYOPS INFOOPS SPECOPS★ ★

Public Relations Public Affairs Civil Affairs★ ★https://www.linkedin.com/in/alansvejk

Deception in Media Operations by Alan Svejk Let´s hear about some classic, basic and widely used methods of "light" media deception.The motivations of authors are different: business success, promotion of artistic creations, tobecome or remain celebrity, everlasting desire to be seen and heard, to leave a trace in cul-tural history... well, media business has some strange rules, hard to understand for a com-mon person. But why not to widen your perspective?

1) VIP Relationships: Love and Hate

Love: Recent top-secret report indicates, that 52% of publicly known love relationships, af-fairs and romances in CZ showbusiness in last 15 years have artifical origin. In other words,they are manufactured purely for publicity.

If two clever celebrities join forces, one can support other with news he/she participates, tothe mutual benefit. They cover backs each other, and it helps them to stay in the attention ofmedia and to grow in fame. The readers have a gossip to talk about, the magazines have inte-resting content. Everybody is satisfied, it seems - only the truth and sincerity disappear. Butpeople need fun and distraction to forget their misery, so they can survive in the presentcomplicated world, so it´s maybe OK.

Hate: manufactured conflicts and feuds works the same way. It is very common that fashionmodels, politicians, boxers, wrestlers and hip-hop artists deliberately slander theircolleagues, and he/she fights back. Tabloid magazines are happy to write about this clash, andreaders love it too, to watch the strong words, declarations of media war and eternal malice.

Sometimes, both sides have an agreement in advance, and they stay friends, even when thewhole world thinks how much they hate each other. Or one side wants to get up, and there isa classical rule: attack the king, if you want to rise in the ranks.

Arnold the Destroyer: if we are speaking of kings... every fan of bodybuilding can remem-ber the most controversial top competition of all times: Mr. Olympia 1980. In 1975, the fa-mous bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger retired after very successful career, and then hecame to Sydney, allegedly as a commentator only. But to the shock of the world, he announ-ced his direct, competitive participation just hours before start!

Some colleagues complained, that the basic rules were broken (you have to register to thecompetition 30 days in advance, you have to qualify in previous events). There was almost afist fight in backstage. But the clever promoters deliberately allowed this exception. Arnold

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was not in his best shape - he only trained for six weeks. Many experts say, that he should be3rd or 4th. And still - he was declared victorious by the jury, where he had many business andfriendship connections. Many people thought, that it was forged, unlawful victory, that it wasa fraud.

Can you imagine, what media attention and publicity this controversy started? The discussi-ons about this event continue even to this day - 30 years later! So you may agree, that thiswas a PR masterpiece, most probably carefully staged.

Was it right to allow Arnold to compete? No! Was it fair? No! Was it justice? No! But itattracted so many publicity to the still developing sport of bodybuilding! It promoted thehigher interest, we could say.

But the price of this extraordinary promotion was high. Not everybody understood the nobleintention, not everybody was able to took it lightly. This event had serious consequences forseveral people, who were unable to accept the circumstances and the outcome. Some parti-cipants were completely destroyed by it and never recovered. You know, if you become Mr.Olympia once, you become a part of history, you are the best, you are crowned forever, yourname will stay in the hall of fame. You prepare for this competition for years, concentrated,you invest money, you train, sleep and eat the right way... and then... some ruthless, lawlessking comes, and he steals your dreams forever.

2) Music industry: banned videos

What is the best way to promote your song, if the music competition is immense, and youdon´t want to pay dearly for "friendly articles" and promotion? Of course, if you are Sting orRihanna for example, every TV/radio station will be pleased to promote your new song andplay it every day. But this good position has only 1% of top artists - and other have to use al -ternative ways of promotion.

So, they deliberately add a controversial part to the video, they announce it was banned froma famous music television, and people will be greedy to see it and hear it, because forbiddenthings always attract! Every magazine and website will write about it, there will be widediscussion of media censorship.... and the author of this deception is most satisfied. TheWikipedia entry is certain, and the fame will last forever! Controversy always sells records.

3) Alleged leaks of content

Light version: Very clever way of promotion is to manufacture a leak of anticipated media,software or another material. For example, famous hip-hop artist 50 Cent, well-known userof advanced media techniques and even military strategy, announced an alleged leak of hishighly anticipated album to the Internet. Media witnessed his spectacular fury, anger andthreats of heavy revenge to the culprit...

But it was only show. Later, he confessed that he personally uploaded the data to sharing si-tes, to secure good promotion. And he succeeded - all media published juicy articles aboutthis leak, cyber criminality and his feelings.

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Buying advertisements, he would have to pay 100.000 USD to editors and PR people. Thisway, it was free! Of course, some listeners downloaded the album, but the majority still paidmoney for the record, because 50 Cent cleverly announced, that this leaked version is not fi-nished and the final record will have more songs and features. So no financial loss occured atall.

Grey version: In 2003, a hacker allegedly stealed playable version of very anticipatedcomputer game "Half-Life 2". The developer, Valve Corporation, was also furious, and theyeven asked the community of fans to help FBI to catch the thief.

But let´s ask - "qui bono?" Or, to the benefit of who this affair was, eventually?

Did this incident hurt sales of Half-Life 2, one of the most successful games in history, relea-sed 2004? Definitely not: 12 million copies was sold to this day. So we can consider it as agreat, although unusual promotion for the upcoming game.

Did Valve gain from this affair? Definitely. A million of unpaid articles was published worl-dwide about the affair, and in every of them was the magic word "Half-Life 2". Before, theplayers were complaining and tired of waiting, but after the leak, the world could see clearly,that the game exists and will be finished and released. So everybody could prepare for thisevent, save money for collector´s edition... and as a bonus, they got a story with drama, trea-son, money, FBI and a ruthless hacker. Readers love this!

Later, there were wide rumors in PR and marketing community, that somebody inside Valvecould allegedly "help" this leak. But the truth will be never found out and questions remain:was it a real leak? Was it staged? Or Valve just used this opportunity, by using advanced crisiscommunication? What do you think?

Where is Black?

As you may noticed, nothing about a "Black" version is here. Well, it definitely exists, but itis better to stay at the bright side of light and positivity. However, if you are a company, don´thestitate to ask me for more detailed, advanced description, for improving your securitypolicy (personal data leaks, black flag operations, optimal rules of reaction to an affair,crisis prevention and management).

The basic rule for balanced perception of media is, to take them lightly, to have fun and nohard feelings or negative emotions. We all are deceived every day, and nothing changes that:advertisement, marketing... and media, of course. Any Truth is relative, and some theoriessay, it doesn´t even exist. And there is yet another point of view: what if those manufacturedand "enhanced" stories are for our good, so we can have more fun, deeper emotions, issues totalk about with friends?

So, enjoy the media, and have fun reading articles in your favorite magazine!

© Alan Svejk 2014. VIP Affairs Celebs/Models Media PR PSYOPS Propaganda ★ ★ ★ ★ ★Cyber Warfare Security Military Special Services. ★ ★ ★ www.linkedin.com/in/alansvejk

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