One highly active media character who defies recognition is the professional provocateur. While the start of this character depiction in the U.S. political system can be traced back to one seminal figure in the 1980s: Newt Gingrich, who early in his televised career learned how to manipulate mass media with a mere suggestion, it’s the quiet, unchallenged sand undetected spread of the provocateur phenomenon that is a real threat today.
Two years ago at this time, during the run up to the critical 2018 mid-term election, Gingrich popped up on television screens with the claim that he had one word for the moment that was going to dominate the discourse: caravans. Donald Trump appeared in news stories at the time parroting the same rhetoric.
METHOD
1. Throw it on the table.
2. Leave it there.
3. Never return to it.
The goal of the provocateur is not to provide answers or get into debate. The goal is to take something without question, and make it questionable by throwing it on the table. Generally, the questionable item has no viable answer, which allows for perpetual pondering and endless guesswork on the part of the receiver.
The goal of the provocateur is not to be liked. Being liked is symptomatic and negligible. The mission is to get attention, hold attention, and expand that attention across mass media platforms by promoting rage.
FIRST AMENDMENT
Views: 0
