Sadly, much that's wrong with this world originated right at home. The discipline of government media brainwashing was created under the Woodrow Wilson administration, by Edward Bernays, who coined the word propaganda to describe the process. The Soviets were so impressed with how America had manipulated the international press to demonize not only Germany, but anyone who opposed any government policy, that they adopted Bernays' methods. Our government has routinely followed this path since its inception.

This isn't the worst creation that we've spread across the globe. During Union General Sherman's march through the south, Prussian observers took note of his brutal methods. The act of killing ten innocent civilians for every soldier killed by partisans was standard practice under Sherman, and the practice was adopted by the Kaiser's army, and later the SS. Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy.

Influence is something every person and country uses every day. Recall Air America? Even if the Russians used their influence to buy commercials, print signs, pay for protestors and buy banner spots on websites its still does not ensure that anyone will vote in a given way. The ONLY people here who are doing something unnatural to their vocation is the US press who have discarded objectivity and vetting their facts in exchange for using the position to INFLUENCE the US populace in all things, voting included.

Unless the Russians hacked the voting machines or stuffed ballot boxes with dead people or used paid thugs to physically or verbally intimidate people into not voting (common D maneuvers) then there is no story here.

Distraction. What is the left up to and what is its arm (MSM) working so hard for us not to see?

Even if we are well aware of the tactics used in disseminating propaganda, how can we ever really get to the real truth? Even our own government, our media, our parties, practically everyone, has some specific agenda and disseminates their own propaganda. I know I'm late, but I just read Sharyl Attkisson's "Stonewalled". It's confirmed to me that our First Amendment rights in this country are actually attacked so indirectly that we're not even aware of what we are being fed anymore. Today, the only facts that I am pretty sure of is that North Korea is a bad regime and needs to be taken down, and that we need Term Limits to help weed out much of the graft and corruption in our government.

Hmmmm... no proof of her accusations... Does she REALLY need to list date and time for her statements?? She poses that we need to think critically (and not believe what comes across on our 'smart phones') and not believe the propaganda of daily life. I think she is dead on, and critical thinking is something that has been missing from our education system for decades. My own experience was a 'C-' from a parochial school and an 'A' from a public junior college. The difference? I had no prime source for my citations, and my HS instructor caught it, my JC instructor did not. Same paper, different title page. I'd suggest reading Eldon Taylor's "Gotcha" for some of the background on this propaganda. We look at the University-level rejection of competing thoughts and their need for "safe spaces" and wonder how we got here, and it amounts to the lack of teaching critical thinking. We are always being influenced by the people and information presented to us, and we need to be critical enough to spot the mis- and dis-information we are bombarded with, no matter who it comes from. I think that was her point, and I thank her for the reminder.

The presenter, Laura Galante, has impressive credentials including leading a cybersecurity portfolio covering Russian threats at the U.S. Department of Defense.
So, what is her bias?
Is her presentation legitimate or is it another government sponsored mind manipulation?

I was not aware that the state used the media for propaganda subtly.

That's not a subtle as having three major talking heads on the Fusion GPS payroll.

The Ted talk on "astro turfing" is a must-listen. It's dead on...

excellent example of the need for a populace that has an education in logic and reason to be able to think critically...