New Faculty Profile – James Deaville – Weapons of mass deception

Weapons of mass deception

For as long as there have been wars, there has been propaganda. Short film clips screened in theatres during World War II lauded the effort and encouraged circumspect behaviour in civilians and soldiers with slogans like “loose lips… might sink ships.” Today, televised news employs more subtle methods to win viewers over to the networks’ point of view.

James Deaville is examining the “auricular” aspects or sounds of news propaganda. Deaville, an associate professor of music, within SSAC, coined the term to describe the music and sounds television networks use when packaging news reports on politically-charged current events.

His interest in the subject was piqued by the television news coverage of the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal. He noted the variety of music used by different networks, as well as the differences in tone, which changed as the coverage evolved. Although subtle, the music served to cue emotional responses in viewers that would accord with the network’s position on the affair.

Since then, Deaville has focused on the music television news uses to convey political messages. Beginning with the news coverage following the 9/11 attacks, Deaville examined the differences in the music used by CNN and CBC Newsworld. This work led him to research the lead-up to news reports preceding the invasion of Iraq, which he contends, helped contribute to the American public’s support for the war.

“In the media since 9/11, we can observe almost a continuous beating of war drums and sounding of martial trumpets, after the initial sounds of grief and mourning gave way in late September to the bellicose tone in broadcast media coverage of the War on Terrorism,” says Deaville.

In fact, both the Fox and CNN networks anticipated American’s mood following 9/1l and commissioned composers to create music that according to Fox would “tie into the mood of the country.” CNN prepared its music for news coverage of the war six months prior to the invasion.

Larger networks employ in-house composers. However, websites also exist to provide a variety of audio packages with descriptors like “effective and persuasive” to broadcasters lacking deep pockets. While Deaville likens these to clipart for sound, he finds the testimonials used to sell them disturbing.

“It’s funny because people know about clipart but they are not aware that there is a multimillion dollar industry behind the sounds we hear on television,” says Deaville.

However, music that stirs one person might be cloying to another. His challenge is in measuring how effective music is as a tool of propaganda. While he concedes that it is difficult to measure audience responses, he points to the amount of money networks spend on in-house composers, musical packages and sound editing in broadcasts. If there were no return on the investment, the money would not be spent.

Deaville’s next project will examine the music in the network coverage of the Vietnam War and compare it to that of the Persian Gulf War. His research will contribute to our awareness of the sounds that shape our perception of the world.

“Where is the greater threat to freedom, in the non-existent weapons of mass destruction, or in the very real yet hidden weapons of mass deception?”