• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Democrats Abroad UK

Democrats Abroad UK

Representing US citizens throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

  • Voting From Abroad
  • Who We Are
    • Caucuses and Committees
      • Black Caucus
      • Film Committee and Film Nights
      • Get Out The Vote & Voter Registration Committee
      • LGBTQ+ Caucus
      • Policy Network and Resolutions Committee
      • Political Book Club
      • Progressive Democrats Caucus
      • Tax Committee
      • Women’s Caucus
      • Young Democrats
    • Chapters and Regions
      • Cambridge Chapter
      • Oxford Chapter
      • Scotland Chapter
      • Bath, Bristol & The Cotswolds
      • West Midlands
    • Elected Officials
  • Our Events
  • Get Involved
  • Contact Us
  • Visit DA Global ↗
  • Show Search
Hide Search
Home/Who We Are/Caucuses and Committees/Film Committee and Film Nights/Past DAUK Film Nights/The Brainwashing of My Dad Film Night

The Brainwashing of My Dad Film Night

DAUK Film Night:  The Brainwashing of My Dad

was held on May 2017 in London

Why is the power and influence of the right-wing media so strong in the U.S.? Why have so many fellow Americans been seduced by the false information and the rage and hatred the right-wing media promotes?

After-screening discussion was chaired by Susan Schoenfeld Harrington, DAUK Executive Committee member, with panelists Professor Charlie Beckett, Director of Polis at the London School of Economics, and Karin Robinson, social media strategist and DAUK Executive Committee member.

Photo credit: from the Brainwashing of My Dad website


The Filmmaker

Jen Skenko

read more

Film Credits

Directed By Jen Senko

Written By Jen Senko, Kala Mandrake, Melodie Bryant, Fiore DeRosa

Produced By Cinco Dedos Películas


Briefing Notes

Read more


Film Reviews

Print and Videos

read/watch

Film Resources

Articles, Blogs, Organizations, Websites

read more

Issues at Stake

Take Action

read more

The Film Night

The film’s starting point is the filmmaker Jan Senko’s own story as she watches grief-stricken when her largely apolitical “Kennedy Democrat” father, Frank, turns into a virulent right-wing conservative, spouting negative opinions about African Americans, gays, feminists, etc. She goes on a voyage to find out what was happening to her once kind dad. And she finds the culprit. Her father’s altered thinking started when his job changed and he had a long, daily car journey to get to work. His companion on this commute was his radio and Rush Limbaugh! From Rush Limbaugh he began to access other right-wing outlets, like Fox News and email lists. Their opinions became his opinions. And she discovers his story is not unique.

She journeys to try to understand how her father, and the nation, has seemingly lost objective news sources and the effect that has had on our politics. Along the way, she interviews many experts, including a neuroscientist, linguists and media analysts.

Researching, she finds that from the Nixon years onwards there were projects to build strong and influential right-wing organizations, networks, media messaging and media outlets. Nixon’s administration began nudging the middle to the right on moral grounds. They re-framed groups and issues: the poor became “takers,” the established media became the “liberal media,” government regulation became “government takeovers,” etc. One of Nixon’s advisers was Roger Ailes, who went on to found Fox News in 1996. 

Ms. Senko’s journey also takes her to an Oxford neuroscientist, who argues that the brain can become addicted to the appeals of media outlets and incite angry responses. This ties in with the tactics and techniques of seduction these media deploy. Some would even argue that it is a form of “stealth brainwashing.”

David Alm wrote in Forbes, March 25, 2016, “…“The Brainwashing of My Dad” isn’t really about Frank Senko or even the media that hijacked his mind for 30 years. It’s about all of us and how easily manipulated we can be under the pretense of information.”

Although “The Brainwashing of My Dad” concentrates on the well-established talk radio and television outlets, we were able to expand the discussion to other news outlets and talk about the importance of social media and the growth of the Alt-Right after the screening. Today’s media has become a polarising device. We have Trump in the White House. We need to find solutions.

About The Film Night Speakers

Professor Charlie Beckett is Director of Polis, the international journalism think-tank at the LSE. He is a specialist in the future of news and political journalism. He worked as a film-maker and programme editor at the BBC and ITN’s Channel 4 News before joining the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE in 2006. His books, “SuperMedia” and “WikiLeaks: News in The Networked Era” show how journalism is changing and its impact on society and democracy. As a journalist, he covered several US elections and at the LSE has researched and written extensively about US politics and media and the challenges of ‘fake news’ and President Trump.

Karin Robinson is Head of Social Media for OgilvyOne London, a large advertising and communications agency. In 2008 she was the Regional Field Director for the Obama campaign. She has worked with DAUK through four presidential elections, served as Vice-Chair of DAUK and is currently on its Executive Committee. Throughout this last election cycle she was an informed and unflinching voice for DAUK on a wide range of TV and radio programs here in the UK. She continues to provide powerful critiques of the right-wing agenda of Trump and the Republican Party of our behalf.

Susan Schoenfeld Harrington chaired the discussion. Susan is a member of DAUK’s Executive Committee, a former Vice Chair of DAUK and served on the DPCA. She has actively worked on political campaigns at the city, state and national level as both a volunteer and staff. In 2016 she was very active in the Hillary campaign.  Susan worked in the television industry and keeps a close eye on developments in international and U.S. media. The Trump administration and Republican dominance at federal and state levels have inspired her to sharpen her focus on ensuring that Democrats campaign effectively to set out their agendas for opposition, resistance and define what Democrats want to achieve in preparation for the 2018 mid-terms.

About Jen Senko

From https://www.thebrainwashingofmydad.com/the-team

Jen Senko is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in New York City. Her first documentary, “Road Map Warrior Women”, won recognition with several festival awards.

Her second documentary, “The Vanishing City”, co-directed with Fiore DeRosa, exposes the policies and economic philosophy that has made New York a city for the rich. Narrated by Kathryn Erbe (“Law and Order”), “The Vanishing City” has garnered festival awards such as Best Feature Documentary in the Williamsburg International Film Festival, Best Short Documentary in the Harlem International Film Festival, and Honorable Mention in the Los Angeles International Film Festival and sales world-wide, as well as screening at The Film Forum and The Anthology in New York. In addition, Senko has also produced and cast numerous independent narrative shorts. 

Read more about jen here

Photo credit: Director, Producer, and Writer of The Brainwashing of My Dad, Jen Senko, from https://agnesfilms.com/featured-filmmakers/interview-with-jen-senko-director-producer-and-writer-of-the-brainwashing-of-my-dad/

Film Resources

Articles

Alterman, Eric. “The Perception of Liberal Bias in the Newsroom has Nothing Whatsoever to do with reality“

Darcy, Oliver. “Donald Trump Broke the Conservative Media.” Business Insider U.K. August 26, 2016.  N.B. the date and assumption that Trump wouldn’t win.

Stern, Ken. “My Descent into the Right-wing Media Vortex.” Vanity Fair. November 23, 2016. 

Benkler, Yochai, Faris, Robert, Hal and Zuckerman, Ethan.  Study: Breitbart-led right wing media ecosystem altered broader media agenda. Columbia Journalsim Review. March 3, 2017. 

The “Alt Right” Media

Salon 2016 series on the rise of the Alt-Right:

Sheffield, Matthew. “Rise of the alt-right: How mainstream conservatives’ obsession with purity fueled a new right-wing radicalism.”  Salon. December 14, 2016. 

Sheffield, Matthew. “A History of Hate: How the alt-right became racist (Part 1).” Salon. December 8, 2016

Sheffield, Matthew. “A History of Hate: How the alt-right became racist, Part 2: Long before Trump white nationalists flocked to Ron Paul.” Salon. December 9, 2016

Grynbaum, Michael and Herrman, John. “Breitbart Rises From Outlier to Potent Voice in Campaign”. New York Times. August 26, 2016.

Benkler, Yochai, Faris, Robert, Hal and Zuckerman, Ethan.  Study: Breitbart-led right wing media ecosystem altered broader media agenda. Columbia Journalism Review. March 3, 2017. 

Fake news:

Buzzfeed 2016 series on fake news:

Silverman, Craig. “This Analysis Shows How Viral Fake Election News Stories Outperformed Real News On Facebook”. Buzzfeed. November 16, 2016.

Silverman, Craig and Alexander, Lawrence. “How Teens In The Balkans Are Duping Trump Supporters With Fake News”. Buzzfeed. November 3, 2016.

Beckett, Charlie. “Fake News: the best thing that’s happened to journalism”  London School of Economics, Polis Blog.  

Beckett, Charlie. “How Journalism is turning emotional and what that might mean for news”

Wardle, Claire. “Fake News. It’s Complicated.” First Draft News. February 16, 2017. 

Zeitz, Joshua. Lessons from the fake news pandemic of 1942.  Politico. March 12, 2017.

Blogs:

Polis Journalism and Society  – London School of Economics

      Charlie Beckett. ‘Fake News’: The Best Thing that’s happened to Journalism 

       Charlie Beckett. “How Journalism is turning emotional and what that might mean for news”

The “Brain Washing of My Dad” Website list of resources: https://www.thebrainwashingofmydad.com/read-about-it

Organizations:

Brookings Institution:

        Kamarck, Elaine and Ashely Gabriele. “7 Trends in Old and New Media.”  November 10, 2015.

        Dionne, E.J. “The Media Democracy Needs and Deserves:  A Response to 7 Trends in Old and New Media.” January 2016.

        Podcast  “The Rise of Right-Wing Populism in the United States and Europe.”         

Pew Research Center  Journalism and the Media  produces excellent research studies on a wide range of topics, for example:

State of the Media 2016:

         Gottfried, Jeffrey and Shearer, Elisa.  “News Use Across Social Media platforms, 2016.” May 26, 2016. 

         Gottfried, Jeffrey, Barthel, Michael and Mitchell, Amy. “Trump, Clinton Voters Divided in Their Main Source for Election News”.  January 18, 2017.

         Mitchell, Amy, Gottfried, Jeffrey, Shearer, Elisa and Lu, Kristine. “How Americans Encounter, Recall and Act upon Digitial News”. February 2, 2017.

         Mitchell, Amy, Gottfried, Jeffrey, Kiley, Jocelyn and Matsa, Katernia Eva. “Political Polarizationand Media Habits”. October 21, 2016. 

        Mitchell, Amy, Gottfried, Jeffrey, Barthel, Michael , and Shearer, Elisa.  “The Modern News Consumer: News attitudes and practices in the digital era”. July 7, 2016

Media Matters for America

Film Reviews

We suggest the following review:

Alm, David. “Review: The Brainwashing of My Dad Explores the Human Impact of Right-Wing Media.” Forbes, March 25, 2016. 


Disclaimer: The information provided on this site is intended for educational use and offered as a public service. Any views expressed should not be understood as representing or reflecting the views of Democrats Abroad UK, Democrats Abroad or the Democratic Party of the United States. Links to other organizations or publications imply neither endorsement of their policies nor any association with the Democratic Party or Democrats Abroad – UK.

Links to other organizations or publications imply neither endorsement of their policies nor any association with the Democratic Party or Democrats Abroad UK.

Explore more

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Donate to Democrats Abroad

Footer

Join Democrats Abroad | Press Enquiries | Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2022 Democrats Abroad UK

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsRead MoreACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT