Pretend you have one hour to convince a random normie that the mainstream media is propaganda rather than a collection of well-meaning, objective journalists who sometimes get it wrong but overall try to deliver fair and accurate reporting.
If you fail, you die.
What's your approach?
It's a stupid hypothetical for several reasons but I'm very interested in this topic and I'm curious to hear your thoughts, so I'll ask for a pass on the overly dramatic scenario.
I'm guessing the most common response will be, "It won't work no matter what you do", and fwiw I think that's correct. But for the small group who can be reasoned with, what do you think is the optimal approach?
In one hour? You'd die. It's not possible. You can make a valiant effort, and you should try your best, but it is like Kuhn. People believe in a given paradigm, for example that the media is honest and objective, until there are so many anomalies that it's impossible to continue believing in it.
To my shame, I'll have to confess that I used to believe that the mainstream media tries to be objective and honest - and in fact, I thought that Gamergate was a hate movement because I believed what the MSM said. Even when I discovered the truth, I thought "OK, so they're wrong about this, but it's an honest mistake." Those of you who have always known reality, on this subject, will probably not be able to understand what it is like for people who do not.
However, this is a fantastic post. I've often wondered what the best way of persuasion towards normies is. While such an enormous switch is impossible in an hour, you can make people take baby-steps. If you recognize that the media is biased, then it's more likely that you'll admit that it's intentionally biased, and when you admit that, it is more likely that you will admit that they are intentionally biased - perhaps even against people you do not like. Saying Z is easier when you've said A through X. It's impossible when you've not gotten someone to say even A.
I have to deal with people who believe the European propaganda media. Admittedly, it's not quite as much as the American media, but it's close - and they get nearly all their "information" about America from American media. There are people who know nothing about America, know no Americans, let alone Trump supporters, all of whose so called information comes from the media, who are absolutely convinced that the alternative reality painted by the media is the same as the truth. I can't persuade them that the Orange Man isn't that bad, nor will I try, but I can persuade them that the media have smeared him with the whole Russia nonsense. And I can remind them that the same media he believes unconditionally also spread lies about WMDs.
Your issue, and ours in general, is that we think that people believe things because they think they are true. This is most definitely not the case. People do not read newspapers because they want to know what's going on, but because they want the illusion that they know what's going on. People do not voice opinions because they believe these opinions are somehow better, but because they believe these opinions will increase their social status.