The Fact
Narrative control is the shaping of how people interpret events by controlling the surrounding frame: what is emphasized, omitted, repeated, contextualized, or treated as important. The underlying events do not necessarily have to be fabricated for interpretation to be steered.
What This Means
A technically accurate collection of facts can still produce a misleading understanding if selection, emphasis, context, or repetition systematically directs the audience toward one interpretation.
Sources
- Native Americans – Context for Spiritual and Therapeutic Settings, “Narrative Architecture and Institutional Framing.”
- McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (1972). “The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media.” Public Opinion Quarterly 36(2):176–187. https://doi.org/10.1086/267990
- Walker, A. C., et al. (2021). “Controlling the narrative: Euphemistic language affects judgments of actions while avoiding perceptions of dishonesty.” Cognition 211:104633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104633