See, the original definition of a fnord is from the Illuminatus! trilogy. "Fnord" was a word the Illuminati (Global Secret Conspiracy controlling Just About Everything) had conditioned everyone to 1) not consciously see, and 2) be afraid of (starting in elementary school). They then inserted it all over the media, except in commercial-type things (advertisements, entertainment possible). As a result, everyone went around in a constant state of low-grade, nonspecific panic, except when being good little consumers.

Of course, this was a metaphor for how the media actually works. Now do you see why I linked to that article?