A few thoughts.
Here I sit, in a coffee shop (!?!) in Bloemfontein. Since the program I’m trying to download looks like its going to take an hour and not to mention (which I am) I’m so detached from the news I don’t even know who they’re talking about let alone what terrible thing they might have done to get on the internet news sites, you folks will get a blog post.
In celebration of my new found internet access (to last another 56 min if the download manager is to be believed, which is folly) I will leave you with a few thoughts and opinions on world affairs.
I saw “State of Play” last night and rather enjoyed it. As you climb into the passenger seat of this political/journalist thriller you clearly see ahead of you that the plot will take you up steep climbs, sudden valleys, and hair pin turns. The movie isn’t a safe driver that gently slows for plot points, instead it hugs the turns and zips past mini-vans full of sub-characters, leaving you gripping the “o-shit” bar in the car and thinking of all the ways this plot, and you, might get smashed to bloody bits. But they pull it off. The plot slows as it pulls out of the forest and you see home sweet home off on the horizon. Just as the movie is winding down and the hero’s have things figured out, your otherwise competent plot suddenly loses control of the action and off you careen.
Just one plot twist too many.
Smithereens is the word that comes to mind.
But its good!
And it did something dangerous, it started me thinking. To be fair the idea had occurred to me on a number of occasions in the last few years but now I have both the time and means to put pen (or digital representations of pen) to paper.
Back “in the day”, meaning any time in the past I don’t remember, including some Saturday nights not so long ago (jk jk, I am a very responsible young man, mom), you had news papers which openly and proudly supported a political agenda. You would walk up to the newsy and say “Cherri-o my boy! What daily be ye peddling this morn?”
“Tis’ the ‘Capitalist Pig Press’ good sir!” the Newsy would reply.
“’The Capitalist Pig Press’!? Why that’s printed by them Capitalist Pigs!”
“Tis’, sir, tis’.”
“I’ll take one!” you happily proclaim. Knowing the bias of ‘The Capitalist Pig Press’, you saunter down the boardwalk, for people walked on board walks then, and pick up yourself the rival paper, ‘The Socialist Scum Gazette’, and thus you got your news.
By and large this worked to a point. ‘The Capitalist Pig Press’ would run a story in support of some capitalist pig project and then ‘The Socialist Scum Gazette’ would run a story against it, and thus real discussion (at least in a journalistic way) would occur. Knowing what you were getting yourself into also allowed the general public to filter and self censor. A modern day example would be Fox news. We all know they support the Neo-Con’s and far right. When we turn to Fox News we know were not getting “fair, and balanced coverage” (or you should, you’re a damn fool if you think otherwise), and this arms you against their agenda. (As I’ll discuss later, the guise of fair and balanced, if believed, disarms this one advantage we as rational actors have.)
Editors note: Have I just written a word in favor of Fox News? Check the sky for pigs (of the capitalist kind I’m sure)
There are pitfalls of course. Yellow journalism is one. The danger of the agenda overstepping the Journalistic Integrity (whatever that is). Yet, in my humble but absolutely correct opinion, these pitfalls exist in our current “unbiased” façade we call journalism today, and there a lot more dangerous.
As the system works today, journalists are expected to be neutral and unopinionated. They are expected to put whatever they believe, think or feel (if they do, in fact, feel at all) to one side. Find me someone who can do that and I’ll show you someone losing their humanity. Neutrality is honored above facts. Truth takes a back seat to some mythical “balance”. Worst of all, because our journalists are human (gasp!) they don’t have a prayer of ever reaching the neutrality they so long for.
Thus it happens that we can pick up a news paper (or more likely log on to the internet), read an article, pretend its non-biased, and get everything wrong. When the bias of the author, or publication, or owners is hidden form the public view they can then manipulate the readers.
You see the general frustration of this system playing out in our new media outlets (and some old). The success of website like MoveOn.org and DailyKos (to name some liberal, progressive ones) and of radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh, (to name an idiot) is strong evidence that people want a slant. The integrity of Wolf “Best-name-ever” Blitzer has suddenly become a liability, not an asset. I don’t know what kind of snake oil Wolf is feeding me because he doesn’t tell me.
At least with Rush I know what I’m getting.
Don’t think I’m calling for the tearing down of the journalistic establishment. We still need news coverage and we need hard facts. I’m just asking for everyone to appreciate what we really have in the blogosphere (what a stupid name for it) and why its so important that we get someone on the other side, not afraid to call themselves what they are, to counter Rush.
Its all just an idea. Maybe I’m both Ignorant and Stupid.
Likely.
Michael Jackson is dead.
I was never much of a fan (I didn’t dislike his music, just never got into it) but you have to admit, that kid could dance!
While I’m on the media high horse I have a few things to say about MJ.
All the media coverage is a bit excessive but I think we have all come to expect that, but what really got to me was the “need” to play the 911 tape. How does this advance the story? How is the public served by hearing the panic of someone seeing his friend/family member (no idea who made the call) die?
Its sick.
That’s that.
