CARTOON MEDIA
Everyday Wile E. Coyote almost gets the Road Runner. This is how the constitutionally protected forth estate watchdog for the people media fills the news cycle.
Their communication network can reach to all corners of the world. With their amazing technology, massive studios and highly paid producers and personalities their quality HD broadcasts are second to none. Their signals bounce through satellites, flash through the high speed internet at the speed of light into our smartphones, laptops, iPads and 72 inch flat screen televisions.
Sadly our so called news has turned into twenty four hour entertainment and propaganda. Substantive events that have the potential to effect our nations future and security are by design selectively ignored. The need to control information is not new, since the first newspaper, telegraph, radio or television broadcast powerful people have tried to control and use this power to manipulate the thoughts and opinions of the masses.
The information that we do get is superficial and devoid of facts. Debate has been quashed, rude and shallow insults are common and a willful dumbing down of their audience is their longterm goal. Today the average middle school lunch room is having a more substantive conversation.
Their claim of informing the public is a joke, petty sniping, edited clips and a funny look make careers, division, incitement and name calling are the new normal.
Along came the internet and social media. The early days of user friendly websites and blogs brought a wave of new citizen journalists. Some grew large audiences but most remained small. The currency amongst the early bloggers was truth. Sighting false information or unsupported fact would result in rebuke by the other bloggers and their readers. We wanted the truth because we knew we weren't getting it from most major news outlets.
Eventually the powers that be saw these uncontrolled voices as a threat. They first tried to ignore, discredit and belittle them. They demonize their motives and finally tried to limit their access to servers, hide them in search results or completely censor them.
Most of the public did not know about these efforts, some knew by experience but others fully supported their silencing. It has been documented that our government had a hand in these efforts to selectively censor its opponents but it is a story that has had little if any news coverage. J Edgar Hoover made lists, Nixon only thought about using the IRS against his enemies but now government is actually doing it with the IRS, FBI, DOJ and more. Ironically after fifty years only tricky Dick and J Edgar Hoover gets any coverage.
It has been years since I have watched a major network news broadcast. Most cable news commentary programs can rob a viewer of vital IQ points.
They do not inform or tell the complete story, they tell "a" story. No background, context or follow up question just a snarky comment, selective sound bite or emotional rant. Their audiences have dwindled down to their true believers. Accusing the other side of everything wrong and crediting their side with absolute brilliance and coolness.
I refuse to waste a minute of my time wondering what a Hollywood celebrity thinks, any victim group representative’s opinion and the legal opinion of a random former prosecutor who is probably too dumb to get out of jury duty.
I know I'm older and opinionated but I do know how to research background, context and ask a follow up question. Wanting to know what the truth is is a curse I have to live with. Maybe one day it will become a fad again.
