Broadcaster says serious news at risk

"Truth no longer matters in the context of politics and, sadly, in the context of cable news," said Aaron Brown, whose four-year period as anchor of CNN's NewsNight ended in November, when network executives gave his job to Anderson Cooper in a bid to push the show's ratings closer to front-runner Fox News."

And thus begins a realitively short but revealing article on what one newsman had to say about the state of news reporting and consumption in this country. It's nice to see that there are still some in that medium that recognize a severe problem with the news today.

Agreeing with everything he's quoted as saying, I've been witness to this change in hostility among believers in one cause or another. No one seems interested in the truth anymore, or even listening to what others of opposing viewpoints have to say. There was an old phrase that that came to mind a few years ago during the Clinton administration that I've not heard used in years, which fits perfectly for many; "knee-jerk reactionary". If you're old enough, you remember it, if not, it was meant as a deragatory label given to those that refused to hear anything in context. They were people who, upon hearing a certain keyword or phrase, would launch into a tirade, foaming at the mouth about what they thought was meant, rather than what the person was trying to say. Often they didn't even wait for a sentence to be finished, but hearing a certain word was enough for them to automatically assume the speaker fit into some preconceived notion of evil incarnate. This took place back when the nation was truely in turmoil during the 60s and early 70s. Today it's reared it's ugly head again.

The only difference I can see today, is that the mainstream media is now less diverse then it used to be because there are so few independant news outlets that are interested in seeking out the truth. Instead, it's sensationalism and ratings that are feeding a population that seems to have no desire to tolerate anything they don't already believe. As mentioned in the article, the media are playing on half-tuths and misconceptions instead of reporting fairly on all sides of an issue. They've allowed and propagated the notion that anyone who disagrees with administration policies are unpatriotic, want to hurt the country, and are of course, "with the terrorists". Allowing this is a disservice to the readers and viewers who are left with nothing but the extreme sides of an issue.

The "knee-jerking" comes in whenever someone says we should think about how to get out of Iraq. Regardless of any other beliefs they may have, they're immediately ridiculed as being soft on terrorist and their patriotic loyalties are brought into question. It comes into play whenever someone expresses agreement with the administration as well. All sides are guilty. Anyone whose been paying attention should see that this tone was established by our own leaders, and perpetuated by our media.

Again, I must point out that the "Liberal media" is nothing but a catch phrase used to explain why everyone isn't on the same page. The truth is that the so-called liberal media is primarily owned by large corporations, and large corporations are mainly interested in the bottom line. They're run by people who are not interested in hurting those that have the power to increase their profits, namely a government that can be lobbied to set or change policies that benefit large corporations. Promoters of the "Liberal media" myth use the medias' reporting of doubts people have (and the repeating of extremist viewpoints), to show that the media is anti-American and a tool of liberals. If that were true, it wouldn't allow the government to continually repeat false statements and outright lies. It would reveal them as such, since there's ample proof. It would be calling for investigations. It would be revealing information that gets little to no attention outside the internet. It would at least do some investigative reporting that goes beyond simply looking into extreme accusations. There's plenty of documentation to show that not only have we been constantly lie to, but by who, where, and when. The question is, why isn't it being played up on our "liberal Media"?

One of the big propagated misconceptions is that our "freedom" is somehow in jeopardy from terrorism. We're told by the government that the terrorist "hate us for our freedoms", when in fact they have stated exactly why the hate us, and it has absolutely nothing to do with our freedoms. It was reported long ago that Bin Laden declared war on us because of our intreference in the middle-east, and particularly our military presence in Saudi Arabia. In his mind, we've defiled sacred land. Yet that got little airplay, and is never brought up to dispute the "Anti-freedom" propaganda. We're told that we're fighting in Iraq for our freedom, when in fact, common sense is all that's needed to see that Iraq is and never was any threat to our freedom. Certainly not enough of a threat to invade. There's proof that Bush knew for a fact that Iraq had nothing to do with "the terrorist" only days after 9/11. Why didn't that make the mainstream news? It's publicly accessible to anyone interested. I've repeatedly posted the link to a report on Iraq that deserves far more attention than Monica Lewinskys' dress ever should have.

The reporter in the article is only one example. I'd like to believe that there are many others in that field who are as frustrated as he, by the sensationalism and ratings-driven practices of their conservative corporate bosses who don't mind their institutions being called liberal because whenever they have to report the truth, they know it won't be taken to seriously by the masses, and thus, won't hurt their buddies in government whose policies allow for greater riches for the rich.

Well, if you're still here, I might as well take up some more of your time by throwing some of my other related posts at you. If you can stand more of me, that is. The first set involve my (anti)media posts, and then some that I wish I'd see reported on in the mainstream.

Media Reform Information Center
Not Necessarily the News:
The Corporate Media’s threat to Freedom
Top 12 media myths and falsehoods on the Bush administration's spying scandal
Top 25 Censored Stories of 2006
Media Bias Is Real, Finds UCLA Political Scientist

CensureBush.org
Rep. Conyers' Iraq Report
Revisiting Congressman Conyers' Iraq Report