Hi,
The economy leaves me at a loss for words. This brinksmanship thing is propaganda at its worst and of course the media loves it. MORE DRAMATICS, MORE LISTENERS, MORE MONEY IN THE BANK-- JUST LIKE THE ELECTION.
It's a strange thing about the press and the media. HAVING BEEN A MEMBER OF THE FOURTH ESTATE IN THE LONG PAST I watch with shock their present day antics! They are their own worst enemies.When they use politics for their own aims, it makes enemies all around. If a government gains too much control, the first ones to lose are the press and the media either by dictatorial control or annihilation. Of course, the press and media are always willing to instruct people that they should not make the same mistakes twice. THEY OUGHT TO KNOW CONSIDERING THEY DO THIS TIME AND AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!
So when they over- emphasize divisions in the country's decisions and over-dramatize a financial debt that leaves the best economic advisors gasping, it greatly affects the well being of our country and is reprehensible. Most of the rhetoric is for the media's bottom line. IT IS THE DRAMA that affects the public's reading and listening. IT IS THE DRAMA that raises subscriptions, listening ratings and promotes advertising and sponsoring.
This kind of influence-making by the media began with the Viet Nam war. Prior to that time the press had kept a handle on dramatic efforts to scare citizens to death with death. But the unpopularity of the Viet Nahm conflict bought the press public opinion control. Once they discovered what a big money maker that kind of reporting engendered, there was no stopping the onslaught of media and press on the public
I'm not saying that the Press hadn't done this kind of thing before. But they didn't have TV and computers to spread it on a upscale basis nor the proliferation of photography to enhance the drama. With those additions the media became an instrument not for the listeners' good but the equivalent of a horror show called the NIGHTLY NEWS. It no longer sought a fair and unbiased assessment of what was happening in Washington and around the world. It sought the sensational news LIKE GOSSIP MONGERS CHASING CELEBRITIES FOR ANY DIRT TO BE DUG!!!!!!!
How very sad to see what tried to become a noble and upright source of meaning for everyday citizens turn into a CRAZED, BIASED, UNREASONABLE, AND STRIDENT RUN FOR THE SCANDLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In my newspaper time, I heard all the high flown values, restrictions, and lectures on non biased reporting with a viable source that could be validated. It was a strong attempt by newsmen to make investigative reporting into a high minded profession and editors used their RED PEN LIBERALLY keeping everyone in line. BUT TELEVISION HAPPENED. THEN COMPUTERS HAPPENED.
These two mediums never hesitated for a moment going for the MAIN CHANCE AND THE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, costs were high. Competition was keen. AND WE WENT INTO AN AGE OF THE NEXT NEW THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SURVIVAL BECAME THE NAME OF THE GAME!!!!!!!!!! MORALS WERE EXPENSIVE AND DIDN'T PROMOTE BUSINESS RAPIDLY.
Newspapers had a choice, however, and could have continued to take the HIGH ROAD BUT THEY PANICKED AS MORE AND MORE PEOPLE STOPPED SUBSCRIBING. IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE THEY SUBCOMBED TO THE EASY ROAD TO ECONOMIC WELFARE. NO WONDER THE MEDIA AND THE PRESS COULD SO EASILY RECOMMEND IT TO THE REST OF US. THEY USED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE TROUBLE IS SIMPLE. ECONOMICS IS ONLY HIGH DRAMA WHEN THERE IS TROUBLE!!!!!!!!!!! And when drama is used to solve ECONOMIC FINANCIAL PROBLEMS, THE SOLUTION OFTEN LEADS TO MORE TROUBLE. The downside of the solutions is that after the immediate BANG OF A BOOST COMES THE BANG OF A BUST !!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!RECESSION HAS MANY MEANINGS IN MANY FIELDS BUT THE SAME MISTAKES HAPPEN OVER AND OVER AGAIN. BUST FOLLOWS BOOM AND THE MORE ARTIFICIAL THE BOOM, THE WORSE THE BUST.
Well, in a country's recession, do the VALUES return. In some ways. People seek God again. Man has to be more honest to find his way in the world. Folks have to help one another survive. There is less emphasis on the getting and more on the giving. We are all nicer because we HAVE TO BE (isn't that SAD--"HAVE TO BE") and eventually we rebuild toward another boom.
TROUBLE IS, SOME THINGS ARE LOST THAT NEVER RETURN. AND SOME PEOPLE NEVER LEARN BECAUSE IT'S EASIER TO GO BACK TO OLD FAULTY PRACTICES AND SO IN MANY CASES THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS.
And most certainly that's what we're seeing with our FOURTH ESTATE. THEY ARE NOT SEEING THE PITFALLS OF THEIR PRACTICES NOR RECOGNIZING THE NEED FOR REFORM. At least during my tenure in the newspaper business, they did see the need for reform and made a sincere effort to make it work but the TENACITY of belief when confronted by major media threats was not SOLID ENOUGH.
WHEN THE PRESS LACKS REAL VALUES, IT IS CORRUPTED. THE USEFULNESS OF THE PRESS AND THE MEDIA RESTS ONLY IN ITS UNBIASED REPORTING OF FACTS. THE OLD "WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, AND WHEN" WITHOUT EDITORIALIZING IS THE KEY TO HONEST REPORTING. How long has it been since you could find the five "W"s as we used to call them in a LEAD (first) paragraph of a news story. KNOW WHY? They taught the newbies in journalism school to be editors who tell you WHAT THEY THINK rather than what you need to know--the 5-W's. LET THE EDITOR DO THE THINKING ON THE EDITORIAL PAGE-that's what he's paid for!!!!!!!!!!!!When you allow everyone to write EDITORIALLY without a byline and bury the facts, you get the kind of garbage today's newspapers represent.
We recognise much of the editorializing on the TV because it's read by an individual although much of the news on media is written by FOLKS BEHIND THE SCENES WHO ARE ACTING AS UNSEEN EDITORS.
So, how do we get at the truth?????????? Not easy!!!!!!!!!!! TAKES A LOT OF THINKING AND READING AND WATCHING. DON'T JUST ACCEPT WHAT THEY TELL YOUR OR THEY PRINT. IF YOU ARE CONCERNED, HUNT FOR THE TRUTH IN A NUMBER OF PLACES. Look on the computer, check newspapers that don't agree, listen to commentators that disagree. But above all REMAIN A SKEPTIC. DON'T BE SPOON FED DRAMA.
OR YOU CAN DEMAND THAT YOUR NEWSPAPER USE THE 5 "Ws" TO REPORT THE NEWS AND THAT COLLEGES TEACH JOURNALISM STUDENTS THE VALUE OF A 'FREE' PRESS THAT PRESENTS THE NEWS NOT WISHFUL THINKING.
Cheers, Connie
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