American Media

I have been watching CNN on a regular basis lately. Sadly, I have been sucked in by the political coverage. I took several years off from watching CNN, MSNBC, etc. on a regular basis. It was hard to watch what they called "news." Without a doubt, Fox News is the worst thing to ever happen to television. All of the other networks have stooped to their level and we are left with a bunch of talking heads telling us their opinions and yelling over each other. What happened to simply reporting the news? It's like watching ESPN and listening to "analysts" talk about what's going to happen in the game. Are they psychic? What is the point of these mindless discussions? Just report the news! Unfortunately, the Fox model has shown that you can be more profitable by having talking heads spew their opinions. And don't forget to throw in some fancy graphics and sound effects.

It all reminds me of a lecture I went to several years back. The speaker was from the Middle East and he started off his discussion on the news by stating that he had been in America for three weeks and had yet to see any news. At the time, I brushed off his remarks as pompous and arrogant. However, over the years, I have come to realize that it is pretty much true. All you have to do is look at how the American media covered the Iraq war. I would recommend a documentary titled, "Weapons of Mass Deception," to illustrate this point. Here is the description of the documentary...

"This film explores the hidden story of the distorted media coverage during the Iraq war. There were two wars going on in Iraq - one was fought with armies of soldiers, bombs and a fearsome military force. The other was fought alongside it with cameras, satellites, armies of journalists and propaganda techniques. One war was rationalized as an effort to find and disarm WMDs - Weapons of Mass Destruction; the other was carried out with even more powerful WMDs, Weapons of Mass Deception.
The TV networks in America considered their non-stop coverage their finest hour, pointing to the use of embedded journalists and new technologies that permitted viewers to see a war up close for the first time. But different countries saw different wars. Why? This film tracks the media war through February 2004.
Weapons of Mass Deception was produced, and is reported by, former network journalist, Danny Schechter, who is one of America's most prolific media critics. For more information about the film, the issue and Danny Schechter, click here."

You have to give the Bush administration credit...they certainly got the media to help them get their agenda taken care of. Of course, all of our major media outlets are owned by major corporations. They in turn are in bed with the government. So...no media outlet can ever be "Fair and Balanced." Just remember that the next time you are watching "news."