The Central Fact of American Political Life
April 21, 2008
“The single most significant factor in American political culture is the incestuous, extensive overlap between our media institutions and government officials. The former is a dependent appendage of the latter far more than they are anything else. …the fact that our major news organizations — with some exceptions — largely serve as government propaganda outlets is not news. It’s the central fact of American political life….”
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April 22, 2008 at 5:32 PM
True, and a problem. The media is biased no matter how loud they shout about their objectivity. The current slanted propaganda coverage of China is obviously at someone’s behest.
April 22, 2008 at 7:19 PM
I haven’t been following the current coverage of China precisely because I have suspected from the start that it would not be objective. At some point, the media destroys any interest one has in it.
April 22, 2008 at 7:20 PM
I believe that when this damned war started in the middle east and the policy became “embedded journalist” is was the beginning of the end for a free press.
I remember when I came back from Vietnam how my friends and parents knew more about what I was doing than I did I was surprised. They had witnessed the war every night on television. Today we only see what they want us to see.
It goes hand in hand with the concept of “free speech zones”. After spilling my own blood in defense of these freedoms I find it very difficult to fathom how so many are willing to let this freedom slip through their fingers. Now when I want to know what is going on I have to go to foreign news sources.
I am so sick of today’s journalist I can hardly stand to turn on the TV. It is nothing but propaganda and lies. I don’t see how we can remain free when we tolerate the truth to be manipulated and distorted by the media.
The rest of the world knows more about what is really going on than we do. We are continuing to dumb down this society and that is one of the reasons we are so despised around the globe.
April 22, 2008 at 7:36 PM
Hear! Hear! Frog. Eloquently said! I can only express my appreciation for your having said so much that’s been on my own mind. I can add little to it.
Just curious, but do you see the situation turning around anytime soon?
April 25, 2008 at 6:54 AM
Paul, I think it is an unfortunate fact that the state of journalism is in total decline. We no longer have real journalist who report the news, we have entertainers who pander to special interests. The days of Walter Cronkite and Edward R Murrow are over. Now we have “reporters” who pontificate party line at the expense of objective observation.
The American public seems to be suffering from a malaise of Attention Deficit Disorder. They choose entertainment over news. Even those few who are talented, ie. Keith Olberman, have to resort to gimmicks in the presentation of their information. Others, like Lou Dobbs, have become demagogues in their focus on single issues.
Then we have networks like Fox who offer no real coverage of anything. All they do is broadcast talkings points of their rightwing handlers.
This is why I glean my information from many foreign sources. This is also why blogs have become such feared and reviled instruments of communication to the news media today. Although blogs are extremely opinionated they also tackle those topics the mainstream media chooses to ignore.
One of the most ridiculous features of so many news sources on TV today is the reporters interview reports nonsense. They have gone from reporting the news to being the news.
I see little hope for change in the near future. Good reporting has been replaced by infotainment.