This is not a political episode. I do not like politics, I have no interest in politics, and I will not entertain conversations about politics. But I do know a thing or two about how the media is supposed to cover the politics of this country and I've got some things to say about it.
As i mentioned in my first episode,I have a bachelor's degree in communication, but more specifically it has an emphasis in multi-media journalism. So with that all out of the way, let's get into it.
So what is journalism? Well the definition is, the activity or profession of writing for newspapers, magazines or news websites or preparing news to be broadcast. This is supposed to provide the public with all the information about a topic, policy, candidate or event in an unbiased manner so the public can make an informed decision.
Since I started studying journalism while in community college there was one consistent lesson that was taught at the beginning of every single journalism class that I was in. Which is that, “journalists are the watch dogs of the government. Journalism is the unwritten 4th branch of government.”
Journalism is supposed to be a selfless act. A profession that prides itself on standing up for what’s right and just. A profession that understands the importance of having an informed public and being able to relay information in a way that everyone consuming it can understand, not only a select few. A profession built on standing up to a government that they didn’t believe in because they believed that the people needed to know what was happening behind closed doors. I don’t feel like this is the media that we have today.
Since the current media industry is not up to the correct standards of journalism, I do not watch the news. I actively go out of my way to avoid consuming anything related to the news. In all of my journalism classes when I was in college, I was one of the only people that would say that I didn’t consume anything from the media. Because what we have today isn’t journalism, it’s propaganda.
Well what is propaganda? That definition is, information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. This is what leads to divide and having groups of people being pitted against each other. This is all the media is now, no matter what side of the political spectrum it falls on.
The constant message that is getting spewed from all different media organizations is, “you have to think like I do and if you don’t then you are the problem.” Journalism is supposed to have no place for commentary or personal opinions. If you cannot separate the two and leave your own biases and closed mindedness at the door, then you shouldn’t be allowed to broadcast anything to the public. Messages that generate any kind of divide in this country shouldn’t be getting any amount of airtime. The people in power want us to be fighting each other so they are left in the dark to continue their shady business, when they are always supposed to be in the spotlight.
I'm sure you all have seen in some aspect, the clips where it starts as one broadcast showing a story then it expands into dozens and dozens of different broadcasts all showing the same story. The media is more concerned about being first to cover a story or simply covering the exact same story as their competitors, than being factual and providing the public with what they actually deserve to know. Not to mention, if a correction ever needs to be issued for a story that was ran, the correction will never get as much air time as the original, incorrect story. And for those of you that don’t know, a correction is basically a “hey we got this wrong, and here is all the information that was broadcasted wrong, but here is the corrected information for that story.” And yes, corrections are actual things that should happen in journalism because if you fed the people wrong information, you should admit it.
Today’s media has a “rating first” mindset over providing actual, quality journalism to the public. They would rather put their own twists on a story to have more people tune in or click a link. They would rather show a 10-15 second clip(of their choosing), so they can then spew their bias, opinion and unsolicited advice for the remainder of the segment. The news has become an entertainment business rather than a journalist organization. Why do we hear about celebrity relationships as much as we do?
Don’t get me wrong, I have my celebrity relationships that I root for because seeing people in love should always be a good thing. It is a nice reminder. A pallet cleanser if you will. But it shouldn’t be covered by the media as much as is. A “celebrity spotting” will never be breaking news…unless they need a distraction.
Everything is framed to tell a narrative and that narrative is extremely one sided, no matter which broadcast you choose to tune in to. when in reality, every news broadcast/article should be as unbiased as possible and should also include both sides of the issue, topic etc. because let’s not forget that their actual job is to report on what is happening and be re-layers of important information not to commentate on current events. The news isn’t supposed to be a sports broadcast.
The media are no longer watch dogs of the government. they are lap dogs and it shows. The people in power have an “it’s an okay when we do it,” mentality and there is an incredible lack of accountability by our media to ensure that those in power are acting accordingly and having the people's best interests in mind, not their own personal gain. Which explains why they have been able to broadcast their propaganda messages for so long. What’s the saying? “Be aware of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Why was the Depp v Herd case televised so heavily but the United States v Maxwell case barely got any coverage? And weren’t those two cases happening around the same time? Not to mention it was proven that full court proceedings could be televised and they do get people to tune in, so then why was it only one? And wouldn’t you say that one of those cases was vastly more important for the public to be made aware of, and yet that book wasn’t released until about 4 years later. Because that’s right, celebrity scandals make great distractions when it’s needed.
All anyone wants to do is point fingers and claim that “they are the problem” instead of being able to come together to solve the problems that are prevalent in this country. The media is not only letting this happen, but they are also doing it themselves.
You shouldn’t listen to this broadcast because this. You shouldn’t listen to this other broadcast because that. They are so focused on trying to discredit other media organizations when they barely have any credibility themselves. How are you better than those other media channels when you are doing the same thing they are doing, just under a different banner? Oh, that’s right, because it’s okay when you do it. What’s the other saying? “People in glass houses shouldn’t be throwing stones.”
Another thing that I don't like seeing is, celebrities trying to either convince their fans or other celebrities (in order to gain those fan bases) to vote or lean a certain way politically, so they can get what they want. To me, this is bad form. If the party or person, that you support cannot get the appropriate number of votes to win the correct, ethical, and moral way, then they shouldn’t be in the positions that they are in. In fact, I gain more respect for celebrities that keep their own thoughts and opinions about politics out of the public light. “I don’t like this celebrity because they didn’t weigh in on this political thing,” you shouldn’t be turning to celebrities to for political guidance to begin with. You shouldn’t be basing your own political views strictly off of who a certain celebrity is or isn’t supporting. Their job is to entertain you, not educate you. But this is the reality that the current media has left us with since they have proven time and time again that they cannot be trusted.
What celebrities should do instead of forcing their beliefs or political views on their fans just because they have a platform that people tune in to, is they should supply their fans with the resources (not propaganda) about that party, so the fans can make an informed decision for what is best for them. Because let's not forget that celebrities have different wants/needs than the average person about what they look for in a political candidate, policy or topic. Just because celebrities support a specific party, candidate or policy, does not mean that they should be blindly followed. Their motives and reasons behind who they support are different than yours.
Media companies have become more concerned with having their pockets stuffed with dirty money then keeping the public informed on the back end deals of our government, which leads to a deep mistrust in the media and the government. Anytime some crazy thing gets released from the government that the media is covering, my first and only thoughts are “what are they trying to bury? why are they trying to have us look over here? and what do they not want us to know?”
Where are the journalists that uncovered Watergate or the pedophilia relocation that was happening within the Catholic Church? It seems like investigative journalism isn’t a thing anymore, which is not something that we should be letting fall to the wayside. All journalism should have some investigative element to whatever it is being covered. It seems like no one is asking the right questions anymore. They just worry about asking the questions that will supply them with a sound bite to generate a smear campaign for the next 2 hours of airtime and call it “breaking news.”
Have they forgotten that the press is protected by the 1st Amendment? Because I do not understand what has the media so scared to speak up about what the government at large is doing, not just the president. There are three branches of our government, yet only one is mentioned most by the media. Or, maybe they aren’t scared at all and instead entered into some kind of agreement with the government that they will just supply the public with echo chambers so they can only think one way as to keep the focus off them.
Podcasters have become more reliable resources than the media. Hell, even Russell Brand left Hollywood so he can spread awareness to what is actually happening in a country that he isn’t originally from as well as other events happening around the world. And do you want to know what they are doing differently than the mainstream media? They are actually providing different perspectives on the same issue, policy, party, candidate, etc. which then promotes and encourages open dialogue between people.
It is okay to think differently. It is okay to have people in your life that you do not agree on everything with. It is okay to enter into conversations where your views and beliefs are being challenged. It doesn’t make you wrong and them right or vise versa, it means that you are opening yourself up to a different perspective and wanting to see where they are coming from or why they believe in the things that they do. And it is also completely okay to leave that conversation without changing your mind on anything, just like it is equally okay to have your mind be changed because perspective is supposed to shift and change.
People in power want us stupid and close minded, so they can keep getting away with everything, which is why i have made the decision not to listen or consume any of the propaganda that they make sure floods the media. Because I know the difference between actual news coverage and propaganda and maybe now so do you or you can start to look at the media in a new light.
I hope that you can start to look at the media with a bit more criticism and to take everything that they push out at you at face value because it is prevalent now more than ever that the media does not have the public's best interests in mind like they are supposed too.
Why is no one talking about any of the policies being brought up or passed regarding the food that we eat? Because I can’t be the only one that has heard from people that have visited different countries or moved abroad, that they eat the same brands that we offer here, yet they don’t feel bloated or gassy or like they need to drink some pepto bismol afterwards.
Does anyone else find it interesting that crime is the most reported on subject across all media platforms and even that is strategically written to carry out the narrative that they want to push? Or that the government has failed not only this most recent audit, but also the last 5 audits before it? But if we file our taxes incorrectly the first time, we have to worry about potentially facing jail time. Funny how some things only apply to us.
There was something that has stuck with me since I was forced to take political science while in college, I cannot tell you who brought this to my attention because I had to take that class three times and they all definitely blended together, but it was about the cycle of government. I also can’t tell you about the different stages in this cycle that I was shown, but I do remember that it ended in revolution and started with new government. And at the time of this class, my professor, whichever one it was, had commented that where our current government stood, they would put us past the halfway mark on this cycle. They also predicted that if the current government at the time continued how they were going, we would end up at the revolution stage of that cycle.
Do I think that is where we are going as a country? Maybe, I have no idea because that question is no where near my realm of expertise. But what I do know is that the current media is not helping in the matter the way the public needs them to be. Have the people running these media organizations really allowed themselves to be bought so that only certain messages will be presented to the public? Did they really hand over their 1st amendment right of freedom of the press that easily? And if they did, how many more are they going to convince us to hand over before we realize that it’s too late? Because remember it only takes one domino to fall first.