A lot has been going on in August, and I haven't been blogging about it. Russia invades Georgia, President Musharrif steps down, the Iraqi government demands a timeline for US withdrawal, and human-rights impaired China hosts the Olympic games. I was bothered by all of these events in the same way, and was unable to express what was bothering me. Then it hit me - it wasn't the events, it was the news reporting. There's a difference between informing and influencing. From news agencies, we want the former, and too often get the latter.
People associate the word "news" with the word "factual," for now at least. We all know that the ideal of journalism is to take in the history of an issue, mix in the partisan and conflicted views of the major players, and summarize current events objectively and factually. In any newsworthy event there are people with something at stake. These stakeholders are going to try to influence us, not inform us. So when the major news outfits blindly repeats their statements without correction or comment, it really doesn't do us much good. It does not even approach the ideal.
The problem is an old one. Thomas Jefferson said "The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers." As usual, General William Tecumseh Sherman was more blunt, saying "I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are." Last week Jon Stewart took the media to task. I don't have an answer to the problem. Perhaps all we can do is be aware of the imperfections in the system, and remind ourselves to always listen with a skeptic's ear, and never come to rely on a single voice.
People associate the word "news" with the word "factual," for now at least. We all know that the ideal of journalism is to take in the history of an issue, mix in the partisan and conflicted views of the major players, and summarize current events objectively and factually. In any newsworthy event there are people with something at stake. These stakeholders are going to try to influence us, not inform us. So when the major news outfits blindly repeats their statements without correction or comment, it really doesn't do us much good. It does not even approach the ideal.
The problem is an old one. Thomas Jefferson said "The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers." As usual, General William Tecumseh Sherman was more blunt, saying "I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are." Last week Jon Stewart took the media to task. I don't have an answer to the problem. Perhaps all we can do is be aware of the imperfections in the system, and remind ourselves to always listen with a skeptic's ear, and never come to rely on a single voice.
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2 comments:
Thanks for keeping us all aware.
There is a new movie coming out on the subject: http://thetorturer.com, starring Nichelle Nichols (from "Star Trek" and "Heroes")
I wonder if it will have any affect on how we view ourselves, or if it will simply come and go as "entertainment."
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