04.28.08
Posted in Politics, Race, Republicans tagged Barack Obama, Bill Moyers, CNN, Democrats, Fox News, PBS, Republican attack machine, Rev Wright, Voters, Wolf Blitzer at 12:39 am by soulful07
Reverend Wright wtf man, the way CNN and Fox news had built up your interview I was expecting you to jump on the table and body slam Bill Moyers. Everybody in America did… Imagine to my surprise several weeks ago when the most damning bit of sound bite I discovered was actually a quote from a US Ambassador on fox news of all channels wtf indeed. Imagine to my surprise I found myself actually agreeing with alot of the sermons when I had the ability to watch them in full context. “Context” you evil tool, how dare you inform me. Imagine to my surprise that Bill Moyers did a heartfelt interview covering a wide range of topics spending time on them rather than jumping to his feet and yelling. It would appear talking and waiting for a response is a more effective interview method, who knew *shrugs* (take notes Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hanity, Chris Wallace). Actually I knew exactly what was going to happen because I (like most people solely disappointed by the news coverage lately or lack thereof) did some research before forming an opinion about somebody.
I’ve tuned out of the mainstream media for a while, the battle royal between Clinton and Obama was beginning to get on my nerves. But it was nice to see an ACTUAL journalist in their natural habitat, I was under the impression they had been extinct for eons. The most interesting thing about this interview wasn’t so much what was said, however important it was, no the shocker was how it was billed. The news media can’t even just report something anymore, they have to include their take on things to make them bigger and better than needs be. Days before the interview I saw reporters salivating over what was going to be said and had begun taking things out of context before the damn thing was even aired. And what did we end up getting? A well rounded interview by a professional which actually humanized a person who was portrayed as a crazed lunatic.
America has a self esteem problem, I know most people thought it was just skinny models trying to look like Paris Hilton, ohh no America as a society has a self esteem problem with regards to their country. And because of this fear, people are more afraid of words then actual deeds. To me actually going into a country and killing people in my name is more offensive than saying God Damned America, but what the heck do I know. This self esteem issue has reared its ugly head before, remember when people held cd burning rallies to destroy Dixie Chics cds after they said they were ashamed of their President (today 70% of America agrees with them). But get this it wasn’t so much what they said, it was where they said it, in *gasp* are you ready for it… in ENGLAND those limey bastards. Likewise God Damning America isn’t such a bad thing when it’s said with regards to liberals Jews, gay people, and poor black people hit by a hurricane in New Orleans apparently. Yes I kid you not, the sentiment by a great many Pastors across America (Hagee, Falwell, Dobson etc…) is/was, God is Damning America because of the gays and various other liberal evil doers. So lets recap, saying God Damn America because of its horrible foreign policy and how it treats its citizens is BAD!!!! God Damning America because of liberals, abortions, and gays is GOOD!!! If you are confused just remember it’s all about the semantics.
So what is the aftermath of this great build up of titans in the interviewing circle? Nothing. That’s Wright, excuse me RIGHT… Nothing, no follow up, no hoopla, because the actual truth isn’t news worthy apparently. The build up to the story is more important than reporting the actual story. Now where on earth have I seen this type of reporting before hmmm oh yeah i forgot, the Iraq war. There was major anticipation news reporters went crazy showing you bombs fancy airplanes people rode in tanks then the war started and people shrugged their shoulders and went back to Anna Nicole’s baby. And this is why there are so many sheepeople in the world today, their attention span has been beat into submission. And when everything is done, after the climax of the evening news talking heads, people watching roll over, have a cigarette and take a nap.
For your viewing enjoyment
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04252008/watch.html
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03.24.08
Posted in 2008 Election, Barack Obama, CNN, Democrats, Fox News, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Politics, Race, Republicans, Technology, Wolf Blitzer tagged Barack Obama, CNBC, CNN, Dan Rather, FOX, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Mainstream media, MSNBC, New York Times, Rev Wright, Ted Koppel, The Washington Post, The Wire at 5:13 pm by soulful07
I guess the best thing to do is ask the question… what happened to journalist? Deep inside this paradox lies the trillion dollar Iraq war, Lacy Peterson question. What happened to journalistic integrity? And i guess a even bigger question is when did these institutions of “facts” become institutions of “opinion”? I guess what I am asking is, when did we replace these guys
With these guys?
I, like a small minority of free thinkers (I guess you can call it that) have long since unplugged from the matrix if you will. No not because of some vast grand conspiracy, no not at all, I got out while the getting was good, because I simply couldn’t take it anymore. It’s hard to notice the drivel passed around as news until you take a step back and watch all the news channels at once. The current state of the mainstream media could be equated down to a group of people in a crowded room yelling FIRE!!! After the panic these same people walk around and interview people about how they feel about being scared and/or confused.
My favourite thing about the news is how news anchors and reporters protray themselves as being shocked at the reactions of people they have spent a whole week stirring up. Actually I have another analogy try this on for size, today’s mainstream media is like a child with a large magnifying glass focusing the suns ray onto an ant hill. If done effectively it could provide light to the busy ants working below but instead it is used to burn a few ants in hopes of starting a frenzy. Too harsh you say… possibly, or maybe it’s not harsh enough. I think the most discouraging thing about watching 24 hour news media outlets is the narrative. It is hard to grasp at first, but when you flip through all the news shows at the same time, you begin to see news isn’t simply reported as just the facts, news has become mere sound bites and ideas tossed through your TV screen. The “narrative leads” is another way of looking at it. As you change channels it is fairly easy to see the catch phrase of the day. How is it that four 24 hour news channels with its hundreds of reporters, news anchors, and editors all decided on one phrase for the whole day. The odds of that are astounding… or not, the cynic in me thinks that somebody is copying off of somebody else’s work. And as such, are no longer “reporting” but “repeating”. Whatever happened to the crack team of investigators, whatever happened having different ideas, and interpretations of events?
Never has it become more obvious then this last week’s shit storm called the “Rev Wright controversy”. While I don’t agree with some of his views it took me 2 minutes of top notch investigating to discover that his most controversial of statements weren’t actually his words, but a quotation from a US ambassador. It was like celestial choirs were singing and the sky opened up and I believe my quote at the time was “wtf”. The sad realization sank in, news isn’t reported it is created. I refuse to believe that there is a team of monkeys wearing hats with the words press on it doing research for all 500 newspapers, magazines, and television shows. Somebody somewhere must have been said to someone hey buddy go research Obama’s crazy pastor, and this smart investigative fellow/lady must have, after doing the long strenuous 2 minutes of leg work I did, discovered this gaffe and told their supervising editors. Surely somewhere between all these thousands of people thrust with the most important task of reporting the news would have a said maybe we should provide some context or maybe even investigate the other candidates? No? Yeah I know but then THAT would have been news.
After the slight air of frustration had subsided I thought about doing a special comment like Keith Olbermann one of the few people in the media who is even bothering to do any research (or their job). I was and still am stuck by an article written by one of the creators of the TV show The Wire. He spoke about the newspaper in the show and one of the most shocking things about its portrayal. He goes on to say that the newspaper had missed or overlooked every important story of the day. My biggest fear isn’t so much that today’s media has missed, or done a poor job reporting every important news story of the day, no my biggest fear is that it was done on purpose for ratings.
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