Not just the media’s fault, but certainly a valid commentary today… reporting unbiased news in the mainstream has gone the way of the dinosaur – not just dead, but long dead. Thomas Jefferson comes to mind:
The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors.
Or even more succinctly:
Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.
Why is this pervasive problem not solely the media’s fault? Because we accept much of this crap and move on, knowing with our own intrinsic truth meters that we are being misled. More specifically, I talk to hundreds of people, who recite almost verbatim the words from a single source when espousing their own opinions; whether they admit it or not. The celebrities associated with these reputed news sources are being thought of as idols who uniformly speak the truth.
Democrat/Republican, Liberal/Conservative and a plethora of other such broad brush labels have become a purposeful way to divide us, thereby keeping our attention away from more fundamental issues: freedom, honesty, honor and integrity. Take for example Glenn Beck on one side and Jon Stewart on the other.
Do you really think think that these guy’s highest priority is to promote your best interests? I am here to tell you it is not. In fact, I am not even sure it is on their list. They are focused on feeding their families and accruing wealth; and in so doing, have to work within the constraints given them by an agenda-laden bureaucracy of filth. Neither are they the cream of humanity’s thinkers. Again, they are just doing a job.
You don’t have to take my word for it. One of the best truth meters we have going today is where people stand on the 9/11 issue; wherein, both of these gentlemen have pulled down their pants and shown their biases – or perhaps more accurately, their role in obfuscation and deceit. But for me personally, I have even more concrete evidence to offer.
When I was kicking off my novels several years ago, the presidential candidate Ron Paul was formally invited to introduce me at a scheduled affair in Manhattan – whether or not he could come was another matter. After the debate – the debate that created such a controversy about Dr. Paul’s comments on foreign policy related to 9/11 – I received a call from my NY publicist. “…Terry, I can get you on Hannity and Colmes, but only if you dis-invite Dr. Paul… and I can very likely get you on O’Reilly as well, but you have to go further. You have to say that you wouldn’t even be in the same room with him unless he apologizes…”
Suffice it to say, I am not of a mind to trade my integrity for press coverage, even though there was considerable gains to be made. I had not seen the debate, but there was no way I could believe the negative press that was then circulating about Dr. Paul. Surprise, surprise… a few weeks later – although spoken very quietly by the press after the designed damage had been done – Ron Paul was vindicated, and his foreign policy position was confirmed as meritorious.
Mainstream media has become first and foremost a device to shape public opinion (notice, this is a nice way to say propaganda machine). Sure, there are a few bastions of integrity left: the obituary column, the weather, a local feel-good news story… but again, the primary emphasis seems to be that of deceit (often deceit by dis-inclusion).
As a specific example, here is a blow-by-blow analysis of one of these propaganda pieces, obviously embraced by the highest levels of a news organization. The subject was Dr. Paul; and it was done at a critical juncture during the 2008 presidential election.
Part 1
Part 2
As a final note, if you endorse Dr. Ron Paul and other such men who are working in this nation’s best interests – unfortunately an increasingly rare happenstance – then you might appreciate the video below.
