Politics

THE FACE OF MEDIA BIAS I have a confession to make… I have not watched any news channels in well over a decade. If I wanted to find out what was going on in the world, I would go to the news websites that I know will take different sides on an issue. The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was during the civil war in Syria. There was a chemical attack on multiple villages of innocent civilians and children. One side was controlled by government forces allied with Russia, and the other side was controlled by western-backed rebels.  The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which I considered a reliable news source and respected for trying to remain impartial on international issues, only reported on the rebel-controlled village and directly blamed the Syrian government for the attack or conflict. It just so happened that there was “Russia Today (RT)”, a Russian government-sponsored news channel, talking about the same attack with extensive coverage. RT’s bias is already well-known and demonstrated. I was curious what they would say about the issue. To my amazement, they reported that there were two attacks of the same type, both well documented and they proceeded to underhandedly ridicule western media for their one-sided and biased reporting. You can find dozens of examples like this. There is no doubt that journalism has degraded in the past 20-30 years. The question is: How can this be fixed? There is a clear lack of integrity across the board on all sides of mainstream media. The only place you might find any fairness for integrity is in independent media, and even then, they are not too reliable – due to a smaller scale of operation and personal bias. Unfortunately, the only thing mainstream media seems to care about is pushing their political narratives and advertisement revenue. It is hard to hit the media on the political front simply because they can stonewall any argument and then misdirect (as the Fox News network likes to do) or throw their favorite bunch of isms, etc. On the other hand, money and advertisers are much simpler to deal with. Do not give them your view. Without those ratings, the propaganda machine simply cannot get advertisements, and thus, will look the other way. Perhaps they will even start using facts, though that is unlikely. Look into independent media or smaller news sources for news or information. They must work for your view and interest. Make your viewing and news interest worth something. Always do your research to find a news agency that aligns itself with proper journalistic practices. I cannot think of a better way of broadening one’s horizons and dealing with the media cancer that we have today. Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books Business Culture Education Entertainment Food Government Health Interviews Lower West Side Business & Economic Development Medical Military & Veterans Our Community Peace People Sports Who We Are THE FACE OF MEDIA BIAS May 13, 2021/No CommentsRead More A NEW PRICE FOR FREEDOM OR JUST DOING THINGS THE WRONG WAY? April 13, 2021/No Comments A NEW PRICE FOR FREEDOM OR JUST DOING THINGS THE WRONG WAY? The question of safety/stability vs freedom has been Read More NOTHING TO LOSE March 13, 2021/No Comments NOTHING TO LOSE  I was watching a video from Jim Sterling that discussed what happened on Wall Street this past Read More Load More End of Content.

The question of safety/stability vs freedom has been a political and philosophical question since the very first settlements. While its meaning evolved and different societies took different stances on this topic over the years, never does this question become more pertinent in times of crisis like the one we are. The specific example we have today is the Covid-19 vaccination and the wearing of a masks. Our nation is all about personal freedom; I believe this is one of the values that makes us strong, innovative, and adaptable. The drawback, sadly, it gives people the freedom to ignore crucial information that is clearly to their benefit. Critical thinking and proper information could have certainly reduced this drawback. Unfortunately, the education and media in their present state, it’s understandable why we have senators believing in the Qanon+ conspiracy — an elaborate prank played by 4chan++ on the innocent. The drawback is obvious and dangerous. It can happen in any crisis, someone can bring down the whole ship just based on misinformation, manipulation – and lies! One can certainly make the argument that the only solution to the problem would be to mandate these things we know to be true; but as any politician in the United States fears, it will most likely be political suicide. I would like to bring up an important point as to why we must tolerate these conspiracy theorists. It is a very slippery slope that we have been down before. It first begins with doing X for the good of society.  Then comes Y, or even worse, when the political pendulum inevitably swings; now you are playing a game of political extremes where there is no middle ground. Unfortunately, this is how society becomes so politically divided. All they can hope for is a figure that can bridge the gap before it all collapses. This is even without speaking about the fact, that sometimes, those conspiracy theorists can be right, once in a blue moon, as we have seen with the World Health Organization (WHO),  and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) special relationship.  I think the solution to this dilemma is for us to stick to the belief that individuals can decide what is right, but we must emphasize the importance of “education”, as well as hold the media community accountable for providing unbiased and accurate information. If not,  the alternative is authoritarianism, as experienced by so many countries that took the easy way out. _____________________________________________________ +QAnon is a disproven and discredited far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibalistic pedophiles is running a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotting against U.S. President Donald Trump, who is fighting the cabal.  ++4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher “moot” Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from anime and manga to video games, music, literature, fitness, politics, and sports, among others. Registration is not available and users typically post anonymously; posting is ephemeral, as threads receiving recent replies are “bumped” to the top of their respective board and old threads are deleted as new ones are created. As of November 2020, 4chan receives more than 20 million unique monthly visitors, with more than 900,000 posts made daily. Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Community Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics Sports RISH TAKING AND CAPITAL December 13, 2022/No Comments You may have heard recently how Elon Musk has been firing, at times illegally depending on region and contract, people Read More HOW TO CONSUME MEDIA WHILE AVOIDING PROPAGANDA October 13, 2022/No Comments HOW TO CONSUME MEDIA WHILE AVOIDING PROPAGANDA Let’s start by stating the obvious, corporate media not only lies but also Read More EMBRACE STREAMING September 13, 2022/No Comments EMBRACE STREAMING “Change your perspective and reality changes” — Aristoteles Last month we talked about one of the biggest questions Read More Load More End of Content.