Succumbing to Subjectivity

How has the media coverage changed from the past or has it changed at all? Well, this is a hard question to answer because I've only been around for a short period of time relative to many, but the one thing I have noticed is the bias of reporters. Sure that isn't too hard to notice, CNN is almost left of socialist and Fox is the show that justifies all the crazy militants to blow stuff up. Knowing their biases, I can make a judgment about what I think is right wrong or whatever BUT the specific media poison that kills the freedom of the common people's opinion is the subjective reporting. Where are the facts now adays? It has come to the point where who you listen to the most defines your political opinion which is a far cry from using the personal intellect and common sense that we are given.

For instance, on Fox news I hear a news anchor blurt out, "Prop 8 the anti-gay legislation in California"....wait a sec. For one, do you not have enough confidence in my intelligence to decide whether something is anti-gay or not? I had a hard time believing that California passed legislation that is oppressive to any demographic. Secondly, when I looked into the legislation, Prop 8 defines that marriage is between a man and a woman in the California Constitution. The whole legislation asked the California consensus to define their definition of marriage. Under civil unions, people who consider themselves gay have the same rights as married couples so what is this really about? How is Prop 8 anti-gay? For one, I feel betrayed, the news station that stands for blowing stuff up and killing people has suddenly taken a gay agenda stance. Its like going into a hamburger join and the server gives you a veggie patty made up of half rotten corn instead of that juicy smoldering hot burger that you were hoping for. Eh, who knows what anything is made of anymore? The ground beef probably has bodily cow goop that we wouldn't dream of touching. Point is, how many people question what they are being told and scratch a little below the surface? Then again, when every restaurant serves garbage and we are all so busy with our fast paced lifestyle, it is hard to care anymore. Just try to enjoy what you are eating and try not to think past the Ketchup on your fries. Bottom line, the news media can no longer be trusted, there are no more facts to prove what is reported right or wrong.

Something that is just as bad as the bait and switch of the media is the coverage of issues that pertain to very few but somehow to all because it is entertaining. The best example I can think of is the coverage of Laci Peterson and Natalie Holloway. Yes, Laci Peterson's case was heart wrenching, but how many cases of injustice are like this statewide...nation wide....world wide? It makes me sick when I realize that they make money by covering how a lady's mentally deranged husband killed her and her unborn child. Is that not just as bad? How is that in any way considered news?

Benjamin Disraeli once said, “There are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics” and the greatest load of bogus that the news media constantly pull are polls. Where to start? Can there possibly be a poll that is not subjective? Sure, if every single person in a country voluntarily answered a poll honestly....as if that is ever going to happen. Wait, why do polls even matter? Do people realize that the publication of polls are an instrument that levies social pressure? How many people do you know that want to be a pain and go against the opinion of the crowd? So OK, I'm part of the minority BUT I'm sure that you realize that the majority of the public is rather uniformed and doesn't think critically about a variety of issues especially now because it is hard to find anything objective. Most importantly, polls have yet to change the facts of a story...since the last time I checked.

Does the media deserve 100% of the blame? Well no, although they are morally obligated to provide facts to the American public. Serving personal interests over what is best for the nation is considered un-American and this does not exclude the media. Something that we have to remember that the media is a business. The interests that enable them to make the most money are the interests that they will serve. If we as a general public demanded that the media quit covering pointless bogus, then news media coverage would be different. The sole reason that it has degraded to its current point is the fact that they want to reach the broadest audience. More facts, and more context would make for a boring media in most people's opinions. In order to reach the greatest audience, the media provides "news" supplemented with more opinion than fact. If you think about it, much of the media coverage of court cases are like a continuation of the entertaining reality TV shows. The greatest injustice is that reality TV takes the place of important problems that Americans have to put up with every day. When was the last time that reporters were honest about coverage of a story and motivated more by the best interest of the American public rather than dough? If you find one, drop me a line cause I'm still lookin.