Do you remember a time when for most of America what Walter Cronkite or Edward R. Murrow told listeners and viewers was taken as factual reporting without question of bias?
I see one major problem with the information/disinformation process that is out of hand these days came when those who reported news were asked their
opinions on what the news means. A good reporter would never respond to a question of their opinion on the news of the day----THEY AREN'T SUPPOSED TO HAVE ONE!!!
Jay Leno is more real than all of these media types, as he pokes fun at all politicians. Everyone is poked fun of, left, right, middle, top and bottom.
Jay Leno for President?
Seriously, who does America trust for objective reporting?
Fox? CNN? CBS?
What is fiction, what is fact, who can be trusted?
None are objective, and all are slaves of the corporations who own them. Their bottom line is $$$. That is the ultimate bias.
We have this love/hate relationship, trust/distrust relationship with who we see on the tube. On one hand, they have instant credibility by virtue of the celebrity of appearing on TV, and at the same time they carry instant distrust by virtue of "acting" on TV.
We hear point/counterpoint all the time, but who is the moderator who is confirming fact?
Who is checking the facts?
Who confirms the records of Bush's Guard career are accurate and not doctored?
It is much harder these days, and require more critical thinking to ascertain what we think is true.
Quote from Error 404:
The real problem is that rumors account for perhaps the majority of issues that are brought to the attention of voters during political campaigns. And if not "rumor" by definition, then the distortion of facts. Sometimes by outright deception (Kerry/Fonda photograph as a recent example), or by innuendo (Bush not serving his Guard duty).
Certainly we have read here from "liberals" that "conservatives" have a corner on the market of dirty politics. And from "conservatives" we hear the exact opposite.
Of course the truth is, as always, that the game is generally played following the same rules. Tit for tat.
Saw a dumb movie this past weekend (Mooseport). Highly NOT recommended. Was a "comedy" in which an ex President (Gene Hackman) runs for mayor of a small town against the local hardware store owner (Ray Romano). The movie sucked, but was a fine microcosm of the kind of things we see happen in political campaigns. "You play dirty, I will play dirtier". Happens all the time.
And like in real life, in this movie, it was really the people advising the candidates that made the whole thing "dirty".
As much as I despised Nixon, I never really believed he had prior knowledge about Watergate. His "loyal subordinates" came up with the brilliant idea of cheating in an election he was sure to win by a landslide (as he did). People are strange. Ambition invites corruption.
Peace,
RS