Media Power

I have to admit that I haven't listened to the whole speech that President Obama gave in Cairo. However, I have heard from endless talking heads on Obama's bandwagon describe how wonderful it was. Evidently it was extremely well-crafted, eloquently delivered, received with adulation and lots of applause. But, how would I know? I didn't hear it, so obviously I have no basis for judgement. It would be easy enough to just accept the reportage and use that knowledge for my opinion. Sadly, this is what many people do with news, accept it without analysis. For myself, I do not trust the media enough to let them tell me what to think. Too many of them have their own agenda and twist their reporting to promote their own ends. One should remember that the media has immense power to influence the way people think, and it is important for us to remember that the media knows this. I'll give you a couple of examples. How big was the Abu Graib scandal, really? There was a handful of miscreants who mistreated a handful of prisoners. The guilty persons were quickly apprehended, put to trial and punished. The whole story warranted a headline or two, granted, but in an effort to discredit anyone and everyone, even the president of the United States, the media kept it on the front burner long enough to cause some real damage. I shudder to think how the terrorists used this reporting to recruit new members, and in the end, how many of our soldiers lost their lives because of it. Do you remember the Haditha scandal where some soldiers were ambushed, but managed to kill the ambushers, and supposedly some civilians as well? Just after it happened, one of the sources on the Forum of albawaba.com told the whole story, which turned out to be true. The media definitely was not kind on this one, either, and after long and highly publicized proceedings, the military dismissed the charges. But, the damage was already done. Why did the New York Times run with the story about the wire taps after the President asked them to withhold it? In every report, the paper used terms referring to domestic wire taps, which was not accurate at all, and in the end caused us to lose a valuable tool in our fight against terrorism. They used the term "domestic" in a blatant attempt to twist opinion. And we are fools to fall for their devices.No wonder we are called "sheeple" and "Kool-aid drinkers".
There are enough other sources of information so that we can have an informed opinion based on our own interpretation. So where do I get my news? Here are a few of my sources: Fox news, Albawaba.com, Xinhua (China), Arab News, Jerusalem Post, Pravda, Lebanon Daily Star, and even the official news site from North Korea. During the day, I do listen to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck. Sometimes they have something worthwhile to say, but if they start harping on a subject that I'm getting tired of, I switch them off. Sometimes I like to tune into Keith Olberman, just to watch the hate ooze from his pores. He is definitely not to be taken seriously. It is amazing that everybody all over the world pretty much reports on the same stories.
So, the next time you tune into a news program, ask yourself, "Am I being manipulated?" And you always have the choice to leave the news and watch reruns of Gilligan's Island.