Monday, March 24, 2014

FLYING UNDER THE RADAR



The news media outlets enjoy increased ratings when compelling events such as the missing Malaysian passenger jet disappears from the sky without a trace. They know that the public is drawn into the mystery by a combination of compassion for the missing passengers along with sympathy for their families and the fascination that in today’s fish bowl of technological voyeurism momentous events can still avoid detection.

What happens when major news events strike at the same time? When like today, there is another arguably bigger and more historic story happening, Russia’s invasion of Crimea, why does the media gives it second coverage billing?
The debate over what to cover and how much time to devote to one story over another invokes the age old enigmatic question “which came first, the chicken or the egg”, or in this case, which comes first, viewer driven ratings or significant news that could lead to a world war? 

Some in the news business will tell you that the public always controls the coverage, while others will argue that real news reporting should not be concerned with ratings and instead be governed by simply reporting significant news stories. They claim to not write or make-up the news but merely report it. However, media exercises sole control over whether a story is the lead or buried in the news, along with the amount of time devoted to a story and how comprehensive the coverage is on any news story.  

Therefore when Americans complain that our newsrooms are corrupt, and in the tank for either (mostly both) entertainment ratings or the Obama Administration the proof is in the coverage of the Malaysian jetliner versus the Russian takeover of a sovereign’s state’s land. One story seems to be fueled with more speculation than facts as it flies all around the airwaves constantly focused on the mystery of the Malaysian plane. However, the other major story (Russia annexing Crimea) which is a clear act of unbridled territorial aggression, that has the real possibility of escalating to a world war in the near future is in a holding pattern at the media airport of landing coverage priorities. 

The point is this; if newsrooms want to be taken seriously, claiming they are not info-entertainment like supermarket tabloids and the John Stewart Daily show then why is the Malaysian jetliner story topping the news coverage? If the argument is that we are covering the stories people want to hear then, why not cover the Benghazi and the IRS corruption scandals that somehow have gone media dark and silent?  If the argument is that there is nothing more to report on those stories, then that fails to explain hours of news reporting on speculation as to the whereabouts of a plane when no new information has been discovered. 

Where is the news coverage speculating that the Obama administration covered up Benghazi to win election? Similar to using retired airline pilots to wax about possible theories about the missing plane, why then has media not used ex-diplomats and ex-CIA agents to fill a panel to speculate on what happened in Benghazi?
 
Where is the speculative reporting that the IRS was used by the Obama administration to silence the growing Tea Party groups to organize educated voters to the polls in 2012? 

The news media cannot have it both ways. They can’t argue that they don’t control the news and merely report it and then filter it through their elitist’s lens of priority. They may not make up the news stories (ahem I guess) but by controlling the air time, front page space and the extent of both coverage and investigative follow-up, they do set the news table. They do determine what news is important. They do influence what news Americans are informed about and what news is not noteworthy for Americans. Media does control the information agenda and they have not acted responsibly or fairly to a simple standard of unbiased honesty.

To argue that the repeated lies told by this administration over a terrorist attack in Benghazi during the 2012 election is not at least (we think much more) as egregious as Watergate is not credible. Equally, to have no follow-up investigations and no questions to the White House amid the many still unanswered questions about Benghazi shows more than political bias, it bespeaks a media cover-up.

The IRS scandal is a huge criminal-political corruption yet it has been ignored by our so-called professional journalists. For the majority of media outlets to just take the President’s word that there is not a “smidgeon” of corruption done by one of the most intimidating of government agencies is an appalling indictment of media collusion not just bias.

Congress has low polling numbers because it ignores the will of the American people and seems only responsive to inside the beltway lobbyists. Media is a close second in those low polling numbers because it enjoys a platform to bring important information to Americans but it squanders that for ratings revenue and whines that it is the viewers fault.

Those in media that argue that Justin Bierber latest folly is more popular to the viewers than the NSA spying scandal are using excuses, allowing their network-needs to continue feeding Americans “Bierber celebrity-Pablum” to distract us from their media malfeasance. We might agree that too many Americans are obsessed with celebrity news and might be bored to change the channel but then so aren’t school children easily bored. Do we then teach children only information they deem popular and throw away vital curriculum?

Responsible journalism requires reporting important news stories period. Otherwise they are misusing the freedom of the press to pander for ratings, pick political sides, hide unflattering revelations about our government and making all Americans more vulnerable to tyranny.

There is a reason that freedom of speech is the first Amendment in our Bill of Rights. There is equally a reason that Obama’s promise of an open and transparent government was and is a fairy tale.

There is a reason why Americans have anger and distrust for our government when both Congress and the Press owned by corporations tell us to look up at the sky, “Da plane Boss, da plane” in order to distract us from their manipulation of our constitutional rights.

More than ever Americans believe that our government is flying under the radar and increasing its covert corruption under our noses with the oligarchic Press turning off the transponder of truth and burying the black box of facts in the propaganda waters off the coast of Fantasy Island. We are rightfully worried that instead of America living out her dreams those elitist power brokers are creating America’s nightmare.

“The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history.” (George Orwell)


 Claudia Roazen is a writer from Maine. Her book “ARE WE THE SHEEPLE OR THE PEOPLE? AN AMERICAN WOMAN ON FIRE!” can be purchased at AMAZON.COM or on her website http://claudiawrites-rights.blogspot.com/

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