Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Does everyone have an agenda?

I watch the news. A lot. Sometimes when Jess has had enough she just yells "BORING! BORING! BORING!" at the top of her lungs. Yes, I've watched a fair bit of it... and I admit that it's entertainment to me. It's like a soap opera that you just can't quite stop watching....

Recently, the news has focused primarily on two things: The Election, and The Economy... and depending on which "news" channel you watch, you will see VERY different perspectives. They differ with each other, they contradict each other, and sometimes even develop vicious rivalries!



The news channels I get in my area are CNN, MSNBC News, and Fox News.... and WOW, what a difference in the "reporting"!

MSNBC (which I definitely find the most "entertaining") is incredibly left-leaning, and many of its programs spend entire hours picking apart the minutiae of Senator McCain's campaign, finding every misstatement, error, and contradiction (which there are no shortage of). Entertaining? Yes. Fair? Probably not.

Fox News is incredibly right-leaning. Their anchors look much more stern and they do their best to report the news "with no spin". Riiiight. They spend hours mulling over the "conspicuous dealings" of Barack Obama and the "tax-and-spend" democrats.

CNN is the closest thing I've found to a more centrist view, but they're really fairly left leaning as well. They are more likely to make an effort to hear both sides, but in the end, the strategist favoring Obama tends to get the final word in any debate. While not really entirely balanced, this is the closest thing I can find to fair news.

So where on earth are the American people supposed to get their news? How are we supposed to stay on top of current events, determine our priorities, and maintain our world-view when the most accessible sources of information are so terribly skewed?

I get that part of reporting the news is the punditry.... The panels of "experts" giving their analysis of current events... which helps us, the viewers, look deeper into the issues and events of today. However, along with this "analysis" comes a pretty heavy dose of influence...

This influence keeps the public divided, ignorant, fearful, un-informed, and, of course, entertained.

I would submit that it is THIS INFLUENCE, more than the last 8 years of President George W. Bush, that the American people should have a record breaking low approval rating for.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

well... obama is a really bad person on the radio he said "lets clear the air right here i am a muslum" and the interviewer said "you mean christian" and he said "yeah sorry' and he believes that kids should start learning fromages 0 - 5 and there will be no home schooling and...he says if a baby survives an abortion it should not get medical attn it should be put to death!!! idk but i think he is crazy! but ya know as my mom says we are really not going to do good eather way bt mcane is the safer one i'd have to say! oh and btw my station cbs is on obamas side ,and ya know what? they're all nutz!!!

Anonymous said...

Check it out, Jon. You got one comment on this piece, 'cause I'm not counting mine. When I browse your blog I can't help but notice that you've got a consistent fan base. Consistent, until you drift away from primarily entertaining. Part of this is the age group. But even in that, you aren't very old, and I kicked ass in Poli-Sci while I was younger than you are now. You should take this as a sign of an accurate post and an exasperated yet apathetic population. They prove the thoughts of your last paragraph.

Is that too harsh? Oh well.

Anonymous said...

i dont really know much about politics because i'm only 14 but it still makes me mad when news media of all people have to throw their own opinion into the presidential elections. aren't NEWS people supposed to only give the NEWS instead of finding ways to insult the other candidate? it amazes me that these high-up people in our society still act like preschoolers! ok now i'm just kind of ranting, but i am entitled to my own opinion and that's how i think about this type of stuff.

p.s. i'm with you 1girlrevolution. some of the choices that obama has made, and will make if he becomes president, are not right! killing a baby if it survives abortion is WRONG. it goes against all biblical teachings! you do have a really good point with what you're saying...........