D_Raay
06-07-2006, 12:00 AM
I have spent a great portion of my time lately writing letters to various media outlets expressing my concerns over their lack of true coverage and real debate.
I cannot fathom why they would give the very people who admonish them for not reporting good news in Iraq or being too scared to report at all an audience on their programs. Not to mention the folks on both sides out there who have nothing but hateful rhetoric to add to any conversation.
Now the congress is trying to pass legislation that jeopardizes the internet as we know it. The one place where we can get actual news and real debate.
In media outlets throughout the world the evidentiary basis for the war was seriously questioned. European media sources found little to substantiate the claims made by the American government. Their reporting swayed public after public to oppose the war. Their reporting has also been shown to have been more accurate. The British media seriously questioned both the justification and reasoning behind its government’s support for the war. The Spanish media did the same as did nearly every other country whose government participated in the coalition to topple Saddam. Opinion polls in every country whose government sent troops showed the public to be opposed to the war. Only in America was the public so poorly informed. Only in America did a majority of the public believe Saddam possessed WMD’s. Only in America did a majority believe a connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda. Since none of these facts have proven accurate, only in America did the media fail to do its job.
The reasons for this range from the patriotic (9/11 left the media unwilling to challenge the government) to conspiratorial (the business of news is not profitable if it is not supportive of America). Whatever the reasons might be, it has become painfully clear that the American media did not play its role as a check on the government. Why American media did not challenge the government is the real question that should be asked. That their reporting was not rigorous is simply a byproduct of this failure.
What are we going to be left with?
I cannot fathom why they would give the very people who admonish them for not reporting good news in Iraq or being too scared to report at all an audience on their programs. Not to mention the folks on both sides out there who have nothing but hateful rhetoric to add to any conversation.
Now the congress is trying to pass legislation that jeopardizes the internet as we know it. The one place where we can get actual news and real debate.
In media outlets throughout the world the evidentiary basis for the war was seriously questioned. European media sources found little to substantiate the claims made by the American government. Their reporting swayed public after public to oppose the war. Their reporting has also been shown to have been more accurate. The British media seriously questioned both the justification and reasoning behind its government’s support for the war. The Spanish media did the same as did nearly every other country whose government participated in the coalition to topple Saddam. Opinion polls in every country whose government sent troops showed the public to be opposed to the war. Only in America was the public so poorly informed. Only in America did a majority of the public believe Saddam possessed WMD’s. Only in America did a majority believe a connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda. Since none of these facts have proven accurate, only in America did the media fail to do its job.
The reasons for this range from the patriotic (9/11 left the media unwilling to challenge the government) to conspiratorial (the business of news is not profitable if it is not supportive of America). Whatever the reasons might be, it has become painfully clear that the American media did not play its role as a check on the government. Why American media did not challenge the government is the real question that should be asked. That their reporting was not rigorous is simply a byproduct of this failure.
What are we going to be left with?