The Media

The world media has become too strong. Their influence is world wide. I listened to an interview with a Jewish teen in France who said (from memory) "Your opinion depends on what channel you watch. There might be graphic videos of bad things in Gaza with no explanation or showing the other side."

The trouble is ratings. Every news organization lives and dies by the number of people paying attention. Even the BBC, that is supposedly paid for by the TV fee charged by the U. K. government, pays very close attention to the ratings. Shows come and go, people rise and fall by the ratings. Tell me that isn't true.

No one is out for the facts. Not even me. Who wants the truth? I pay it lip service, but I'm not sure I want to know the truth. I have something I believe and i want to know things that reinforce my beliefs. That is for comfort. I do have an open mind. I do not want to hear descanting views. I do not seek them out. They come and some times I change my mind. Sometimes I do not. It depends on my mood and the information. It depends on who tells me and how they present the information. Everything matters.

Media does not make you think anything. They put what they want you to think in front of your nose. They choose what stories get plaid and when. They choose what facts are at the top of the article. They pick the headline. People who take the videos and write the stories know what is up. They start from the beginning trying to manufacture something that will make it to the top of that list. Let's face it, that is how they get paid and promoted.

The answer is not so easy. The blogsphere is doing some of this. For example, the Israel Hamas conflict is overrun with people screaming at the top of their lungs on the internet via blogs. Sometimes not even their own blogs. I have to tell you, Europe gets a lot more information about this conflict than we get in the U. S.. The reason I know this is because I read some European blogs that complain about how bias all that coverage is.