The Difficulty of Being an Informed American

[Joanne98]

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

The American print and TV media have never been very good. These days they are horrible. If people intend to be informed, they must turn to foreign news broadcasts, to Internet sites, to foreign newspapers available on the Internet, or to alternative newspapers that are springing up in various cities. A person who sits in front of Murdoch’s Fox “News” or CNN or who reads the New York Times is simply being brainwashed with propaganda.

Before conservatives nod their heads in agreement, I’m not referring to “the liberal media.” I mean the propaganda that issues from the US government and the Israel Lobby.

It was neoconservative Bush regime propaganda fed to America through Judith Miller and the New York Times and through Murdoch’s Fox “News” that convinced Americans that they were in danger from a small secular Arab country half way around the globe called Iraq. It was the American media that convinced Americans that getting rid of dangerous “weapons of mass destruction,” weapons that did not exist in Iraq, would be a cakewalk paid for by Iraqi oil revenues.

It is the same propagandistic American print and TV media that have rationalized Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan based on seven years of lies and deception.

It is the same media that today provids only Israeli propaganda as “coverage” of the Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

It was the New York Times that spiked for one year the leaked information from the National Security Agency that the Bush regime, in violation of US law, was illegally spying on Americans without warrants. The “liberal” New York Times agreed to suppress the story so that Bush would not face reelection under the cloud of his outlaw behavior.

Conservatives think the Washington Post is “liberal media” despite the fact that the editorial and commentary pages are controlled by neocons and their sympathizers.

During the run up to wars and during wars, the American press has always been a propagandist for the government. The only exceptions occurred during the later phases of the Vietnam war and the Contra-Sandinista conflict in Central America. Karen de Young and some others tried to honestly cover the Contras and Sandinistas and were demonized by “patriots” taken in by the government’s lies.

Conservatives still blame the “liberal” media for losing the Vietnam war, when in fact all the media did was to provide some truthful reports that opened some American eyes.

When the truth cuts against the position of the US government, conservatives see it as “liberal.”

When propaganda supports the government’s lies, conservatives see it as “patriotic.”

Continued>>>
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts01082009.html

[tnlurker]

1. Now this hits the nail on the head

When the truth cuts against the position of the US government, conservatives see it as “liberal.”

When propaganda supports the government’s lies, conservatives see it as “patriotic.”

[ElboRuum]

2. Interesting point...

However, the media is only partly to blame. The universe is mostly to blame. Specifically, it has a fatal flaw in that we cannot rewind time. If we could, then we could rewind time every time we want to know what really happened and see it firsthand. Because the universe is set up in this fashion, all of what we know about what we aren't around to witness must be, by definition, secondhand. Maybe even thirdhand. With all of this information changing hands between people who are biased, also by definition, we find it devilishly hard to keep the information from going all askew, even IF we had an even-handed press (at least so to the best of its ability).

But still, even with the Internetiwebbiverse, we still get information secondhand, and from whose hands we never really truly know.

The whole concept of information being correct is stymied by existential realizations far beyond partisan considerations. Even one's own firsthand perception of events cannot be fully trusted.

What we want is something that can never be, by the very rules of our existence. Personally, I think we've romanticized the media into some utopian realm based upon the actions of Woodward and Bernstien, something like "the ever vigilant and virtuous watchdogs of our invariably corrupt and evil government.", when it was never close to being so. We like to think that this utopia is now a dystopia because it is overrun by those perfectly comfortable with the idea that certain people in this country need protection from scrutiny, and invariably those reporting happen to be sympathetic to corruption and evil. We like to believe that if we get rid of all of the Sean Hannitys and Rush Limbaughs and Ann Coulters that somehow, the corruption will be purged and the sun will once again shine amicably and purposefully on a utopia once again.

But it is the bare facts of the existence of what we call the media that created them in the first place. Being in the media is a job and people expect to be paid, and advertisers pay, and they only pay for what sells (ratings, market share, etc.). The media banks on what sells, and right now, idiocy sells... specifically to idiots... so where did all the idiots come from? That's right, a malfunctioning educational system.

So how do we make the media more honest (even if we DON'T get this paragon of informational virtue we kid ourselves is possible)? By making it easy to spot the shinola. Who is responsible for telling the difference? Each individual in this country is responsible for maintaining this skill. How do we make it easier? Have better educated people with critical thinking skills. So the answer is simple.

Fix education.

What is the least talked about issue in the country right now? Education.

And the world spins foolishly on its axis for yet another day.

[Joanne98]

3. it won't change until the MSM is bankrupt and replaced by something else.

The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned. They should have never been allowed to get so big. The 1996 Telecom Act was a huge mistake.

[Still Sensible]

5. Here Here.... That is absolutely right

What ever happened to real civics classes and real thinking in our classrooms? I say this as a person whose wife is a middle school social studies teacher that works very hard to get her students to reason and question--when she has the time apart from making sure they can memorize for standardized tests and dealing with non-demanding, defensive parents.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. PCR is a racist and anti-Semite!

I don't care if you believe in the "broken clock" theory or not, posting an article from a racist, Jew-hating scum is beneath DU.

[OneBlueSky]

7. does not supporting Israeli policies make one an anti-Semite? . . .

I certainly hope not, because there are many policies and actions of the Israeli government I disagree with . . . and I'd hate to think that that somehow brands me an anti-Semite . . . just sayin' . . .

[Behind the Aegis]

8. No. And, that isn't why PCR is an anti-Semite (I noticed you missed racist).

Perhaps neither are real big concerns for you, but for me, they are.

[alarimer]

9. According to some here, it does.

Frankly, Israel is a rogue nation at this point and deserves sanctions which will never happen as long as AIPAC controls the dialogue with our dear leaders.

[Soylent Brice]

6. nevermind.