"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle
Whether from the right or the left, I think most people who have watched the "pop-news" media in recent years can agree that something is amiss, either within the medium as a whole, or represented in a particular program and/or channel. (I will attempt to forgo giving specific examples, though let it be known that the examples would cross the board: from left to right)
When tuning into a news program, one doesn't have to watch long to identify the commentators bias and a lack of respect and revulsion at those who merely have different ideas or opinions then him/her (though I must admit that there a couple programs from all news channels which I would exclude from this list). I believe more and more, a cry is going out from society urging us all that we must respect one another despite our inevitable differences of opinion or ideal. Though it is neither the governments, nor pop-media's responsibility to instill this within the culture, they should at least be an example of it. However, many those in media do preach tolerance and respect, yet don't seem to follow it themselves. It is unfortunate that the ones that preach tolerance and respect often lack it the most.
However, I concede that bias is inevitability and is the foundation from which perception, observation and opinion are derived. I indeed, though I am attempting to avoid it, will share my own bias in this blog entry due to its unavoidable nature, though I will endeavor to conceal it as much as possible. This is something I think all Journalists should do, however, Editorialists are another matter.
Journalism is quite simply the presentation of the news, such as your local news anchor is more likely to do. Editorialism, is when the commentator expresses their opinions about these current events, such as Bill O' Reilly or Keith Olbermann. Editorial programs, seem a lot more biased than those that are Journalistic, and this is just fine, for that is what editorial based programs are intended to be. This being the case though, does it also mean that they can defend their bias with offensive, disrespectful attacks to those who may disagree? To me that shows a lack of intelligence, and such a person should probably not have their own show to begin with.
Another hint at ones intelligence and ability to oversee a news program, should be their interaction with those they interview and the nature of their discourse. Too often now, I see within the process of an interview the ol' "slight-of hand" and misdirection trick. When approached with a question one tends to, instead of answering the question, point out flaws on the other persons beliefs, or in this election year, their candidate. This takes the focus of the posed question and all to often commentators allow this to work. More often this will instigate defensive posturing and the original, and probably relevant charge, won't be addressed.
To find in depth conversation and explanation of any current events and political processes is nearly impossible, though there are programs that do this very well, without anger and disrespect infiltrating the discussion, but these programs are rather rare. Now, I do agree that any channel holds a specific demographic which it appeals to. I'm a little sick of people attacking channels on both the left and right for engaging in discussion which is attractive to that demographic, for to attack such programs and channels, I feel, spits on our basic freedoms in this country. The freedom of free speech. For this very freedom the blood of our men and women has been shed upon our soil and that of afar. To combat such hatred of contradictory bias, perhaps this is something we should focus on; that everyone is entitled to their opinion and though we do not need to agree the person and their viewpoint should be respected, for it is the cornerstone belief of our sovereign nation. Furthermore, each person should challenge themselves, to swallow their pride, and learn in depth about someone else's viewpoint. However, again, pride being main player in all of this, would have to be subdued and if this was the case then one might change their mind or develop friendships with those who think differently. God forbid.
I started out this blog entry not going to write on any specific examples, but that was until I ran across this picture below while looking for images to add to my little blog statement here. It may sound a little hypocritical, but oh well. I guess it shouldn't really matter anyway, because perhaps just me, a couple friends, and a homeless transient looking for shelter in a public library that has internet access during a downpour are going to see this.
Tell me you can't be serious? Come on MSNBC I would think you could do better than this! Sure I disagree with about 100 percent of what Keith says, and that’s alright, he is entitled to be wrong (j/k I am not that conceited), but the thing that really gets me are the people he has on his worlds worst person countdown. Its not the robbers, murders, child rapists, like one might expect that are infecting the world with their vile, detestable acts. No. Keith tells us people like John McCain, Bill O'Reilly, and Glen Beck who are the worst of the worst in society. What makes THEM so bad? That they have a different viewpoint on things than Keith. Furthermore, his whole show seems based on misdirection and emphasizes negativity. I really hope people are seeing through that. To his show, that which defines news is when people disagree with Him. He spends more of his time and staff's time reading and watching other peoples news programs than what is really going on in the world. Ok, I’m going to stop now, because it truly is unfair to single him out as the only newscast/editorial program that does this, but he just turned into the example on my rant there after I ran across a picture of his book. He is entitled to his own opinion, for he is an editorialist, but come on Keith! NBC! The worst people in the world? Please at least tell me Osama Bin Laden is mentioned at least a couple times in there...
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