My first professional job when I graduated from Western Michigan University was an editor position with a bi-weekly newspaper in Dearborn, MI. I loved being a part of the media. I was dubbed “the next Bryant Gumball” in my undergraduate years. Journalism still had integrity and a sense of responsibility to the public.
Ben Franklin and his brother coined the process years ago for media to be more of a watchdog and informer to the public and they were even arrested for telling the truth about government policies that were not helpful to the public.
Back during the Vietnam War the media played a major role informing the public about what was really happening. They showed the horror of war, the coffins and casualties and exposed the lies from the government which led to mass protests and the eventually end to that foolishness.
When the Watergate scandal happened the New York Times and the Washington Post among other outlets were like a hungry dog going after a bone to expose the lies and attempts to cover up wrongdoing.
Walter Cronkite worked for CBS for 19 years and was named the most trusted man in America. Character, integrity, truthful, honest and compassionate were the adjectives to describe him. Today, we have lost sight of these words. Like all things with Capitalism someone decided to begin doing the news for profit and literally killed all credibility.
What does the resource section of the library do when the non-fiction books become fiction in order to gain more readers? This is what has happened to our media system. Now, there is no filter and anything can be said at anytime without proof. Truth is now a perspective and the absolute part of it has been executed.
America no longer wants truth. It wants an opinion that it agrees with and truth does not have to take part in it.
The media has done the unthinkable: To go from being an informative advocate for the communities to bringing fears, opinions and falsehoods to mainstream for the purposes of engaging the emotions of the communities for profit.
The media has become the greatest threat to American democracy.
ClydeStyle 