mediacopp.blogspot.com

I really have no idea what to write this week...I am sad...very sad for this country...I believe we are more divided than ever and I don't see how we can ever come to any sort of resolution...well, actually, I do...but I wonder if we are at a stage where we'd be willing to put in the hard work. I don't see how more marches are appropriate, as our president mentioned in his Selma speech last weekend...especially not after two more police officers were shot (non-life threatening, thank God) just last night as they stood in Ferguson, MO to protect the peace during another demonstration.


I'm not even sure if it's appropriate to articulate my ideas for bringing the country together...I fear it will be ill-received by both sides. Actually, that's the main problem...both sides...there needs to be ONE SIDE...until we understand that, I fear even my musings will be as ineffectual as our president's. However, not being one to shy away from presenting my point of view, I will continue...


First of all, the media...the media needs to stop stoking the flames of hatred and division.  There are ways to sell your "product." But there are also ways to present facts without "product." Maybe THAT should be the government's job...there are PIO's (public information officers)...who present facts in a non-partisan, non-opinionated way...just put it out there WITHOUT any commentary. Then, at the same time, ALL other "news" outlets become entertainment programs (they pretty much are anyway), with NO HARD NEWS OF ANY KIND.


Why should CBS, NBC, ABC, etc. be given ANY sort of credibility over or above any other entity? Same goes for CNN, PBS, Fox New, or (even) MSNBC...they aren't news sources. At least as a country, we can agree on this, can't we? Now, many would say I'm putting the cart before the horse; that the media is simply a reflection of our divisive society. Maybe 20-30, even 40 years ago, that might have been true...but in this (instant) information age, I think it's media outlets which form, even conjure, the news to fit their own agenda.


"Agenda? What the hell kind of agenda would a bunch of cub reporters have?" Buck, this isn't the Daily Planet and these "reporters" aren't Clark Kent and Lois Lane. These are multi-national, multi-faceted mega-corporations who answer solely to their investors and stockholders, with little if any regard for truth, let alone public information. They will not be dissuaded from continuing their agenda driven, hyperbolic-laden content until we ALL...COLLECTIVELY...decide they are no longer news, but simply entertainment...


There's that word again...collectively...I know I've railed against our loss of individual freedom and autonomy in deference to the collective...but here's your chance to show me how wrong I am...and how collectivism is the way to go...even Net Neutrality...if it's truly a means of removing ideology from information, who could be against that? Unfortunately, when government gets involved in picking winners and losers in the name of fairness (and in this case neutrality), they usually end up making things far worse.


Even I, me, myself, have several friends with whom I regularly exchange ideas, discuss topics, etc. through Facebook, Twitter, even this blog. For the most part, these discussions are lively, oft-times heated, but generally respectful. I believe THIS passes for news better and more efficiently than what is called "news" today. At the very least, they (we) should be on the same plane, with no more legitimacy and certainly no less legitimacy than the networks...oops, there I go again, talking about the individual...sorry...