On the Contrary

Yesterday, I am sure you read where the Coast Guard was practicing Homeland Security on the Potomac, which they do routinely, and somehow CNN got it in their head that shots were fired, started reporting this, and then the FBI reacting to CNN reports, responded and shut down National (Ronald Reagan, Ugh) Airport.  All of this based upon quick draw reporting by CNN to be first with the news.  And it tells you all you want to know why we have such a nation of ill informed citizens.  The poor Coast Guard will now probably have to clear it with CNN before they train for the real thing.

Look at the Joe Wilson affair.  The media jumped all over the story, the apology, and the enshrining of Joe the idiot as a conservative hero, but initial reporting did not immediately point out that he was wrong, dead wrong.  If you want a simplified way to understand this we won’t pay for the  treatment of illegal aliens thing, the rules under the existing programs prohibit this, but everybody gets treated in an emergency room.  Asking for proof of citizenship before providing CPR is truly George Orwellian, but is what the conservatives want, yet they hate big government.  But I digress.  It was not made clear upfront that not only was George Wilson a rude SOB, but he was flagrantly lying.  So what you have left is he said, she said, and it is no wonder people are confused.

The coverage of Town Hall meetings are a variation of the same thing.  The media covered the uproar because it was good entertainment, but not the facts directly challenging these nitwits.  We see the same thing in the two political shills they bring on to discuss issues.  When the Republicans raise death panels or treatment for immigrants, the media stands on the side lines (except for David Schuster of MSNBC) and lets the food fight happen instead of pointing out what is known fact so the discussion is an honest one.  If we give too arguing parties equal footing even though one is crazier than a loon, you have unfairly lent more credibility to nonsense and abdicated your role as a journalist.  Again what we are left with, without the leveling influence of the moderator fact checking, is he said, she said, and the viewing public is confused.

In another episode, I took an hour off the other day to work out on the elliptical trainer and catch up on the news on TV.  It was non-stop coverage of the aircraft hijacking in Mexico where they knew nothing, and mindless conjecture became “news”.  Wolfe Blitzer of CNN asked one reporter from Mexico if this did not immediately remind one of 9/11.  9/11!  A group of Bolivians hijack a airliner from Cancun and he is thinking 9/11?  The reporter he asked had my reaction also, but politer.  The point is they knew nothing so they filled airtime with rumors and outright conjecture instead of saying, “the hijacking has ended and all are safe, we will return to this story when we have any facts.”  How many people, I wonder, listened to some of that conjecture which was flat out wrong, took it for fact since it was reported on TV, and that is what they believe about this incident?

So we have a nation of confused and ill informed people who then make irrational choices about their future and the reason is that our media is in the entertainment mode rather than the informing mode.  From fact checking whether there were really shots fired to pissing contests between partisan flacks and mindless conjecturing based on thin air, they have failed us as journalists.  Of course they accept no blame for any of it, much like those who don’t want to pay taxes and then are shocked, shocked, shocked, I tell you, when the infrastructure falls apart.  Marching on to oblivion.