Wednesday, April 8, 2020

The News Pandemic




"This might just do nobody any good." 

Edward R. Murrow


 Dangerous times.

The COVID-19 pandemic.

I'd offer we have a News pandemic, too. Have for some time.

 The decay of true un-biased journalism is a deadly intellectual virus sweeping across the United States.
“To be persuasive we must be believable. To be believable, we must be credible. To be credible, we must be truthful.”
Edward R. Murrow. 


 To get my read on the world each morning I browse over BBC, NPR, CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, Washington Post, NY Times, LA Times and Huffington Post. I look at the bias in headlines and then seek to forage my own opinion. 

 I also read articles from The Guardian, Mother Jones, Vox, Reuters, Raw Story, Time and others.

 ... and I understand who owns news outlets.

 I do glance at toward Fox News on occasion, mostly to see their severely slanted spin in comparison to virtually everyone else. I took 30 minutes today for the first time on a long time to watch a Fox News broadcast. Fox News is not journalism, rather a collection of editorial spin bent on conspiracy theory delivered like an anxiety laden soap opera. With an agenda.

I see more and more evidence that many news outlets seem to be following suit simply to respond to chaos and accusations. More outlets lean toward editorializing much of which is increasingly combative and laden with satire and sarcasm.

 I get it. It's hard not to get caught up in heretical disregard for the truth or even intellectual discourse. The lust to spin opinion in place of fact is a dead-end road.

 What if news outlets were truly impartial? Impossible when news outlets publicly endorse a candidate, a political party or set of social values... as fact.  

 Without a doubt, the President of the United States is also fueling this conspiracy theory madness, as are many of his most ardent supporters. Contradiction, double speak, identifying any fact presented if it contrasts with your current opinion as 'fake news.'

 It all seems like a big contest with literacy and citizenship paying the price.

 The Twitter clip above, a summary of the absurdity of polarizing rhetoric and then backtracking as if previous statements didn't exist, the constant barrage of conspiracy theory to spin a particular political agenda is void of scientific reason, and the truth.

 What is the solution to this?

It's hard not to think of the effects of a decade or so of teaching to the test that lacked moral and ethical development and cast out intellectualism.

 I can't help but think about the influence and growth of 'Reality TV' over the years. The bombardment of shallowness, boundless obsession with materialism excess and fashion, unrealistic body image, blindness to the state of affairs of the world in which we live, and a mind-numbing march of conjured conflict. 

 As I watch all of this happen, I keep thinking about Edward R. Murrow's famous speech to the RTNDA in 1954, and his legendary battle with Senator Joseph R. McCarthy at CBS News.

 McCarthy made wild statements that lacked fact. He used the power of media to call people out, to shame them and cast doubt. Using a seat of political power to do so is so very dangerous.

 Here's an excellent recent read called 'What Would Murrow Do?' by Dan Shelly, Executive Director of the RTDNA 
"Murrow’s McCarthy exposé used film and audio clips featuring McCarthy himself, and then used responsible journalism, a/k/a facts, to point out the contradictions and half-truths the senator had uttered. He then put the onus on his viewers to examine the facts and reach their own conclusions, consistent with a statement he made on another occasion, under a wholly different set of circumstances, “A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” 
Dan Shelly, Executive Director, RTDNA

 Shelly points out:
"To be absolutely clear, my intention here is not to draw any equivalency between Senator McCarthy and President Trump. Rather, it is to wonder whether – or even if – having Edward R. Murrow around would have an impact on resolving the near complete breakdown of civil public discourse through which we suffer today." 

 How will this media trend evolve? Will incredibly biased journalism become more common place? Will 'opinion' and 'feeling' continue to march over fact?

 How will, how can unbiased reporting reach more people?

Whatever the case, this media barrage of opinion vs fact is exhausting. And it's dangerous. The human condition continues to play out in front of us like the children on the island in Golding's 'Lord of the Flies.' Group up, create some conflict, feed and spin that conflict, that conspiracy theory and try to kill each other.

 Back to that question, 'what's the solution to this?' 

 Perhaps schools. A push to teach about the impacts of social media and the news.

 Perhaps news outlets. Ratings, competition, and ultimately money... doing some soul searching on how your message is truly impacting lives. Perhaps treating the news more objectively rather than a pep rally might help.
We can do better. I hope we can. Maybe a reset via some isolation, slowing down, readjusting priorities toward the human condition and the environment will replace the relentless lust for expansion.

 To all the journalists out there hanging on to their integrity, doing unbiased, factual reporting based on expert analysis, may you get a raise and find some peace of mind that there are truly people out there listening.

 To those pretending to be journalists sensationalizing spin for ratings, to those promoting your personal opinion and personal beliefs as 'the truth,' you are conjuring hatred and bias in the world.

CNN's new 'Facts First' approach is promising. But I hope it continues without polarizing editorializing. I hope, like some of the political satirists are doing, CNN and other news outlets put video clips side-by-side for people to see and evaluate.

 In the meantime...

 Promote the facts. Stand up against hate speech. Keep working to help people understand what citizenship and community really means.

Here's a summary of Murrow's speech that frames the great movie 'Good Night and Good Luck.'

Murrow spoke about the use of television then, which easily applies to both television and social media today.

 Let the words sink in. Pass them on. It's been 66 years, 1954 - 2020, which is a long, long time we've had to make progress.


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