“…communities have become information deserts.’
April 1, 2016
(Bagdikian, the Armenian-American immigrant who became one of this country’s great journalists and then the greatest media critic of his time, died in March at age 96.)
‘…with his 1983 book, The Media Monopoly, have always recognized that the genius of this Pulitzer and Peabody Award-winning journalist was not in his charting of the steadily increasing control of communications by a handful of conglomerates. It was in the understanding Bagdikian provided about the danger that was inherent in allowing the dominance of the discourse by a handful of wealthy and self-interested corporations.’
[…]
‘No national paper or broadcast station can report adequately the issues and candidates in every one of the 65,000 local voting districts. Only locally based journalism can do it, and if it does not, voters become captives of the only alternative information, paid political propaganda, or no information at all.
[…]
‘Ben Bagdikian saw the crisis of journalism coming, and he knew that this would be a crisis for American democracy.’
This post originally appeared at The Nation.
Full article:
‘…the truth isn’t up to them.’
In a culture where con men, hucksters and others desperately seeking power and influence have decided that they can profit by making truth seem relative, we’re in danger of every day becoming the first of April.
—
‘There it is, in black and white, on page 782, between gullet and Gulliver. Actually, it’s not there, which is cause for worry. In the brand new fifth edition of the classic American Heritage Dictionary, the word ‘gullible’ is missing.
A significant defect.
Clearly, they need to recall all of the books they’ve already printed.
Sandy Williams, head of the division at Houghton Mifflin that publishes the book, was clearly working hard to avoid the cost of a recall. “It turns out,” he was quoted as saying, “that our lexicographers found some significant evidence that cast doubt on whether or not it’s even a word. We decided, in an abundance of caution, to leave it out of this edition.”
That’s the warning sign… when the rationale/logic/story happens after you’ve decided what you want to do, not before.
This relentless reframing of the truth into something else causes us to not ask the right questions, it prevents us from understanding our options, and from making smart choices. As soon as we say the truth is relative, and shiftable, and a matter of opinion, we lose the power that comes from knowing.
Just because a leader can gain power or influence by denying a truth isn’t sufficient reason for you to follow him.
The irony runs deep. People claiming that they care about health have held vaccines back from their kids, re-introducing dangerous diseasesto their childhood.
People insisting that they care about education run to join school boards and then work to introduce mythology to children instead.
The world is not flat. Gullible actually is a word. The ice is melting. The world is not 5,000 years old. Stevie Wonder, is, unfortunately, blind.
In a culture where con men, hucksters and others desperately seeking power and influence have decided that they can profit by making truth seem relative, we’re in danger of every day becoming the first of April.
Gravity’s not just a good idea, it’s the law.’