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To coin a phrase from my great grandson Zachary, "where
d go?" Zach is a very inquisitive lad and wants to know as much
information as he can get on every deed, action or phrase that is done or
uttered. If anything is the least bit off he wants to know where d go? As
of late I have been wondering the same thing. Things are so far off kilter
with the news and news stations and things are done and said that I have a
real problem with, so like Zach I have been wondering, "where d go?"
To get to the root of it I figure we would have to go back to the
beginning when a fellow in Atlanta who had the first independent
television station to go world wide by satellite started up a news station
called CNN. Mr. Turner saw a vision and a need for a 24 hr news station.
It worked so well that Mr. Turner saw the vision and the need for a news
station that only gave the headlines and late breaking news. These news
channels became so popular that others jumped on the bandwagon and wanted
their own 24 hour news channels. Then came the 24 hour weather channels
and 24 hour channels stations. Wow you would think with all theses
information television channels we would be the smartest, most informed
people on the planet.
Well, you would think that all right, but you would be wrong. You see
there is just so much news and so many stories that happens in a 24 hour
period. If you watch the headline news station 24 hours straight you will
get about 6 or eight stories that will be repeated every hour for that
same 24 hour period. The big wheels up at the top said wait a minute, if
we tell the same stories on the news channels like we do with the headline
news station people will soon tire of us and go watch the western channel
which show the same westerns four times a day for at least 30 days. So,
they started doing opinion shows loosely cast as news shows. They put a
guy or a couple of guys on and/or a gal or a couple of gals and they will
bring on the latest stories and give an hour of their opinion.
The problem with all that is the public is getting a lot of information
but very few facts.
Oh, they will try to sell you on the idea that the opinions they are
expressing are facts and other networks who are watching for new
information for their shows will pick up on those opinions as facts and
create their own shows based on this new information. The bottom line is
that except for the headline news, there are very few news organizations
giving out news and even when they do it is either infected with or doused
thoroughly with opinion.
There used to be a disclaimer on a lot of shows that said in fact that
opinions on some of the show on its network were not those of the station
or the management. I suppose that the staff and management has also bought
into the new theory that opinion if it fits their agenda is in fact, fact.
There was a time when the national news came on only once a day and the
readers and announcers only had 30 minutes to get the facts of their seven
or eight stories out to the public. Other networks would watch very
closely to make sure they got the story straight and right. But it goes
now to agenda. If the story is wrong, Oh well. If the facts are skewed? Oh
well. We will give what we consider news as news to fit our agenda.
I believe it was Hitler or someone just like him who once said, "if you
tell a lie long enough and convincing enough, it will soon become fact."
What we need in these times is information. But we need facts, not
opinions. Years ago we put out the facts and trusted the people to
interpret those facts and act on them as they saw fit. They did and our
country was strong and very opinionated. Today we are given opinion as
facts and we as a nation have become very weak, because there is no need
to think and form our own opinions. It has all been done for us.
Until we get back to reporting the news as it should be reported, I like
Zach will continue to ask "where d go".
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