The News Media
The Media…
What to say about this group of people? How can we describe them, generally? It seems that every term that “springs to mind” is negative. Elitist, arrogant, aloof, manipulative, deceitful, out-of-touch, agenda-driven, bought-and-paid-for, tools-of-the-establishment. The attributes that are nearly impossible to ascribe to them are “free” and “honest”.
These “news” outlets are owned by massive corporations with political agendas. They derive huge portions of their advertising revenues from these corporations and political campaigns. They are far from “independent” and will certainly not be biting the financial hands that feed them.
Seems they have annointed themselves as arbiters of truth and appointed themselves guardians of the information that will be allowed to pass through to the masses. The thing is, I’m not sure who asked them to protect us from information, other than, perhaps, themselves.
They will tell us what is true and what is false. They will tell us what is good and what is evil. They will tell us for whom we should vote. They will tell us what products are safe, especially those provided by their advertisers.
Ironically, the “free press” are lurking in the background of those campaigns that seek to restrict what can be expressed on social media platforms. How can we ever allow the filthy masses to express opinions that are out-of-line with those endorsed by our media overlords? The media’s job is not to enlighten you. They are tasked with helping to control you. Their mission is to keep your illusion of “free thought” restricted within certain bandwidths. Think whatever you want, as long as you stay between their prescribed lines. Don’t ever color outside-the-lines, where it is more difficult to control you.
In my opinion, LIVE outside those lines. Question everything. Challenge everything. So many people claim they are looking for truth. Then go look for it, because it will not be provided to you via the existing media.
What should people be allowed to express? Whatever they want! Even if it is inaccurate! It is your job to educate yourself. It is your job to research diligently, evaluate the information presented to you, discuss it with others, compare it to your life experiences and decide what you believe. Then, be prepared to constantly repeat this process throughout your life as more information is provided to you. Think critically.
To a large degree, other people are only going to tell you what they want you to know. A recurring theme in my essays is ‘control’. From your closest personal relationships to the largest government levels there is always an aspect of trying to impact the behavior of others. We try to persuade, charm, cajole, coerce or otherwise manipulate people into doing what we want them to do. The media is a corporate / government tool for doing this on a very large scale. It is important to understand this and find your own pathways to collecting information from various viewpoints so that you can make better informed decisions about your life.
Finally, if we really want to maximize freedom of thought then we have to allow everyone to express themselves however they wish. To suppress anyone’s speech is to begin the obfuscation of truth, such as we humans are able to divine it. Physical reality is what it is, even if we suppress someone’s ability to describe it.
Freedom of expression is mandatory for any society worth living in. Personally, I don’t want anyone’s freedom of expression restricted, at all. I want to know what people genuinely think, even if I vehemently disagree with them, even if I think they’re dangerous.
We can not, must not, allow the media to dominate what is allowable speech in our society. These are the most dangerous people of all.