Posted on 05/02/2002 9:59:39 AM PDT by Starmaker
Michael
The article describes the dominant opinion maker sub-culture of the Western world, beyond CNN, which I seldom watch.
In the media, public schools, universities, etc there are no absolute truths. The search is for the "best" answer. The "best" answer for a poor person might not be the "best" answer for a rich person. If a student "does his best" than his answer on a test is "best" by their way of thinking.
We need to be careful that we don't fall into the same thinking patterns. Just because a certain tilt might benefit Bush, or the conservative cause or some other idol of ours, that does not mean that the tilt is truth or logic.
Are examples needed?
I really liked that bit there. Good piece.
Bingo.
CNN forgets why writers for news organizations are (or at least used to be) called "reporters". They're called reporters because they're supposed to report what happened, i.e. what the facts are, what the truth is. Reporters used to be trained observers and investigators, who could discover and relate a reasonably accurate description of what the situation actually is, what actually transpired.
Today, however, too many "reporters" believe that not only the best way, but the *only* way, to present news is to simply parrot what someone else (even those with clear agendas) said happened, or to just sit back and let two people with opposing accounts of the events disagree with each other on the air about what happened, and then leave viewers having to guess which one might be the more accurate.
The concept of actually going there and ferreting out the facts for themselves never seems to occur to the likes of CNN.
It's incredible how well the 80's song "Dirty Laundry" describes the current state of CNN:
Don Henly's "Dirty Laundry"
...a commentary on the news mediaI make my living
Off the evening news
Just give me something
Something i can use
People love it when you lose
They love dirty laundryWell i could have been an actor
But i wound up here
I just have to look good,
I don't have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear
Give us dirty laundry(Chorus)
Kick 'em when they're up,
Kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up
Kick 'em all aroundGot the bubbleheaded bleach blonde
Comes on at five
She can tell you 'bout the plane crash
With a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die
Give us dirty laundryCan we film the operation?
Is the head dead yet?
You know the boys in the newsroom
Got a running bet
Get the widow on the set
We need dirty laundryYou don't really need to find out
Whats going on
You don't really want to know just
How far it's gone
Just leave well enough alone
Eat your dirty laundryKick 'em when they're up,
Kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up,
Kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're stiff,
Kick 'em all aroundDirty little secrets,
Dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers
In everybody's pie
Love to cut you down to size
We love dirty laundryWe can film the innuendo,
We can dance and sing.
When it's said and done,
We haven't told you a thing
We all know that crap is king,
Give us dirty laundryKick 'em when they're up,
Kick 'em when they're down
(repeat and fade...)
"Whom the Gods wish to destroy they first make proud." Seneca
Any application to the "Self Esteem" classes being foisted on kids who can't read or write is left to the reader as an exercise...
Otherwise, it's a pop classic. "New York Minute" may have been his best song. And few recordings can beat the second side of Hotel California, including "Wasted Time" and Joe Walsh's beautiful "Pretty Maids All in a Row." But I digress.
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