By Comparison

By Comparison

July 11, 2024.

I just cannot keep silent about the condition of the American “Press” any longer. In contrast to the Era of the Greatest Generation with anchors like Jennings, Cronkite, Huntley, and Brinkley, today’s anchors and reporters have become like blood thirsty wild dogs. They have neither respect for elected Government officials, nor even the Office of the President of the United States. Just look at any video of any Press Conference: when the Official finishes and is just leaving the podium, with no regard to the person nor the person’s status, the “gaggle” immediately turns into a pack of wild dogs, shouting their follow-up questions in unison, creating a cacophony of indistinguishable, raucous noise, sounding like a barn full of startled chickens. It would be funny, if it wasn’t so pathetic.

The News used to be informational. In fact, the News would often have “White Paper” in-depth analyses supported by corroborating witnesses. scholarly authorities, and confirmed facts. No longer. Now we have infotainment on a continual loop, self-promotion, speculations, opinions from entertainment and sports idols of negligible importance, and, stunning to me, extensive merchandising…

Maybe it’s our fault for gobbling up all their slop. Maybe it’s our fault for not demanding accountability and truth and accuracy, and high standards. Maybe we are also like a pack of wild dogs, tearing at the flesh and bones of our Nation…

This website, https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp, has the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics. It’s worth the time to read it in its entirety. Please, please, please, do read it. Nevertheless, here are the topical highlights:

• Seek Truth and Report It
• Minimize Harm
• Act Independently
• Be Accountable and Transparent

The News organizations are no longer packed with true Journalists. They are packed with shallow, prejudiced, glowing personalities whose only purpose is to increase their station’s ratings and to secure advertisement revenues and in the process, justify their 6 figure salaries to their Corporatist owners!

Maybe we should be more skeptical listeners and more discerning readers. What do you think? Do we just choke down the news, or are we going to use our brains that God gave us?

A recent read I came across was about the relationship between the Press and FDR. The comparison to today’s attitude of reporters and News stations is drastic. The Press used to respect the Office of the President and worked extremely hard with his staff to minimize his disability and later his aging and declining health. Look at a couple photos of FDR…

Also, look at the Kennedy-Nixon debate, the first one ever televised and in color… and what did the Press learn? Photos can make or break a person’s image and stature: sweaty Nixon versus the tan and vibrant, young JFK. People that only listened to the debate said Nixon won, but those who viewed it on TV said Kennedy won! It was a matter of perspective.

Isn’t this the very same nonsense as the latest Biden-Trump TV debate with the silly, constant videos and reporting?

Oh yes. Biden looked physically horrible compared to Trump. He looked in desperate need of a nap — at least in the first half of the debate. Trump was the well “tanned” and vibrant one this time. Still, I would like to know whatever happened to fact checking by the Press. Everything Trump said was a lie. Biden was stunned with Trump’s endless stream of lies and didn’t know where to begin. The News people apparently don’t know either… This constant bombardment of false impressions is unfair to all sides of this running fiasco.

Here’s what wise King Solomon said in Proverbs 6:12–19, NIV:

“A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks maliciously with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart — he always stirs up conflict. Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed — without remedy.

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:

• haughty eyes,
• a lying tongue,
• hands that shed innocent blood,
• a heart that devises wicked schemes,
• feet that are quick to rush into evil,
• a false witness who pours out lies
• and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”

The world is sliding sideways and is all distrustfully askance, growing more and more suspiciously paranoid, and worse, mentally dulled. The so-called “journalists” are making quite the contribution to this state of our lives.

Maybe it’s all of our responsibility to change this.