The News... part information, part disception
I am no conspiracy theorist... in fact it is well known that the media on television, radio and the internet supplied by the large news networks is heavily censored by governments.
It is well known. Everybody knows.
And, sometimes it is a good thing. At a time, news agencies had a way to stir up unnecessary trouble because of the language and images that they use. This would then make some sort of problem worse because of how it affected public opinion.
This of course leads to the other side of the scale where the government tightly controls the media and what is broadcast so that THEY can control public opinion.
Some places in the world this is done to such an extreme degree that everyone knows that what the news is broadcasting is absolute garbage and this usually goes hand in hand with corrupt governments.
What is needed in society lies somewhere in the middle. We don't want fear-mongers and hate-mongers in our society. We don't want government propaganda.
Generally, people want fair governments as well.
One thing that I can never understand about heavy-handed dictatorships is how immoral people stay in power. You can pay soldiers to be soldiers but there is a component of human loyalty to their service. This loyalty is usually drummed into the soldiers, but no soldier will oppress their own people.
Every country has its own issue but the only way for us, the denizens of the world, can create a peaceful and prosperous life is to look and focus on our local governments first and start influencing what we can near to us.
The local news is the best and most practical for us to verify and check. As for news internationally, how am I supposed to know? Local news is easier to make tangible and if we could make sure that this verified news then is what is published and broadcast elsewhere, then news would be more accurate.
What I am talking about is a form of endorsement. Just because I saw words, does not make it true. Let's run a little thought experiment:
Example 1: Binary facts
A statement or condition that is either true or it is not true.
"The ABC Bridge is closed."
It is either open or closed. Go there, is it open or not?
Example 2: Fact with Cause
A statement of fact, accompanied by a statement that defines the cause of the fact.
"The ABC Bridge was closed, due to the bad weather."
The reason to add a cause is that observers usually want context or answers. At this level, there is already a chance for deception. Perhaps the bridge was closed due to poor maintenance and the weather was blamed. Because of a local municipal/government election, the media is moderated to refrain from creating a negative viewpoint regarding the government.
So it is a falsehood created to smooth over public opinion.
What will then happen is that this information will be undermined by people who can observe the defects, people who can observe the weather and who may even know that the weather was worse on other occasions but that the Bridge was not close, etc.
Should these people start posting enough content online, public opinion would see through the deception and there would be an even worse public opinion of the people that they are trying to cover for.
Example 3: Fact with opinion and emotion
This is where the story can become very muddy. A clever writer can add on information that will completely change the outlook of the public. If the emotions evoked in the writing is strong, the people may disregard information given to them by casual people making comments from the sidelines.
"The ABC Bridge was closed yesterday when Mayor XYZ made a visit to the location and made a personal inspection. Prioritizing public safety and enforcing maintenance procedures, the diligent stateman has brought in experts to make sure the ABC Bridge will be 100% safe to carry passengers and families back and forth across the river."
This story paints a picture that the Mayor is doing a great job and personally attended to a problem. Caring about families and prioritizing safety.
Even if someone says that the government did not do their job properly, this narrative will incite the logical response that though this statement might be true, the Mayor himself saw the problem and dealt with the issue for the betterment of the citizens of the city.
This all just before the time to elect and support this Mayor by vote.
Conclusion
So... those are my thoughts about the news. Generally speaking, whenever a topic deals with the government, there is a message that they WANT to be portrayed. This is usually a modified truth.
The most oppressive or corrupt governments usually have the most to hide and will make stronger moves to doctor the truth as they see fit.
This is more powerful than enforcing law by gunpoint.
Thank you for reading my ramble.
Cheers!
@zakludick
Check out my Warhammer 40k Youtube Channel:
Youtube Videos
Youtube Shorts
