Intimidation is an acknowledgement of the weakness of your point of view.
- Desmond Tutu
Browsing Posts published in October, 2009
The media has a tremendous influence on our entire outlook of the world! They are biased no matter what they say. The United States has always touted freedom of speech… and yet the very government that grants us these rights plays a huge part in what is reported from what is now. The media takes on many forms… print, radio, television and now the Internet.
March 5, 1770 – During the revolutionary war, the Boston massacre was seen by many as one of the pivotal acts that began the War of Independence. In colonial times, it was reported that the British Soldiers fired into an unarmed crowd of civilians killing 5 colonists. In image after image the British were depicted as firing at the backs of civilians. Sure the colonists were unhappy with the Townshend Acts… Sure the soldiers were provoked… but Paul Revere and the other revolutionaries used the media to spin the event to present an unfavorable view of their adversary.
Late summer, 1933 – During World War II Hitler, and Josef Goebbels understood the power of the radio. Before 1933 radios in Germany were beyond the reach of most citizens. The Nazis commissioned (and late subsidized) the making of an affordable radio, the Volksempfänger. The radio could only receive signals from within Germany and at the time the Reich Broadcasting Corporation had a monopoly. It was during the Nüremberg Rally in 1933 that Goebbels delivered the “The Racial Question and World Propaganda” speech. It was also during this speech that he tried to place blame on the decline of Germany at the feet of the Jewish Race. Later he invites the world send its journalists and representatives to Germany so that they can see for themselves the courage and determination of the government (Goebbels, 1933).
September 26th, 1960 – The first televised presidential debates… John Kennedy and Richard Nixon faced the American people. Kennedy (energetic, youth, polished)… Nixon (sickly pallor, “unshaven”, uneasy)… If one were to take away the visual aspect Nixon won the debate… add back the visuals and Kennedy won. At election time, more than half of all voters reported that the Great Debates had influenced their opinion; 6% reported that their vote was the result of the debates alone (Allen, 2009).
January 17, 1991 – The start of the Gulf War. Iraq had invaded Kuwait… Coalition forces were striking back at the Republic guard. Iraq fell within a fortnight. Press coverage of that evenings events showed shadowy green images of the Iraqi sky flooded with Anti-aircraft tracer rounds. Not up close and personal but from a far. In her article, “Will Truth Again Be First Casualty?”, Jacqueline Sharkey sums up the media coverage succinctly…
The Gulf War included unprecedented restrictions on the press by the military, and an extensive campaign by the White House and the Pentagon to influence public opinion by presenting Americans with carefully controlled images and information concerning the conflict and the issues surrounding the Bush administration’s decision to use U.S. troops to resolve the crisis. The result was a defeat for the First Amendment guarantee of press freedom and the public’s right to independent information about the political decisions that can lead to U.S. military involvement abroad, and the ramifications of such involvement.
Now… As I have said in the past and will say again. Government manipulates the press because they know the power of information. They know when to withhold information. The second gulf war (March 20, 2003) was not about September 11th… It was not about Weapons of Mass destruction… Now it was about oil or the more unthinkable…. that the younger Bush wanted to finish the job the elder Bush could not. The American people were misled by the President through the media… got us involved in a war that to this day we are still dealing with!
Now any one want to talk about the Federal Reserve?
Resources:
Allen, E. A., (2009, May 5), Kennedy-Nixon Presidential Debates, 1960, Retrieved on October 10th, 2009 from http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/kennedy-nixon/kennedy-nixon.htm
Goebbels, J., (1933), The Racial Question and World Propaganda, Retrieved on October 10th, 2009 from http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/goeb41.htm
Sharkey, J., (2001, Sept. 21), Will Truth Again Be First Casualty? Retrieved on October 10th, 2009 from http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/papers/vp01.cfm?outfit=pmt&folder=34&paper=128
