The Perfect Storm of Government/Media Deception: New Communications Technology Lends a Helping Hand
Note: This January 2, 2005 BuzzFlash Editorial marks the second in 20 consecutive editorials BuzzFlash will be publishing through January 20th.
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL
Don't think BuzzFlash has given up harping on the corporate media. It's just that we talk about it so much, we sometimes forget to highlight the role of new communication technology in simplifying the news and flow of information down to the sound bite level.
Indeed, several technological developments over the past years have created a "perfect storm" environment for a media that surfs along the crest of the news, devoid of historical context. Furthermore, home entertainment options, cable news, the Internet, cell phones, and the omnipresent television screen have resulted in the merging of entertainment, celebrity news, sensationalism, and politics into one seamless industry. We are flooded with bursts of information that appear to arrive without any historical context.
Whether it's so-called news on FOX News or so-called FOX entertainment programs on FOX television (ironically, the epitome of the "cultural coarseness" the right wing loves to deride), it's all about what sells. In a world when it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between wall-to-wall entertainment options and news, news becomes entertainment, with its own marketing value to the companies that own news "divisions." This includes the big three (becoming littler everyday though): ABC, NBC, and CBS News, owned by Disney, General Electric and Viacom respectively.
A few years back, we recall a couple of studies that indicated voters couldn't distinguish between information that they received from campaign attack ads and what they received from television news and the newspapers. It's all a wash, because the medium, as Marshall McLuhan astutely observed, is the message. We have reached the age of one big infotainment media machine that relies heavily on official Bush administration public relations spin as its national political news source.
Yes, it's in large part due to the Republican bias of the corporate press, but it is also due, in equal part, to a 24-hours news access capability that emphasizes the latest headlines over historical context and questioning stories. It's hard to get "behind" a story, when the report itself is just a few sentences on the television news.
In the past few years, news cycles have become shorter, with a streaming barrage of headlines that rewrite history every six hours. Meanwhile, newspaper stories have generally also become less lengthy, with more wire service reports and syndicated articles in local papers. It is the rare American newspaper that any longer engages in serious and sustained investigative journalism at the national or international level. Investigative journalism is on the endangered species list. It upsets the status quo and it's too long and costly.
There is such a deluge of information instantaneously available that the ability to see the forest through the trees is a lost journalistic art. In fact, it's ridiculous to call most national television White House, D.C., and war reporters journalists. They are more headline gatherers who look for the most compelling stand-up spot for their evening "report." They wouldn't be allotted time to report the truth, even if it hit them in the face, because news outlets first go with the status quo spin of the White House -- and that runs out the clock.
Of course, the emergence of USA Today as a national paper set the tone for shorter "McNugget" news in the print media. But declining newsprint readership and increased budget cutting by corporate bean counters at newspaper conglomerates has also played a big role.
Modern news, for the most part, is a bit like riding on the high seas after a navy ship has been hit by enemy fire and is sinking. You see the surface of the ocean churning, but the captain on board denies that any dangers lurk beneath the waters. You tell him you just saw a school of sharks circling off the bow, rings of oily fire surrounding the ship, a boat full of "insurgents" off the bow -- and he assures you that it was all just an optical illusion. The only news today is that the surface of the sea is calm, he TELLS you and the damage to the ship will be repaired in no time. There's nothing at all below or on the water, no danger at all.
And then you stand at the rear of a deck with a camera man, an American flag flapping behind you, and do your stand-up.
Remember the headline is the captain's reassurance and remember the visual, a triumphant American flag. You can't see the sharks and insurgents anyway amidst the smoke and flames, as the boat lists to starboard.
And besides, there is only time for one headline, and people will have forgotten it by the next news cycle anyway.
Everything will be just fine, won't it?
Just finish your report before the ship sinks, got it!
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL