When I was growing up, I trusted Tom Brokaw for my news. In the 80s I made it a habit to finish my homework so I could watch the Nightly News before my family would huddle around our TV to watch all time classics like the Cosby Show, the A-Team, or the Dukes of Hazard. We didn't have a lot of money, we were simple people, and we depended upon the morning paper and the nightly news for information.
As an adult, I haven't seen the nightly news on a broadcast station in nearly a decade, and I cancelled my morning paper almost 2 years ago. I am also more informed today than most Americans could possibly have been in the 80s getting information from the nightly news and the morning papers.
With enormous resources today using new media for information, I have run into new problems. First, the separation of fact and fiction is now difficult to distinguish. Trusted sources cannot be trusted, an example would be, the US Government. Print media injects spin as fact, and TV media injects facts as spin. You cannot believe what you see, Katrina reminded us of this, just like you cannot believe what you don't see, the NSA wiretapping issue has reminded us of that.
Has the administration "Cried Wolf" once too many times? Is everything we get from the government propaganda? What makes Iran different than Iraq? Can you trust the media? If you ask me, the effort to keep Iran in the media cycle appears intentional. I thought North Korea was a part of the Axis of Evil, after all, as recently as today Bush compared the threats of North Korea and Iran as equals. Sorry, but I don't believe Bush is being intellectually honest in his comparisons. North Korea is contained to some degree, while Iran has nothing constraining it. Sounds like scare tactics and a bit of exaggeration if you ask me, not something I intend to get worked up about.
What does get me worried though is when I see new media, specifically bloggers and Internet watchdog websites get worked up over an issue while the Mainstream Media ignores the issue. That reminds me of the cartoon jihad, the 'no big deal' riots that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Muslims.
Today's 'no big deal' issue is terrorism, and I don't know what to make of it. Today, both the SITE Institute and The Middle East Media Research Institute are covering a story that has my radar up about an English terrorist who calls himself Raken Ben Williams. When I did a quick look around the blogsphere, I noticed the only blogger to run with it so far is Michelle Malkin, which doesn't exactly preach endorsement.
As the day has gone on though something has bothered me. First, it should be said I work in IT security, so I get updates through services contracted out through my employer. Three of our security services have elevated their risk assessment levels today, instead of violating my contract and quoting them, I will sum up what they say by quoting the CT Blog:
The level of "chatter" by al Qaeda operatives is currently as high or higher than in the months prior to 9-11, and the question in many parts of the U.S. and European intelligence communities is not if al Qaeda will strike again, but when. Much of the thinking centers on the near-term. This is also reflected in current corporate security alerts being circulated among elite business establishments.
This is consistent with what I am hearing today from our internal sources, but like all things, our reputable government is sending an inconsistent message.
The other thing that bothers me is we are due for a major attack. While his menions put out Al Qaeda tapes regularly, Osama bin Laden personally appears in tapes only when something big is about to happen, like the subway bombing in London, or 9/11, or 2 months ago. The question is, is something big about to happen?
Who would you believe? Bloggers and new media websites supported by pay services that provide specialized security information, or the US government and main stream media sources that completely ignore this issue?
Quite honestly I don't know whom I believe, but I think it is one hell of a tough question in the new America of the 21st century.