When you turn in the news, whether it is local or national, do you feel that you might be missing something? Perhaps not, if you have already been brainwashed into believing that what you get for news today is complete and comprehensive. If you do, then please join me at shouting out at “the Media” for packaging the news into news bites and fluff, which gives us nothing except the same garbage, whatever station you turn to.
If you obtain most of your news from television, you’re really screwed! All of the major networks are giving you the same news with their particular slant. Your major networks belong to corporations that have no interest in bringing you the news of the world, but are mainly in it for the revenue. General Electric owns NBC, CNBC and MSNBC. Disney owns ABC. News Corp. owns Fox. Time Warner owns CNN and CBS is a self-contained corporation. You can click here and select the corporation to see how many media companies they own. Virtually all of the major networks offer the same news, just packaged differently. The “Big Three” NBC, ABC and CBS are more interested in the popularity of the newscaster than the content of the news they report. In some cases, it has become a personality contest. Cable news follows a similar formula as CNN; the largest of the group continues to raid the major networks, looking for a rising star. For those who want to hear only what you want to hear, Fox supplies all you need if you’re a Republican and MSNBC does the same for Democrats. The repetition of Domestic news is deafening, with little or no international news for the average viewer. As for local news, it is more of the same with "man bites dog" news bites at local level.
If you are seeking any international news, your best bet for domestic coverage is PBS. They present a different format where they will give you the top news stories and then focus on several relative segments. It’s not perfect, but it does give you slightly better coverage. So there you are: watching the same news over and over again, digested in thrown up with the intent of being new. As for international news, there is only one place where you can find it. It is not broadcasted here in the States. It’s the BBC World News on the BBC news station, if you’re lucky enough to get it in you cable package. That is a sad state of affairs! In the US, we do not even receive CNN International, which is separate from the CNN we have for domestic consumption. When I was in the Peoples Republic of China in 2008, I could turn on the new flat screen TV in my relatively luxurious hotel room and watch either CNN International or CCTV (China’s largest TV network). Both were in English and both offered a full range of news. It was October and I watched Wall Street crash in several major Chinese cities, as well as receiving news from all over the world. CNN Asia International is based in Hong Kong. The absurd was that I could follow more international news in China than in the United States!
A recent survey asked British, Danish, Finnish and Americans questions regarding international affairs. Questions similar to identifying the Taliban. The Europeans came in with about 75% and Americans followed with 58% and we’re fighting the War! In the December 5, 2011 issue of Time Magazine, the rest of the world had “Revolution Redux”, with a n Arab rebel wearing a gas mask and the U.S. had a different cover: “Why Anxiety Is Good For You!” In another study, 9 out of 10 young Americans could NOT find Afghanistan on a map of Asia! What does that tell you? You can find international news on the Internet, but not everyone can try to chase down international news. When you restrict news to only cover domestic news and totally eliminate what’s happening in the rest of the world, you are restricting the ability to understand what is happening in the rest of the world. We are all connected and what happens in one place may well affect you at home. If you are totally isolated, your opinions and options are limited. If you have the time, take a look at what you can get free on the Internet. If you look at the choices for the US, it’s offering the same old crap! You still can find out what’s happening in the rest of the world from some newspapers and a few magazines, in particular: "The Economist". The average American, however, is too busy working one long or two jobs to try to make ends meet and hasn’t the time to look for the news. He or she may just have enough time to sit down for a half hour and catch the news. That is how America is dumbing down and that’s one of the tragic situations many Americans are in, and they don’t even know it! All they know is the crap that the American Television Media feeds them!
Do you want to laugh or cry?
To read entire article, Please click here