The Incompetence of Mainstream Media

Interesting this new format. It would be nice if I could actually see some of it but the computer at work has decided that I don't need to see anything remotely related to a GIF file. As such, I'll have to do what I can to get information across without using all the nice tools that blogger gives us.

Most people know that I'm not a great fan of the media. Mrs. X and I joke all the time about how Fox is "unbiased news coverage" and we all know that everyone else is just varying shades to the left. The chief problem from all news outlets is the desire for sensationalism because this sells air time. Unfortunately, any well reasoned thoughts that are out there are squashed quickly. Aside from the prison scandal and the beheading of an American, the media would lead you to believe that we are getting our butts wiped over there. Whether this is deliberate or just an effect of going for the "grab you" headline is up to your political persuasion.

However, I would just say that I am still not hearing the true measure of whether the war should be discontinued. That is the soldiers themselves who are coming back. In the 70's we had large numbers of veterans (Mr. Kerry among them) who came back and said that what we were doing was wrong and that the war is unwinnable. I'm not hearing that now. In fact, from the array of blogs that I check in with, most military people seem to think that this is worth it. An example is this letter that was sent to a blogger from a soldier she knows. I will warn you that he's writing in the heat of the moment in a very us vs. them tone.

But these type of things are never covered in the mainstream media. Same with the UN oil-for-food scandal. I've seen very little coverage of that on the news because it doesn't grab you until you have a trial going and even then, procedure will get you so down that you won't care. Its not the nice and juicy Laci Peterson kind of trial. Or check on the Boston Globe's prison rape photos. They published very explicit photos of white males raping arabic females assuming they were from the prison scandal and then finding out afterward that they were taken from a porn site. You would think the fact that almost no female Iraqis have been imprisoned as combatants would have been their first clue. But its all just a rush to grab the next big headline rather than properly inform the public as to what is going on.

So, investigate for yourself and keep an open mind to what you see on TV or read on-line. There are always at least two sides to every story.