Andy sent me this link by PM:
http://cw11.trb.com/news/local/newsatten/wpix-factfinderhome,0,2707029.htmlstory
I was replying to him when I thought why don't I just post it here.
Martin's critique of US media
"Fact Finders: Cops Caught Drinking On The Job"
I say "US media" because this clip is entirely characteristic of what I've seen on Fox News, CNN and assorted clips posted online. That doesn't mean every outlet is equally bad. It might also apply to Canadian media, but I can't say.
This video shows in a nutshell everything that's wrong with your media. First of all, and I know this is going to sound subjective, everything has to be sensationalized. Listen to these reporters for a minute and hear the tone in their voices. The tone is not merely serious and professional, it's kind of excited. That already creates a weird atmosphere. Where I come from (and currently live for that matter) news is not presented this way. It is just a statement of facts without emoting.
Then you have the story segment itself. Cops caught drinking and... not doing much else while standing on the street. Let me be the first to say: So fucking what? According to the reporter, they're not on duty, they're working for some private company at this time. So the only thing you could really hold against them as cops is that they're drinking in uniform, which makes for a bad image. If they hadn't been in uniform it would be nothing else than some random civilians drinking on the job and of course we know that neeeever happens right?
This is an example of the ridiculous moral crusade the media is waging. Did these cops cause any trouble? Did they harm anyone? No. The worst thing to come out of this is that cops get a bad image. Yes, image, because that's what really matters, isn't it? The guy they interview says he was "dumbfounded" by this video. I guess he's never seen anyone cross against the red light either. The reporter says "the video tape you're watching is stunning (...) and with each passing second it becomes more and more jaw dropping". Either he's a total drama queen or he's putting a ridiculous spin on this tape.
Then they interview the guy who shot this tape. They mention how he's been accused of being anti-cop. Then they table the same accusation some halfwits have made and ask him if he hates cops. What kind of a "news" program is this? News is supposed to be about facts, not people's feelings on assorted subjects. And where do you come off asking a guy who shot a tape of drunk cops if he hates cops? That's about as relevant as the color of socks he was wearing that day. HE is not on trial here, he did nothing wrong. But even if he had, they would still ask the same question. About his motives, not about breaking the law. Because we have a moral crusade to pursue and it's not gonna run itself.
Let's look at that scene from another point of view as well. The case is: off duty cops caught on tape drinking. Now listen to the questions this guy is being asked. "Do you hate cops?" "To people who would say 'you are anti-police and you wanna make cops look bad', you would say?" The guy made a fucking tape. "Do you hate cops?"??? The issue is getting completely washed out here. They're changing the subject to something that isn't even remotely the subject. If he were a guy who had turned in a black guy for robbing a bank they would have said "you've said that you like Whites, does that mean you hate Blacks?". Because everything has to be painted black and white. Democrat or Republican. Conservative or liberal. If you're not A, you must be B. There's no room for nuance left, everything is either good or bad. Drunks cops = bad. Shocking. Dumbfounding. Jaw dropping.
People in the rest of the world are watching what's going on in the US and we can't make head or tail of it. Bush is defending his Iraq policy without presenting any justification and we just can't believe he gets away with it. Then you have the media commentary that exonerates him because "god spoke to him" and "his heart was in the right place". Who the fuck cares? What he did was illegal, so arrest him already and put him on trial! But since the ultimate truth is the moral one, that is more important than the legality of a person's actions. And since everything is painted black and white, the details don't matter. So since "his heart was in the right place" and therefore what he did was mostly "good", it means it could not have been wrong, so he's in the clear. Nevermind the actual laws he broke.
These news programs are not news. I'll be kind and call them entertainment, although it's much more insidious than that. The news is emotional rather than factual. The reporter tells you that you're supposed to be
stunned and your
jaw is supposed to
drop as you watch this
blatant conduct. There is absolutely no room left for reporting just the facts, and letting the viewer make up his own mind. You're being manipulated into this mindset that there is good and bad in the world, no quibbling. Conservative or liberal. You're either with us or against us. I've been watching Hollywood movies since I was a kid, and they are almost always based on a fictional morality of "good guy" and "bad guy". As I started growing up I found that simplistic distinction troubling. But hey, it's just a movie after all. But when you see politicians and media pundits talk about "good guy" and "bad guy" it seriously makes my skin crawl. Those are concepts we use in fairy tales told to children, they have no equivalent in the real world.
And then people debate whether the media has a "liberal bias". What's the difference? When your standards of journalistic integrity have dropped to this level, it hardly stirs the pot.
Buy on AliExpress.com
