The title of this post could have been, The Yellowing of Truth but since we humans process what we receive through our five senses, Truth becomes a matter of perception. And it does not take much to alter this perception; how the media and other players do this is not new. There was a time in the USA when Yellow Journalism was a big deal.
During the 1890's William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer were the media giants, and their medium was the newspaper. Both of these fellows owned newspapers on the east and west coasts. The competition to sell newspapers was fierce; Hearst and Pulitzer had no problem being dicey with the facts - exaggerations and sensationalism left little or no room for the facts. The more something could be puffed up beyond reason, the more newspapers both sold. And during this "puffing up," MUS (made up shit) appeared, that could be dismissed later. This should sound familiar.
First we had radio and then television comes along and revolutionizes how information is gathered and then disseminated to the public. Added to this is the Internet. Someone once said, What is Truth? In our current arena truth is very light on facts. Instead of the honest rendering of the facts, we have two sides that tell us their version of Truth.
One side goes to the right while the other races to the left. What the public gets is distortion of what really matters - the facts. The public is treated to exaggerations, sensationalism, and MUS. These guys (networks, etc.) are not selling newspapers. They are pushing for viewer ratings and making money for their advertisers; the better the ratings, the more the $$$ for both. Hearst and Pulitzer would be envious. But something just came to light that needs a good look-see.
Within the last several hours (hours before this essay was posted), a senior White House staffer made a serious personal boast: according to this individual, he was responsible for "creating an echo chamber" in which he used the media to collect enough public and legislative positive sentiment to push through the Iranian Deal.
First, when you are a presidential staffer, you serve at the will of the President. Laying personal claim to anything should not just get you a presidential drubbing, but an immediate dismissal from presidential service. But if you are a real narcissist or psychopath, none of this bothers you. So why is this important?
It is a perfect example of how media can be manipulated to curry the required public opinion. The public needs to know the facts to make a proper response to anything that would require its response. The Yellowing of Fact and Yellow Journalism are alive and well.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Its been almost two years since this piece posted. Both The Left and The Right have their trolls, Internet and otherwise ,hell bent on telling you what to think, feel, and believe.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Its been almost two years since this piece posted. Both The Left and The Right have their trolls, Internet and otherwise ,hell bent on telling you what to think, feel, and believe.
Copyright 2016/2018 Terry Unger All Rights Reserved
