BRYCE ON AMERICAN JOURNALISM
– And turning the public into reporters.
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As we all know, one cannot survive in a physical vacuum as our bodies require air. Nor can we make intelligent decisions in a news vacuum void of honest journalism, thereby falling prey to propagandists. Admittedly, American journalism was founded on political opinion as many different newspapers spun the news as far back as the 18th century. However, nobody at the time made a coordinated effort to control the news as there were many different players involved at the time.
I have been a news junkie since I was young. Tragically, I now find I am on my own. Since the 2020 election I lost all respect for the news media and simply do not trust them. This includes newspapers, radio and TV, and social media. Truth and trust is what is at stake here.
I grew up with the New York Times and Chicago Tribune, both of which I thought were reliable. As our family moved, we also embraced the Cincinnati Enquirer, and the St. Petersburg Times (now Tampa Bay Times). They too seemed reliable at the time, but now their slanted reporting is overbearing. There have been so many factual inconsistencies and political spin in their reporting, I no longer consider them a reliable source of information. I simply do not trust them. Frankly, Russia’s Pravda newspaper is probably more reliable. I consider this rather sad as I am one of the last generations who relished reading a newspaper at the kitchen table over a cup of coffee. Alas, no more.
In terms of radio, I used to enjoy listening to the news from CBS and ABC while driving in my car (I can still remember their musical intros). For some reason, NBC didn’t seem to be a major player here. Regardless, these news sources appeared authoritative and trustworthy, but those days are long gone.
For TV, I was a Huntley-Brinkley man (NBC) for many years, and took their reporting to the bank. John Chancellor followed and did a capable job. However, when Tom Brokow took over, I sensed political spin creeping into the broadcast. Then along came Brian Williams and NBC lost my trust forever. I followed Fox News for the last few years, but they lost me with their coverage of the 2020 election, as did a lot of people who left in disgust. CNN and MSNBC are non-entities to me. After a political speech, I would often tune into them to see how they translated it. The speech I watched was nothing like what they interpreted. It was like matching English to Swahili; I hadn’t a clue what they were talking about. Bye-bye TV news.
Then came the era of social media which originally was considered a great way to communicate to groups of people. Unfortunately, social media giants began to flex their muscles and censored conservative news and opinion. So much for the 1st Amendment. Such censorship caused people to look elsewhere on the Internet for free speech. It also meant the Social giants were controlling the news and political opinion. This is what we call in the biz, “propaganda” (see Joseph Goebbels), it certainly cannot be construed as legitimate journalism. This brings up a point, the manipulation of the news is likely run by some diabolical person, like Goebbels. George Soros perhaps?
To my way of thinking, there is no longer a reliable source for news in this country. Everything is written to fit a specific political ideology. This forces the average American to seek out news on their own. We should all resent being forced to become reporters as we just do not have time for this. However, this is our only alternative as there is no longer legitimate journalism being exercised in this country.
What we are witnessing is not just a change in the political landscape, but a change in our overall culture; A change in the American way of life.
This is why I contend we are living in a news vacuum, thereby making us more controllable. Huntley-Brinkley would be spinning in their graves if they knew what was going on, and I’m sure Goebbels would love to run Google, Twitter and Facebook. I can imagine him drooling all over his keyboard.
I would like to believe now is a good time for a new journalism syndicate to emerge and challenge the status quo, an entity based on honesty and integrity. The reality though, it is hard to derail a system fueled by politics, such as the $11B from the 2020 election, along with a decline of our moral values which accepts the current mode of operation.
Mark my words: We need to change the system before the system changes us.
Keep the Faith!
P.S. – For a listing of my books, click HERE. These make great holiday gifts!
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Tim Bryce is an author, freelance writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 40 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at [email protected]
For Tim’s columns, see: timbryce.com
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Copyright © 2020 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
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