The first statutory duty of straight speak for politicians and officials shall apply also to the media.
With photography and news stories, it's hard not to view what one is seeing - as reality. And yet these stories and images are mostly taken out of context, and elements are suppressed and magnified, and if reality remains in the final image - it is distorted. Less of an issue when multiple perspectives colour in the true reality - but seriously problematic when interests are manipulating these distortions and their audiences for nefarious purposes.
Why and how does our view of reality get distorted through our media? Who benefits from all this? In this episode we pick over the presence and absence of major issues, who owns the media in the UK; the role of the press and how it might be fixed.
Talking points:
The main lies - our environmental predicament
News as entertainment
Truth and "balance"
The Fourth Estate myth
News ownership and political power
The friend-enemy distinction
Diversity of media, ownership and corporate governance
Constitutional court as arbiter
Noble role of journalism
Citizen scrutiny in East Lancing, Michigen
Links:
Many books on the news media as political institutions(article)
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/fox-news-propaganda-eric-alterman//
Citizen scrutiny in East Lancing (article):
https://eastlansinginfo.news/about-eli/
“Seaspiracy” - documentary on confusion and malice in global fishing (Netflix, 1 hr)
https://www.netflix.com/title/81014008?s=i&trkid=13747225
Former US intelligence director backs Turnbull and Rudd’s call for Murdoch media inquiry (Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/apr/21/former-us-intelligence-director-backs-turnbull-and-rudds-call-for-murdoch-media-inquiry?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Who owns the British media? (Wikipedia):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media_in_the_United_Kingdom
Book recommendation:
Re psychology, and us all wanting to believe something other than what is, including the politicians stuck in a dysfunctional system:
Jackson, Jodie. 2019. You Are What You Read. London: Unbound.
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