Digging through the news I keep a jaded eye about reporting. There was a time when journalists were bold enough to question authority and dig deeply into backgrounds. Today it's a different story (pardon the play on words). Sadly with shrinking budgets and skittish editors news is being perverted or at the least suppressed. Fearing the legal wrath of corporate owners not much of what you'll see hasn't been sanitized to the approval of some lawyer or well controlled editor. When we saw Fox News have a seat amongst the White Press briefings it was obvious that the days of accurate reporting were over. Why not let the National Enquirer or other supermarket tabloid have a seat as well? They could easily photoshop pictures and scramble a story like so much alphabet soup. Just wondering when they'll be able to accomplish such feats with video in near real time. Better not give them any ideas.
I guess it's true. It's easier to lie about something and get away with it today more than ever because the truth is only making it to the very fringes of main stream media. Far easier to lie, then lie about the lie and then when caught in that lie then lie again. I see no one remembers the story of the boy who cried wolf. Lies can bite you in the ass at some point. Doesn't seem that's so with politicians or much of what is reported today. When was the last time you saw a retraction on the nightly news? Ah that's right they never lie or misreport but they're doing it every day now and you don't even notice it. Where is Helen Thomas when we need her? Sure could use her kind of journalism now but I think those days are gone along with truthful honest questions.
The reason I bring all this up is because there is an ugly pattern unfolding in our nation. Looking for the cheapest labor management has taken it upon itself to replace once well paying jobs with cheap sub contractors some many owned by foreign companies. Look no farther than the auto industry in the south to see what's happened. What were once well paying family supporting jobs are now little more than subsistence work if even that. The nations ports are slowly becoming bastions of indentured servitude. But the final straw I believe was when foreign sub contractors were not even permitted to use port restrooms. I'm sure slaves of the Civil War era were afforded some accommodations in that regard. But none of this is making it to the main stream media which seems too busy reporting on trite and distracting news that no body really cares about. And the news that is making it is done so with the watchful eye of it's corporate masters. Wouldn't want to tick off the sponsors now and you never know a new sponsor could be waiting in the wings. This issue is not new. In the 1950s a show was dropped I kid you not because a contestant on a game show in a passing remark said "I'm a lucky guy". The show was sponsored by Camel cigarettes.
So I have to wonder when this McCarthy era ends. We can substitute Muslim for Communist today and the reportage is probably about the same as it was back then but now it's corporations who hold sway and not some drunken senator. This is no tin foil hat conspiracy theory either. The people protesting on the streets are no different than you or me because they are made up of the likes of you or me.
More later when it comes across my mind.
4 comments:
Back in the late 60's I made about five bucks an hour, as I recall. That was good enough wages to allow us to live okay without the wife working.
Now a family living wage is about thirty bucks an hour, frankly, I think it's all bullshit, just figures and smoke screens.
We should just go back to five bucks an hour and union people should stop thinking they are so special.
Actually, it's the greedy that drives things, they keep forcing higher wages, bringing up prices on everything of course.
Then folks like me have to try to keep up, or simply drop out of the game.
I'm sorry that some where misled by statements I made that were taken out of context.
If it wasn't for the union people you wouldn't have been making that $5 an hour and you would have been working 12 hour days six days a week Billy. You seem to forget things like that.
Problem is Randal nobody knows your context.
Post a Comment