Our society has come to an important crossroads. It is widely accepted that we live in a global village. On some level, we understand the interconnectedness of all things. In particular, we have come to a point where we accept that the actions taken by others in remote locations can affect us profoundly. As we are unable to be in all places and are unable to know all things, we require the ability to obtain information about far away events. Accurate information allows us to evaluate these events, examine how these events impact us, and then form opinions and take actions (if necessary) based on this information.
Given all of these facts, the prism through which we view this Byzantine maze is a crucial tool. Whatever prism we use must be clean, for lack of a better term. For many of us, prism through which we view these distant, but critical, events is the mainstream media. Unfortunately, the mainstream media is anything but a clean tool, and all indications are that the media is becoming dirtier by the day.
The examples of media malfeasance abound, but most will agree that the most egregious offences to true media principles emanate from the United States in the form of "advocacy" media-- most notably FOX news. FOX embodies what I refer to as "advocacy media, all the while vigorously defending the insane idea that it is "fair and balanced"-- the ideal that most of us would agree an actual news station should strive for.
Of course, anyone looking at Fox "news" with an objective eye would immediately conclude that it's columns, it's reporters, and even it's news stories are strongly biased. As a fan of John Stewart a part of me applauds their constant gaffes because they provide me with a great deal of entertainment. On the other hand, a larger part of me laments their lack of professionalism, as a person who understands the integral role that media plays in the construction of a civil society. Even more disconcerting, Sun Media Corp has recently announced plans to bring a network with the same bias to Canada-- a development that Canadians need like another Quebec referendum.
I hope, I really hope, that Sun Media Corp fails in Canada because my nation has no need of a version of Fox news. The problematic argument that will be advanced by people that advocate the need for an extremist network is that the market will decide. This argument makes sense from a market economics point of view. Things that sell have a market and should exist. The problem is that truth and honesty, something that media should strive for, do not factor into market economics. Fox works because it deliberately distorts the truth to make it fit into an extreme right wing view of reality.
Things to talk on still:
Everyone is an expert on everything, so no one is an expert on anything-- attack on expertise, entering new dark age
Teacher, policeman, lawyer-- if they approach their job in a biased way, they get (rightly) fired.
