News and the Media

1. Who determines the news or sets the agenda? The government.
2. Why do we need a media that specifically represents difference interests of people of color? First and most obviously because they are powerful and growing minority. They just like the majority have their own specific problems, issues, interests etc. all things most likely not covered by the mainstream. If the media actually represented the American society in a equal representation I’m sure that history would be different. Like the video mentioned among African Americans the war was overwhelmingly unsupported and how ironic that the dumb white majority got brainwashed by the government propaganda and pushed full steam ahead for a war that now they too do not support. If only the media equally represented the majority and minority we would be in a much different and better situation.
3. What can be done to increase the mainstream media’s interest in other topics and concerns? Demand change. Minorities or topics that aren’t getting covered that should be covered should be demanded. People should organize and get together if they want change. The second video talks about the Civil Rights Movement, which is a perfect example of how group organization receives change. The video notes that if you want to see change you should, get in touch with commissions of the FCC and members of Congress. Write letters to your congressmen and/or the FCC.
4. Aren’t those interests everyone’s interests? The problem and reality is that these interests aren’t everyone’s interests simply because they are not made aware. People are lazy and in today’s society it does not help that we believe and demand instant gratification. If someone is not even happy but content with the way there life is and the way things are going for them then they typically don’t want to cause commotion in the fear that things might change from okay to worse. People are also selfish in the sense that if all is okay with themselves then the problems among or with others doesn’t bother them. People look at it as why help someone else fight for something I already have or something I don’t believe in. But when people do stand up and demand change for those who are demanding it, the message is more likely to spread and that’s when the change takes place.
5. How was the war initially reported by the media? Scripted, the president’s staff had given the president a list of reporters to call on. If you challenged anything, you were made to feel wrong. Somewhat of a patriotic police was created in that you don’t get that critical of a government that is leading us in wartime. Network and cable news originally used to report the count of civilian deaths but eventually the patriotic police came knocking saying they were being unpatriotic. Memos were sent out to lessen the pressure by counteracting the images of dead civilians with reminders of 9/11. Newspapers also suffered, one paper in Florida for example sent a memo stating, “Do not use photos on page 1A showing civilian casualties…our sister paper…has done so and received hundreds and hundreds of threatening emails…” Then Fox news pushed the Bush administration to use he harshest tactics possible clearly making a jab at CNN for being too liberal AKA too sensitive to the other side AKA unpatriotic.
The 9/11 terrorist attacks gave the Neo-Conservatives a motive for their long awaited cause of reforming the Middle East and going after Saddam Hussein and the media provided the platform. Every channel suddenly joined the bandwagon and Richard Pearle and James Woolsey both set on the defense policy board advising Donald Rumsfeld and both used there inside status to insure the press that the overthrow of Hussein would be easy. They even stated that the 9/11 attacks were a plan of Hussein’s, that he had even ordered the attacks.
The Washington Press Corp. follows the war in a bubble, in the Washington bubble or the Beltway Bubble. However those abroad understood the situation more clearly because they were in the thick of it, they actually had their hands in the actual situation. Bob Simons from CBS News 60 minutes said on the video, from overseas we had a clearer view, we knew things, we suspected things that perhaps the Washington Press Corp. did not know for example the absurdity of the connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda.
It was thought that the Pentagon and the Bush administration were stretching little facts about Saddam and the war. This led to asking questions about the sources and information that the administration and government relied on. Come to find out the administrations star witness on Saddam, Ahmed Chalabi provided a lot of evidence that was all questioned and eventually dropped by the CIA however he conned the media and the government into not only deeming him credible but paying him! He was only the first among a long line of “defectors” who swindled the media, administration, and American people into believing they were all credible sources who all provided extremely important information in the crusade for Saddam and for weapons of mass destruction. But then red flags started appearing, specifically in a New York Times piece causing reporters to be more skeptical. These “defectors” latched onto America media and milked it for all its worth and the biggest problem of all, the American public kept eating it up and excepting it for truth.
Then CBS 60 Minutes wanted to question the administration and challenge what they were providing as truth but they had to package it more softly than usual because questioning the government and the president can not only damage your credibility but possibly even ruin the organization. The government was using propaganda as a means to sell the war and sell their ideals. The administration wanted to pursue their ideals and the only way to move forward with those is to get your community involved so that you have more power. The administration, if successful would then have evidence that, if something had gone wrong, no worries because they had stated all their plans beforehand. In my mind this practice is no different than brainwashing. If someone is brainwashed they truly believe what they are told to believe. The US people truly believe that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction due to constant government propaganda so when the search ended up without weapons of mass destruction the US people didn’t blame the government or get angry with the administration instead they kept the faith that the government has their best interests.
The press and government are clearly in bed together clearly exemplified in the connection between the New York Times story break about “aluminum tubes” from anonymous sources and the appearance by vice president Dick Chaney on “Meet the Press.” Although it is stated that the sources were anonymous it is clear that Chaney knows a lot about the story, as a commentator on the video states, isn’t it clever to leak the story to the Times and then quote the story on a national respected television news show! When if you look back through news publications this was not the first time this story had been reported. What made this time different was that it had landed on the pages of the nations most credible newspaper when before it was reported in smaller papers not popularized to the whole country. But when citizens question the war and even one of the most popular democratic figures, Ted Kennedy, you are put on the back burner. You are given the tag of un-patriotic. “You either report the news the way we want it or we will hang a sign around your neck,” as stated by Ted Koppel in the last video. Most of the media ran stories in favor of the war but when it came to coverage of anti-war protests or stories not in favor of the war, well these stories were simply not covered.
The problem boils down to this, the main source that people consume their news from are the TV news outlets when they should be consuming their news mostly from print. Furthermore, TV news like what is cheap and what sells. Cheap guests that can provide opposing views on a subject and basically peck at each other provides more profitable entertainment then the very small pool of people who are actually credible and know what they are talking about. It is also easy to regurgitate what is spoon-fed to you instead of really getting out there and finding the truth and reporting on that. If you regurgitate you also win because you aren’t going against the grain raising questions about your credibility and your patriotism.
6. How has the media covered recent social protests? Jenna Six – Proposition Eight? Jena Six: the story first got a got a lot of attention from Louisiana papers and bloggers but once the Chicago radio station began reporting on it (WVON) it began sprouting curiosity among African Americans and eventually mainstream media who had not followed the story previously. They ignored it because “its not there story, its not what they are passionate about.” I feel like the same goes for Prop 8, I believe that the majority of America hasn't yet been sold on the idea that same-sex marriage should be legal so mainstream media only covers stories that highlight the denial of Prop 8. Personally I believe its upsurd, hello its 2009 and just like when African-Americans were denied the same rights as whites, same-sex couples are humans too and they too should have the same rights as any other straight American.
7. Was the media beneficial for the Civil Rights Movement? Yes, the second video touches on how the media proved beneficial for the Civil Rights Movement. The media helped in spreading the cry for equality and justice by the African American people. Although strides had been made for equality among all Americans, the South still remained mainly segregated. People in the North had little knowledge of the constant brutality that African Americans endured day in and day out but once the media picked up on the injustices and spread the word, the fight for justice grew. I strongly believe that if it weren’t for the media the Civil Rights Movement would not have been as successful and maybe not even successful at all.
8. Your thoughts and reflections on setting the news agenda, minority media and the media and reporting the war. I feel like many of my thoughts and reflections are woven throughout all my answers. Mainly I think that the American people along with all reporters and the media need to question more. And we should not be made to feel as if we are un-patriotic or deemed as outcasts, we live in country based on freedom therefore the ability to question should not be threatened. Knowledge is power and when it comes to questioning, inevitably I believe that only more knowledge can be acquired whether it is important or useless. But mostly everyone needs to wake up and understand that just because you vote someone into power does not mean that you trust them completely, when are people going to completely understand that a politician is a politician and scandal and corruption doesn’t just happen among those of the opposing view but guess what it can happen to your party too so get involved so that the corruption and scandal is lessened!