The Media: Either Dumb or Liars

I will admit that I have grown increasingly cynical. pessimistic, and nearly conspiratorial when it comes to our media and sources of information.  There is plenty of evidence that the entire industrial-media complex lacks any pretense of objective analysis.  Whether it was CNN allowing the Cuomo brothers blatantly blur the lines of journalistic integrity, or Fox often peddling Trump's version of truth, the media has shown itself to be a corroded institution. The reality is that our national media is little more than appendages for political parties willing to sacrifice the truth in service of an ideological narrative.  Without objective analysis, the truth slips into the abyss.  Without truth, we foolishly deceive ourselves into believing something that is not.  In the end, this leads to a collapse and an ultimate destruction of our society and culture.

Objective analysis requires a desire for the truth greater than our ideological biases and a willingness to confront facts that are contrary to our perceptions.  Objective analysis pushes back against our defensive mechanism that attempts to prevent us from the shame of being wrong.  It makes us vulnerable and uncomfortable.  It forces us into a dissonance that we do not like.  It is not an easy task, nor enjoyable, especially in the short term.  However in the long term, we are better for it.  Objective analysis forces us to confront the truth, wrestle with it, and ultimately accept it.  But building on the foundation of the truth is a much better proposition than building on shifting sands of deceit.

As Jesus said, the "truth will set you free".  And it is freeing.  But most of us would rather be slaves to our narratives.  We are cognitive misers, unwilling to let go of the stories we convinced ourselves to be true.  This is a result of our human nature.  We find our identity, our purpose, our worth in the narratives and perspectives we shape.  Much of what we believe is what we want to believe to be true as a means of self preservation.  The apostle Paul in his letter to Timothy, says that people will reject sound teaching and turn to people who tell them only what their "itching ears want to hear".  Ironically, the truth is is that we often find the truth inconvenient or troubling.

Our media, however, should be the institution that attempts to engage in objective analysis and expose the truth.  This is especially true of democratic societies in which people play an active role in the government and policy.  For democracies to be effective, the people need to be armed with the unfettered truth.  Even when an issue doesn't appear to have a "truth" per se, we at least need a critical evaluation of possible causes and, or consequences.  Instead, our media acts as political operatives designed to present information aligned with accepted narratives.  The result is a stronger polarization of society as both sides often double down on maintaining their narrative.

The major stories currently in the media that are examples of a disregard for objective analysis and the truth in service a narrative.  The "Anti-Asian Hate" narrative is a deliberate cultivation of a story that rests on circumstantial evidence and the inferences made do not add up.  Meanwhile, the reporting on the Georgia election law and subsequent Left-wing commentary has been a blatant mischaracterization and distortion of the facts (aka a lie).  The border crisis is a clear attempt to conceal the truth.  The Derek Chauvin trial has people arriving at predetermined conclusions.  Transgender debates bully people into silence and prevent alternative ideas from being heard.  The only reason Andrew Cuomo is still in office is because he has "D" next to his name.  Our nation's teacher's unions have disregarded science to the detriment of our school children's educational experience.  You get the point.  

Very few in the media have the courage to speak truthfully about these stories.  There is a real fear that if one does speak truthfully, they will be maligned and castigated by social media mobs and labeled all sorts of vile epithets.  Others fear that the public will use the truth to arrive at conclusions the media and elites fear.  There is a belief that there is a "larger truth" that needs to guarded from other "smaller truths" that may prevent the "larger truth" from being accepted.  For example, the truth about what is currently happening at the border may cause people to change their opinions about the Biden administration or Democrats.  The fact that George Floyd may have died from fentanyl lessens the credibility of last year's riots and BLM protesters.  

Which brings me to my major point.  Either our media lacks the kind of intellectual acumen needed to engage in critical and objective analysis or they lack the integrity to pursue the truth no matter where it lies.  There is no third option.  They are either dumb or they are liars.  Personally, I think our media has both the former and the later.  I won't name names, but they know who they are...at least the liars do.