What price is war?
The fascination of our president with a war against Saddam, and the behavior of the mainstream media in backing any executive decision is frightening.

Last week there was a Virtual March on Washington. Hundreds of thousands of americans picked up their telephones and called the Whitehouse and their state Senators offices to say they do not want us to go to war.

I participated in this "march." So did my mother, and several other people I know.

Recent polls show that most Americans do not want us to go to war. Most of us do not want to see our children die. Most of us do not want to spend the financial resources that a war will cost. Most of us feel we should focus on the real threats to our nations safety, Osama Bin Laden and Kim Il Jung, rather than Saddam Hussein. Yet, the march on washington barely emitted a blip in the mainstream news radar.

There's no doubt in my mind that the mainstream media shapes the thoughts of many Americans. The media needs to accept the responsibility that goes implicitly with their power to influence the minds of millions. So why is the media silent when it comes to anti-war protests and rallys?

It's pretty clear that the mainstream press in the United States gives Bush a free pass. He does not come under the scrutiny that former leaders have. Part of that has to do with September 11, 2001; the Media chose to support our leader in our countries greatest time of need. I'm OK with that.

The other part though is the insidious, cancerous, part. The US "Free Press" needs ratings to survive. If they were locked out from the upper levels of our executive branch, they would undoubtably lose millions in advertising revenue due to a drop in their ratings. The fear of being locked out by the Bush Camp prevents them from presenting truly unbiased opinions.

This bothers me. Our media is not living up to their responsibilities to the populace that they shape. They are only reporting the news that certain parties want printed.

Although there independent sources of news (?), they're often mocked, ignored, or discounted by followers of the main stream media. The result is the only media you can "trust" is the media which is censored and controlled by our executive branch.

I wonder how foolish, ignorant, and dumb we must look to the rest of the world.

Posted at: 12:35 on 28/02/2003   [ /essays ] #