Ms. Anonymous
stopped getting the local newspaper yrs ago as I realized that nearly every story was related to the government or a government entity, the library, the school district, the local city government, or Federal government; it was as if there was no life apart from the ubiquitous government borg…the newspaper told us that!! And having attended many school board meetings, county meetings and tax hearings (back when I thought that schools could be reformed, and was unaware they were working exactly as designed) I learned that the newspaper coverage often did not reflect what happened at the meetings. And if it wasn’t accurate on that, why on earth should I assume that they were accurate on any other news?
My own education in the press’s insouciance towards truth came during midterms one year in college. A politician running for re-election was speaking on campus; astoundingly, he wasn’t charging students to listen to his lies, but admission did require a ticket.
After sacrificing time I didn’t have to stand in line for said ticket, I naively expected to enter the auditorium; I figured his rally would provide an eye-opening respite from studying. But I and a hundred or so other kids soon discovered that his campaign had “oversold” the event. Our milling about in front of the venue made for great footage: reporters gushed about the “enthusiastic” reception we gave this Demonrat. But it was nothing of the sort. We were furious at his deception and cavalier squandering of our afternoon.
I already hated politicians, so this incident couldn’t increase my loathing of them. But I hadn’t dismissed the corporate media with its deliberate twisting of fact as a fourth branch of government.
I did henceforth.
11:11 am on October 8, 2020
