Miriam,
Shame on me. I added Amy Goodman because you've made it very clear
that you have become disillusioned in her. But I did not use the word
"Trust". My dad used to say, "I trust him about as far as I can
thrrow him". But Democracy Now is one of many sources that I listen
to.
As I look back over the years, I see a huge change in our American
Society. Our attitudes have changed dramatically. Because, in part,
to the constant barrage by the Establishment's propaganda. Along with
becoming less thoughtful toward others, we have become far more self
focused, as well as more violent. Not that we were ever a non violent
society, but as pressure is turned up to keep us at odds with those
people and groups we disagree with, our anger becomes more volatile.
Anyway back to the subject of reporting the news. In the 40's, which
is as far back as my own memories go, the news was presented in print
and on the air, as if it were handed down from some great neutral
source. And of course it was presented along with commercials. We
received the news along with the hucksters enticing us to want stuff
we couldn't afford, let alone that we really needed. We accepted this
as the normal way of life in our advanced civilization. This changed
when the Ruling Class became ever more greed driven. News, it seemed,
was a loser, financially speaking. For a period of time news rooms
were reduced in staffing, and experiments were tested to find the
times most people watched the news.
But it was entertainment that "saved" newscasting. Actors, both
gorgeous hunks and delicious bimbos oohed and awed and giggled their
way through the days happenings. Today we are entertained, seldom
challenged. We have been so infected that we even voted a Television
Celebrity into the top government job. A Presidential Huckster!
Is Donald Trump really the face we want to place in front of the
nations of the world? The Ruling Class of the American Corporate
Empire(ACE)doesn't care so long as the dollars roll in and so long as
they remain in control. The deck is slightly stacked. They have the
current control, they have the money, they have the Judicial System,
they have the military and the tools of war, and all we have are the
people. The question is, who has the People's minds?
Carl Jarvis
On 6/4/21, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl,
CBS did once deliver very good news casts. The basic model for delivering
news was different in the 40's and 50's than it is now. But nevertheless,
news delivery was influenced by government power. The real reason for
dropping those atom bombs on Japanese cities wasn't reported, nor was the
actual damage reported at the time. But the whole system began changing in
the 70's when the news departments were no longer separated from
entertainment on the networks. That was the big change that is written about
and acknowledged. The other changes aren't publicly acknowledged. If you
look at Seymour Hersh's career, you can see some of it. He wrote a book
about it a few years ago which actually got to BARD. He was a respected
journalist. He's broken some of the most important stories in modern
history. But as truth became less acceptable, he was frozen out of the mass
media. He was still writing articles for The New Yorker in 2006. By 2013,
you could only find his articles in the London Review of Books. I think that
2013 may have been the last time he was on Democracy Now. There are hundreds
of examples. I noticed that you listed Amy Goodman among the people whom
you still trust. I can't imagine how you can still trust her when she's sold
out on so many fronts: Julian Assange, Syria, Hong Kong, Nicaragua,
Venezuela, the Uyghurs in China, Glenn Greenwald, Daniel Hale, Reality
Wynner. These are some of the issues she's either
broadcast lies about or ignored altogether.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, June 4, 2021 9:09 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Matt Taibbi's article
Miriam,
That's a troubling thought, that you can't rely on people you once did.
I'll need to think about that. As I've said before, I listen to a large
number of people whose opinions, I believe, are based on sound thinking.
But I don't take them without question. I use Thom Hartmann as an example,
but I could as easily use Chris Hedges or Richard Wolff or Amy Goodman.
These thoughtful people are among a long list of reliable sources.
But your remarks also remind me of how different we are today, as opposed to
50 years ago. And my memories also reach back to the WW II days. I was
just listening to a newscast from the 1940's, John Daily was the main
newscaster based in New York with CBS. John and others delivered the news
with such authority that I find it hard even today to question their
validity. I wonder how much of my world inside my head was shaped by the
voices of John Daily and others? The major difference between then and now
is that I was a small boy and I was deeply impressed by people who delivered
the news with authority.
I do think that the cumulation of Establishment Propaganda has shaped
American's behavior. I think, for example that we are much more self
serving today, much more selfish, greedy and less kind to our neighbors.
But I am getting too long winded, so I'll close for now by reminding myself
that changing my mind is like changing my underware, it makes me much more
pleasant to be around.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/3/21, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm about to post an opinion piece by Matt Taibbi. What he writes
about, touches on what I was trying to say earlier when I wrote about
media coverage and how distorted it has become. The people whose
reportage and judgements I could once depend on, are no longer
trustworthy.
Miriam