Freedom of the Press and Propaganda

[wellwisher]

The press in the United States is protected by freedom of the press. This was to make sure the government could not suppress the truth about its own scams and scandals. But what happens when both political parties, and even the government, use the press as propaganda machines; mercenary press? The press will no longer stand apart reporting scams, but will become extensions of the scams.

For example, recently declassified documents showed that Hilary and Obama both knew the Benghazi book explanation was a fabrication. Then knew it was terrorists but decided to go with the lie. The main stream media has not run this story in proportion to the corruption, but was told not to run the story so people can remain in the dark. Somehow stopping traffic for 3 hours is worse. This is not objective journalism but misleads through calculated omission of facts. This is different from freedom of the press; freedom to mislead.

The question is how do you deal with journalist manipulation, by powers to be, while maintaining the freedom of the press?

One way would be to classify or rate members of the press, into different categories, so the consumers of information can chose truth, propaganda or lie. Those who demonstrate unbiased objectivity to news stories will be called journalists Cat 1.

The propagandists would be labeled as journalist Cat 2 or Cat 3 based on their ratio of objective to omission and manipulation. Then these ratings are published for the consumers of news. Everyone in the media will be free to tell the entire truth, part of the truth, omit facts or down right lie. The consumer will know who is who and can choice what they wish to hear without them being victims of a scam called the truth.

 

[billvon]

One way would be to classify or rate members of the press, into different categories, so the consumers of information can chose truth, propaganda or lie. Those who demonstrate unbiased objectivity to news stories will be called journalists Cat 1.

The propagandists would be labeled as journalist Cat 2 or Cat 3 based on their ratio of objective to omission and manipulation.

You'd probably need a Cat 4 for FOX News.

 

[joepistole]

The press in the United States is protected by freedom of the press. This was to make sure the government could not suppress the truth about its own scams and scandals. But what happens when both political parties, and even the government, use the press as propaganda machines; mercenary press? The press will no longer stand apart reporting scams, but will become extensions of the scams.

For example, recently declassified documents showed that Hilary and Obama both knew the Benghazi book explanation was a fabrication. Then knew it was terrorists but decided to go with the lie. The main stream media has not run this story in proportion to the corruption, but was told not to run the story so people can remain in the dark. Somehow stopping traffic for 3 hours is worse. This is not objective journalism but misleads through calculated omission of facts. This is different from freedom of the press; freedom to mislead.

The question is how do you deal with journalist manipulation, by powers to be, while maintaining the freedom of the press?

One way would be to classify or rate members of the press, into different categories, so the consumers of information can chose truth, propaganda or lie. Those who demonstrate unbiased objectivity to news stories will be called journalists Cat 1.

The propagandists would be labeled as journalist Cat 2 or Cat 3 based on their ratio of objective to omission and manipulation. Then these ratings are published for the consumers of news. Everyone in the media will be free to tell the entire truth, part of the truth, omit facts or down right lie. The consumer will know who is who and can choice what they wish to hear without them being victims of a scam called the truth.

Except those “recently declassified documents” were not recently declassified nor do they say what you claim they say, and except for the fact that Bridgegate didn’t stop traffic on the bridge for just 3 hours, it delayed bridge traffic for several hours each day over the course of 4 days. It impeded emergency services. It put public safety at risk and it resulted in economic damages and will likely cost the State of New Jersey millions.

If we were to do as you propose, I don’t think you would like the results. Fox News and conservative talk radio are nothing but Republican Party propaganda. Independent academic study after study has consistently found Fox News viewers to be more misinformed than folks who watch no news at all. I think Billvon is being kind with a 4 rating for Fox News and company. If you really want more fairness in the American media, then you would reinstate the Fairness Doctrine – something Republicans have been steadfastly against as they nixed it back under Ronald Reagan. The “Fairness Doctrine” was upheld by the Supreme Court and was the law of the land for many decades. It worked. It simply required media to be fair and honest in their reporting of important issues. That is why they called it the fairness doctrine. If Republicans/neoconservatives want fair and honest reporting, why have they steadfastly opposed reinstatement of the “Fairness Doctrine” and why have Democrats consistently favored its reinstatement?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine

“The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission's view, honest, equitable and balanced. The FCC decided to eliminate the Doctrine in 1987, and in August 2011 the FCC formally removed the language that implemented the Doctrine.[1]

The Fairness Doctrine had two basic elements: It required broadcasters to devote some of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest, and to air contrasting views regarding those matters. Stations were given wide latitude as to how to provide contrasting views: It could be done through news segments, public affairs shows, or editorials. The doctrine did not require equal time for opposing views but required that contrasting viewpoints be presented.[2].” – Wikipedia

 

[barcelonic]

@OP you nail it on the head basically, but just to be clear the claim that the American media is protected in that way is false. They are not protected by freedom of the press and i do believe you've illustrated this well. That is something they say, much like in law when they say we are innocent until proven guilty but everybody knows it isn't true.

There seems to be an interesting paradigm in the world right now that makes people less likely to believe what they see if an 'Offical' response has denied it:

US gov't never addressed key questions in the 9/11 enquiry but saying nothing is better than a denial and people let it go.
Corporations deny wrongdoing and more people are in their corner than when a brutal murderer denies a crime. In fact, cases like the West Memphis boys show how the brutality of a crime correlates precisely with the number of people who believe those arrested by police are guilty. The police could arrest anyone and we would want them hanged before examining the facts for ourselves.

Why do we so wrongly believe what we are told when it comes to the guilt of a civilian yet simply accept and tolerate civil/corporate wrongdoing as long as they deny it or refuse to comment. If i was wrongly arrested for a brutal double homicide nobody would believe i didn't do it, yet if a corporation does something wicked we simply accept their denial? Personally i believe it is because it is the only way we know how to deal with the reality that we cannot hold them to account because the system protects them and gives us no power to do so.

In short, the US press has not been free for decades. The fact they still use this expression should mean absolutely nothing to us. We will never get them to stop saying it; all we can do is stop believing it.

 

[cosmictraveler]

The media is being manipulated and paid off to do as they are told and not to "rock the boat" everywhere in the world not just America as I see it. Corporations and governments make the media do what they want them to do by either paying them off or intimidation. The media is no longer a "free press" as I see them but a bunch of phony businesses run by other businesses/governments.

 

[spidergoat]

Freedom also means the freedom to produce propaganda. Who do you propose should be assigning news outlets a grade for their objectivity?

 

[cosmictraveler]

Freedom also means the freedom to produce propaganda. Who do you propose should be assigning news outlets a grade for their objectivity?

There is no "objectivity " any longer for they all are being manipulated by many interests.

 

[joepistole]

Freedom also means the freedom to produce propaganda. Who do you propose should be assigning news outlets a grade for their objectivity?

I think we all know the answer to that question. Rabid extremist Republicans like Roger Ailes, else it wouldn't be "fair and balanced.

 

[iceaura]

Like all such blanket condemnations of the entire body of US news and information, the OP comes to us from a purveyor of rightwing corporate propaganda, with illustrations one finds only on such venues as Limbaugh's radio show or Hannity's television program.

There is a rightwing authoritarian corporation-funded military and fundamentalist based political faction in the US (there was once a name for this category of ideology supporting this political faction - it was called "fascism" - but these days one is recommended to write out the whole description). This faction has been staging a power grab for the past thirty years or so, and among the characteristics of a power grab by this faction and ideology is a serious, overwhelmingly funded, cutting edge sophisticated, non-stop and ubiquitously prevalent propaganda/marketing effort featuring what its founders themselves called "big lies".

They have purchased not just programming time or ad space but their own television and radio stations, not merely funded intellectual efforts and influenced existing venues of inquiry but set up their own "think tanks" and "research" institutions, not merely found loopholes in inconvenient regulations and practices but had them repealed and replaced with their own preferences written by them, and of course created an entire industry of bribery and corruption and influence surrounding all sources of political power or legal authority.

One of the current big lies they are selling nowdays,

in a necessary and apparently reasonably effective response to the danger they face from great numbers of US citizens experiencing the consequences of their overt influence and achieved policies of the recent past,

is the notion that all sources of news and information are equally corrupt and dishonest and misleading and deceptive and inaccurate and biased and so forth. This became necessary when physical reality and events made the corruption and deception and inaccuracy and dishonesty and so forth of their purchased news and influenced media impossible to conceal.

Now the obvious circumstance that no news or information source is or can be completely free of error, viewpoint, tendency, the occasional peddling of influence, etc, is something we all recognize. But the lie that there is no matter of degree here, that all US media are equally and equivalently corrupted and deceptive and dishonest, is another matter entirely. That lie benefits those who have done us serious harm by way of massive deception and fundamental corruption of our public discourse, at the expense of the honest and accurate and ethical and informative who were and are doing us good and attempting to provide us what we needed to prevent that serious harm.

Analogy: if you want to mow your lawn, you'll find all lawnmowers handicapped by friction and impurities in the fuel. But it you conclude that there is no difference between a regular mower that needs oil and a fuel filter and the occasional cuss-word powered spark plug cleaning, and one with a vandal-drained oil reservoir and sugared gas tank, you are going to be living in the tall weeds until you come to your senses.