Thinking Out Loud - Media, Racism and Politics

Mainstream media is way out of control. They have always put whatever spin best suits their needs on a story by story basis. But of late they seem intent on creating unrest where none, or barely none, exists.

I grew up in Philadelphia in the '60s and am no naive ninny when it comes to racial tensions. My parents always taught me that each individual, no matter race or religion et al, should be taken on their own merits. Yet I saw time and time again people around me be hateful towards others not like them without ever knowing the individual. I was even the victim of a mugging while in my teens by a gang of black boys.

Still, I took my parents teachings to heart and have tried to pass these values along to my children.

I am not naive enough to believe that racism does not exist, but I have found that though the years it has grown tired and weary in the face of mutual struggles. In the Navy during the late '70s and early '80s, I worked alongside people of many religions and color and background. No matter these differences, we had a shared existence and dependence on one another.

Today, there are certainly pockets of those who retain a grip on the old hatreds and fears and anger. But these are just that, rare instances. However, the mainstream media would have you believe that it is a higher percentage of the population than it is.

Why? It makes better copy. It makes more interesting news.

Take the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. News reporters came south and wanted to find out how having the Olympics being in Atlanta was affecting the local populace. Did they find the professional who worked in the city and had to deal with the traffic headaches? No. Did they look to the businesses to see if there was the expected economic gain anticipated? No. They found the most loud mouthed, obnoxious, beer bellied, coverall wearing, toothless yahoo they could find and got quotes like, "Down here we gots our ooooown version o the 'lympics." And showed a bunch of rednecks belly flopping into a mud pit. And this is how they represented the typical southerner to the world.

Now, we have a most historic event in American history. A woman and a member of a minority faced off for the Presidential nomination for a major political party. And a minority won. Now this intelligent and charismatic young man will be running for the highest office in the land. It is historical because for our whole history, we have told our children they can grow up to be whatever they wanted, even President of the United States. Until now, this was only true of a portion of the population, i.e. white boys. And the mainstream media had many many chances to showcase this fact, showing that everyone truly does have the same opportunities; be they black, white, Hispanic, Asian, male or female.

But what do they do? They dive into the least common denominator and play the racism slant. Will white America really vote for a black man? Will the ones who wanted a woman in the White House really not vote for the black man that took her chance away? Is America ready for a black President? And the biggest spin of all, if you don't vote for the black man you must be racist!

I will tell you two things flat out right here. I was extremely impressed when I first saw Barack Obama speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, and am still awed by his intellect and charisma and genuine enthusiasm. And I will not be voting for him in November.

Its not because he is black, as most mainstream media will try and tell you. It is not because I want to "keep the White House white," as some reporters commented on weeks ago. It is because I am somewhat of a conservative person (though I do hold some centrist and liberal ideas ), and he is the most liberal Senator in the Senate. I applaud, and agree with, his desire to move America in a better direction and make changes no one in Washington is really willing to make. But I very much disagree with the way he intends to go about it.

Does this make me a racist? Of course not! I would have voted for Colin Powell or Condi Rice, both of whom share more of my conservative ideas than Senator Obama. But this doesn't play well with mainstream media's idea of newsworthy items.

So they will continue to place the worst examples of Americans in the spotlight. They will continue to pander to the lowest common denominator in our society. And they will continue to call it the news and say they are fair and unbiased. All of which is a total bunch of bovine waste matter.

Agree with me, disagree with me, thats up to you. No matter. This is just me, thinking out loud.

Have yourself a great day!

(There were so many great quotes, I couldn't pick just one for the subtitle. So here's some of my other favs for you to contemplate.)

"People shouldn't expect the mass media to do investigative stories. That job belongs to the 'fringe' media." - Ted Koppel

"You can crush a man with journalism." - William Randolph Hearst

"As the mainstream media has become increasingly dependent on advertising revenues for support, it has become an anti-democratic force in society." - Robert McChesney

"The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses." - Malcom X

"I think that everyone is kind of confused about the information they get from the media and rightly so. I'm confused about the information I get from the media." - Bob Woodward

"The Media is ruled by Satan. But yet I wonder if many Christians fully understand that." - Jimmy Swaggart

"Whoever controls the media, controls the mind." - Jim Morrison