Can Media Control What We Know and Think?

I used to be a news junkie. I watched the local coverage at 4:30, national news at 5:00 and a different local news at 6 pm. I read at least one newspaper cover to cover and listened to the radio news rather than switching stations to hear another song. I did this everyday. I wanted to absorb all that I could.

Perhaps, as a police officer, I was hypersensitive. I started to notice that in many articles I would read or hear, “The police allege…” and “The offender’s family said…” That was upsetting for me with my background in journalism I have a great respect for the power of words. I read “Allege” as, they said it but it needs to be verified. I read “Said”, without any disclaimer, as this is accepted as fact. At first I thought attorneys for the news sources were just covering their bases. This continued and became more problematic for me. I stopped watching and reading the news because I no longer trusted it.

I became aware of numerous instances where the news coverage didn’t mirror the news. A very recent example of that kind of coverage would be the MSNBC reporter standing in front of a large building fire in Minneapolis while saying, “I want to be clear in how I characterize this. This is mostly a protest. It is not generally speaking unruly, but fires have been started…” In my opinion a “protest” resulting in millions of dollars in losses from arson and looting is a riot. If you disagree I would like to hear from you.

What do the MSNBC reporter’s words mean? If you couldn’t see the TV what would your take on the story be? I would picture harmless fires in the street, maybe garbage cans or piled up newspapers- not buildings.

I know the saying in journalism, “If it bleads it leads” and I know why it came about. More people will read about an armed robbery than a successful bake sale, myself included. I believe there is also a need for balance in reporting. I say this because if only the negative stories about a subject matter are printed how can the reader come away with anything but a negative view of that subject?

BIAS AGAINST POLICE?

Would there be a defund the police movement if the police were treated fairly by the media? I don’t think so.

Most of you remember Michael Brown, the “Unarmed Black man” that was shot by Ferguson MO Police Officer Darren Wilson. We heard about this “atrocity” for weeks, rioting resulted from yet another example of alleged “systemic racism” in policing! When the dust settled it was proven that Darren Wilson was only doing his job and encountered Michael Brown who had just committed a “strong arm robbery” at a small store. Wilson spoke to Brown and was attacked by Brown.

Missed in the coverage were many key facts. Brown attacked Wilson, Brown refused to comply with lawful orders, Brown was running towards Wilson, against Wilson’s commands, when he was shot. Amazingly, when all this came out the coverage stopped. Weeks were not spent explaining how Michael Brown would be alive if he had complied with the lawful commands of Officer Wilson. We did not hear how Officer Wilson lost a career, or of his very serious injuries. We were not informed by the press that two lives were devastated by Michael Brown’s felonious actions. No! The media did not see a story here anymore. The media chose to move on to other stories. There was no need to try to patch the gaping hole they left in Wilson’s life. There was no need to patch the wrong impression they had given of “systemic racism” in policing. Wilson was completely justified, but few people know, because the coverage stopped. That’s not news reporting! In my opinion that’s propaganda! The press, as the fourth estate, owe us more.

How often do we hear national news coverage originating from Ferguson Missouri, Baton Rouge Louisiana, Batch Springs Texas, Tulsa Oklahoma, Cleveland Ohio, Portsmouth Virginia? The answer is we hear about it when a cop is at fault, or appears to be at fault and, again, coverage stops when the cop’s action is proven to be justifiable. In a few of these incidents the officers were proven to be at fault and convicted of various charges. In some the officer’s actions were ruled to be justified and coverage stopped.

My Question is where is the national coverage when a cop goes beyond the call of duty and saves a person often at great risk to their own well-being? In my career I have taken knives from a man high on a combination of PCP and Cocaine who was violating an order of protection, attempted to take my gun and fought with me for several minutes. I have recovered guns, raced to calls of shots fired and men with guns. I have also given my dress shoes to a shoeless, homeless man. I have given train fare to people who had not money and were stranded in my suburb, I sat with family members on death investigations and found numerous runaways. I seldom appear in newspaper articles about these deeds, I have never been covered in a national news article. I don’t need, or want to be, but I know that if I have that bad call before I retire, the one where I have to take a life, everyone will know my name.

IS IT ONLY BAD COVERAGE AGAINST THE POLICE?

How else might the press mislead us?

Have you noticed that the coverage of the Corona Virus stresses new infections, new deaths, number of total dead. Unless we search for it we do not see how many of the new infections are non-symptomatic, how the number of dead compares to an average flu, how does the number of dead compare to a flu epidemic, how many of the dead are over 65 ( according to Worldometers.info 72%). This information, I believe, would certainly calm the fear so many younger, healthier, people have as a result of the current hysterical media coverage.

The press has touched on stories of gunshot, cancer, and patients in hospice for other ailments, deaths being listed as Covid, but there was no follow up, no investigation. Why?

My answer to my question is yes the media is controlling how we think. I believe the media is taking us on a propaganda ride and I would like to get off. How about you?

Please comment and share.

Phil