Edward R. Murrow could answer that question. Would his answer
still be right?
This question has been
around almost as long as town criers cried in small towns. And so have
the answers. All of them open to debate.
First, let’s get rid of
the “formal” answer which is something like: well, ya gotta know what’s going
on in order for there to be a democratic society. How we doin’ so far?
Well, we have an oaf in
the White House, Oafs leading both houses of congress. We have a bunch of
states with legislators elected for life.
Careerists, one and all. And all with your best interests at
heart, just ask them.
All except members of
the school boards whose job it is to quack about the best interests of the
children. Oh, and keeping taxes low.
And, of course, that
democracy is dependent on the financial machinery. The papers, the radio,
the TV, the internet will surely tell us when there’s scamming going on, when
fake think tanks write cleverly -- or not-so-cleverly -- crafted lies to make
us think they’re on our side.
How does it feel to be
“loved” and looked out for by private equity funds, the Cloke Brothers
institute type tanks? Do you like the way your bank holds you in its loving
arms. Well, just think of how bad it would be without Fox News or the
Manchester Union Leader or the Washington Times or Drudge or Rush Limbaugh.
NOW how are we doing?
It’s a whole new world
out there and no one with any clout or credibility is informing us.
But all is not lost. The
modern purpose of news is to keep you up to date on J-Lo, the Kardashians,
groping movie moguls, the latest Hollywood divorces and sports, sports, sports.
Sports. So many people
read the papers from the back you’d think the national language was Hebrew. And
how about those Astros and their (alleged, supposed, suspected) signal
stealing. And those deflated ball New England Pats?
How many quarters does
it take to pay an NFL Quarterback?
Yes! We are informed.
And real reporting has
been on death watch for years. The Ham Pot, Nebraska Weekly Sun has set,
leaving this poor town without a newspaper founded in 1875.
Editors of print and
internet sites decide what stories they print or post by the number of clicks
they get, not the effect the local hand-in-the-till politician has on your
daily life.
Admit it. Most of us
don’t really care about that stuff as long as we can survive another day.
But the politicians are turning us all into cattle whose only worry is where
the next cud is coming from. We’re so busy doing that, we don’t have time or
interest in watching what they’re doing.
Grapeshot:
-I haven’t seen my US
congressman since he was first elected umpteen times ago.
-The only news on local
TV is from out of town.
-The local paper leads
with sports and repeats the story eight times in different spots on its
website.
I’m Wes Richards. My
opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Please address comments
to wesrichards@gmail.com
© WJR 2020
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