How the News Manipulates You

What are they Doing?!
This article goes for every news service on TV today but some are more guilty than others on a continuum of guilty to not guilty by both quality and frequency of what they are doing. For example, aside from their regular news channel, CNN runs the "Headline News" channel which repeats the news every 15 minutes. Every 3 hours they replace their news anchors who report the same news as the previous anchors. This is done to catch channel surfers who may see different newspeople and stop to watch.

This is understandable since news programs and channels are not in the business to help you get information. They are there to make money and they will do whatever it takes to get you to watch. Unfortunately, they also have a political agenda and will repeat invented catch-phrases and spread misinformation ad nauseum. They also discuss topics and people that nobody cares to hear about and make it sound like you absolutely have to watch to be hip with the in-crowd.

The Musical Disconnect
CNN now routinely plays alternative 80s and hip hop music in order to woo unsuspecting viewers from demographics that would never typically watch their programs. To many, this is more laughable than anything else. In order to appeal to as many viewers as possible, anchors cover many completely different stories in each segment.

One can easily discern the fony concern on behalf of the anchors as they put on their 'sad' face for a depressing story on soldiers murdered in Iraq and easily switching to their 'happy' face while briefly interviewing a pop star. Sure, this has been going on for a long time across all news broadcasts but it is now at the height of falsehood.

Of Gunmen and Explosive Devices
For the longest time, the media have been reporting terrorists as gunmen. What is a Gun Man? One who holds a gun? Is a police officer a gunman? A hunter? No, these have their own respective titles. But when it comes to random people in the Middle East shooting at civilians, they become gunmen. If it took place on American soil, they would be called terrorists. 

Why? Because that takes away from other stories in which the word 'terrorist' is used. Thankfully, many of the viewers who watch the news religiously have gotten caught up in their lingo to some degree.

Case in point: Until recently, I never really thought of the frequently used term 'explosive device.'
Just what is an explosive device? It's a BOMB. Viewers would benefit if the news were more parsimonious by using shorter terms and cutting down on the euphemisms.

Imagine if the news gave descriptions of EVERYTHING instead of using the correct label. "Two males of the human species were placing one foot in front of the other in a continuous motion until they arrived at the location in which they had set out to go before they began..."  By reporting 'explosive devices', they are doing what this last sentence just did. Just say it like it is: "Two men walked somewhere"... the clean, plain, truth is all we ask and we want!

How CNN Stoops to New Lows
CNN is the most pathetic of the 24-hour news channels. Anyone who gets all of their information from CNN is (very) strongly encouraged to look elsewhere. CNN has this terrible habit of reporting 'news' which has 'no independent' confirmation. 

In other words, ANYONE can make ANYTHING up, inform CNN and they will go out of their way to report it. Then, they will ad the small disclaimer at the end of the report saying that they didn't check the facts to see if what they reported was true, but reported it anyways. CNN does this ALL THE TIME.

It really caught my attention in 2002 when CNN reporters spent days saying how "500 'Palestinians' were killed in a West Bank raid" just because Saeb Erekat (Vice President of making up bullshit for the Palestinian Authority) said so. When the independent confirmation came in, they quietly said something along the lines of "Oh, by the way, only about 30 people were killed and half were Israeli soldiers who were ambushed when they entered a building that exploded."

Oh, and there's another example! With the news, objects just seem to "explode." You frequently hear reports of how "someone was in a car when it exploded and..." Funny how cars don't seem to spontaneously explode in the US! That's because a TERRORIST used a BOMB to kill someone in the car.

In late 2003, to my disgust, after sifting through THOUSANDS of potential news stories, CNN Headline news decided to report on cheating in relationships. Ok, fair enough and of interest to most viewers. The problem is that they went into DETAIL with a list of points on how to get away with cheating on one's partner. This is just more evidence of how disgusting the media have become.

Passive Versus Active
In order to sway the audience to their own agenda, the news will use passive versus active sentences. For example, when innocent Israeli civilians who are on their way home from work on a city bus are murdered by a suicide bomber, the anchors typically report how "Israelis were killed", a passive sentence But when 'Palestinians' die it is reported as "Israeli soldiers shot and killed Palestinians." This is done to created the image in viewers minds about who is doing the killing.

Boston Channel News 7 = Ignorance. Or is it ignorants?
You would think that the people who report the news have more brain cells than the average idiot. Well, it turns out they don't. Below is a picture of my TV screen. I took the photo during reports of the extensive blackout in 2003, after noticing that every half an hour (for several hours) when Boston Channel 7 news would update viewers on the blackout situation, the map they featured had MAJOR problems.

First of all, there is no CITY called Ontario. Ontario is a PROVINCE. In fact, the dot representing 'Ontario' is actually a small city and likely had power throughout the entire ordeal. Next, Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is a city IN ONTARIO. So why does the map show it in the PROVINCE OF QUEBEC?

Just FYI, I did not continue to watch this channel. I would just return every half an hour to see if they fixed it. They didn't, of course, and probably STILL don't know it made no sense. So if they can't get a map of CANADA right, how do we know that the maps they show us of Iraq and every other country on the planet is accurate?

Maps are one thing but this is representative of a much larger problem. Some mis-labeling is not the biggest deal but what if the wrong names are used in a news story? What if the truth is slightly distorted as this map is, even if someone in the newsroom might have known otherwise but didn't make that extra effort to confirm the information? 

Democrats and Republicans
Most of the major news channels have a liberal and democratic bias. As such, reports on Republican issues are typically done with use of the word 'conservative' sprinkled throughout the report, as if it were a bad thing. As if it's those evil conservatives that did this and that! Stories on liberal issues rarely contain the word 'liberal' or Democrat.

2004 is an Election Year
It is well known that being on TV can make or break you. Now that it is an election year, the news channels are having a field day with all of the personal bashing among democrats as well as the attacks on President Bush and the Republicans. 

FOX News claims to be conservative with their 'fair and balanced' views, while the rest are liberal. Aside from the fact that I am politically neutral, you have to hand it to Bill O'Reilly for having a great product in his No-Spin Zone. I have read all three of his books and recommend them. Although, I must say that about a quarter of what her says is much too simplistic (but that is an article for another day!) There is just so much disgustingness (is that a word!?) in the pushing of each station's political agenda that I can barely begin to write about it here.

As an aside, political activist Michael Moore's liberal bias can be educational. His film "Bowling for Columbine" discusses the issue of guns and gun control and is also very highly recommended. Rent it and learn!

What You Can Do
Only knowledge can fight ignorance. Find out the facts for yourself. Do not trust the news. Do not take what they say at face value. Never forget that they are in the business of making money and they will continue to do so as long nobody questions their motives, integrity, and reporting. Good luck.