Main Stream Media and the World - And Bernie Sanders




There was a time when all people had for news about the world had been main stream media with an occasional word of mouth story thrown in. Things have changed since then with advent of the internet. Now people have that for getting news and views too, at least those who have frequent access to it.

There is a huge problem with mainstream media. In authoritarian countries it pushes a colored narrative of ruling powers. In compromised democracies it may just close a media house that opposes a ruler as seems to have happened in Turkey yesterday. In the best of democracies too media is not free of undesirable influences. For example in UK the BBC habitually refers to refugees fleeing violence as migrants and not refugees. This has implications in the way fleeing persons are treated because different international treaties and obligations apply to refugees and migrants.

As regards the most recent conflict between Israel and Palestinians around Gaza, where thousands of children and homes were destroyed in Gaza, with none on the Israel side, BBC has repeated several times– Children on both sides suffered. The idea behind this slanted reporting is to keep up public support for disproportionate assistance to one side only by politicians who in turn are supported by interests from that side. An American politician during his election campaign for the American Presidential race criticized an opponent for mentioning fair and impartial treatment to both sides He said he would be unashamedly impartial and be on the side of one country only - even if they perpetuate evil. Fortunately he has not been taken seriously by many.

Returning to the media again, while in democratic countries a dictator may not control media, big money interests do. They own it. Thus when a politician like Bernie Sanders emerges who says that he shall work to restore economic equalities and not let the Billionaires take most all, such big money interests would naturally like to oppose him. They do it through the media that is under their control such as the CNN. The slanted reporting on Bernie Sanders may just be regarded as immature or childish but in fact it has vicious consequences. Large sections of the population including many from the older generation do not access the internet much at the present time. As a result their choices are influenced by such coverage. 

The vicious consequence of perpetuating big money interests is that economic inequalities would continue to rise as they have over the last thirty years or more and as a result of it more shall be driven to homelessness, more children shall go to bed on a hungry stomach, more of the middle classes disappear into poverty. This same media and its staff then become responsible, at least in part, for this grave inhuman injustice for the sake of a fistful of dollars. At stake is the blood of children killed like flees not just in far away places like Syria but at times on the streets near their places of  work. Presently, in America, the prevailing economic system has succeeded in producing the highest child poverty rate among all countries in the developed world.

The public would be well advised to take with fistfuls of salt whatever is thrown at them from big media houses while trying to become aware of motivations behind the news. Older persons who are not familiar with internet use would gain hugely by exchanging views with younger members of society who can access the truth through social media. It is true that everything on the internet is not true either, there are echos of information and information bubbles that exist on it but the advantage is that these are created largely by independent democratic voices, not those vested interest who wish to gather more wealth while driving children to hunger and profiting from bombing the life out of sweet innocent children in countries from Libya to Afghanistan with Sudan, Gaza, Yemen, Iraq and Syria in between. As regard the Billionaire himself, it might be said that he would not gain more joy by acquiring a few more millions but would most certainly do so if he can bring a smile on the face of small innocent children in need. The simple light poem at the following link makes it very clear why:

http://someitemshave.blogspot.in/2015/08/billionaires-lament-poem.html


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