Fair and Balanced?
No human is perfect; therefore we cannot be truly objective. But what is taking place on your television and in your newspaper goes to the extreme. The media holds great sway over the nation as Americans watch or read the news and form opinions based on the presentation. Those opinions then translate into political power as Americans vote their conscience. Ultimately, the news media is a large factor in deciding the outcome of our elections, domestic and foreign policy, even wars.
There are many examples I could use to illustrate my point, but I will use what I consider to be the most important issue of our time: the Global War on Terror. Since we cannot all witness firsthand what is going on in Iraq, we must rely on the media to tell us. In a perfect world, the media is fair and balanced. They simply report the facts and give both sides of the story if necessary. That leaves you to analyze the information and come up with your own conclusion.
Meanwhile, in the real world, the network and print media are committed to the Democrat Party. Stories are “spun” to benefit the Democrats or hurt the Republicans. In the War in Iraq, the Democrats are committed to the defeat of our forces in Iraq. Any news that leads the public to think that progress is being made will be either ignored or altered to fit their agenda of defeat. Day in and day out of negative reporting in Iraq has an adverse affect on American hearts and minds. Are there negative things happening in Iraq? You bet there are, and the American public deserves to know the story. The problem is that we deserve to hear the positive stories, too. Yet these stories are almost entirely left untold by our “objective” media.
When was the last time you heard the number of insurgents that are either killed or captured? I have never heard of any count besides the number of our own soldiers killed. The media pushes American casualty numbers in our face every day. We are capturing scores of enemy fighters every day, breaking up roadside bomb terror cells, disrupting the underground railroad of foreign fighters, and so on. To me this is good news; I want my country to win. But not the media, they claim they are objective and will not choose sides. It is one thing for an umpire not to choose sides in a baseball game, but when your country is at war against barbarians bent on our annihilation, shouldn’t you take sides?
How about positive stories on the progress of reconstruction efforts in Iraq? What about the medical and veterinary care our troops give to the Iraqis? Those stories do not fit the agenda, so we miss out on that information as well. Have you heard lately about Iraqi neighborhoods teaming up and turning against al Qaeda? Shiites, Sunni, even the Baathists (formerly led by Saddam Hussein) are teaming up with the coalition and fighting the terrorists back. That is a great sign of progress to me, but that does not sit well with those who look at this war as a way of winning political power in Washington. There is a significant amount of sectarian violence in Iraq, but what about stories on the progress in Kurdistan, the peaceful state in the north? That definitely does not jive with the media’s template, so they dare not report those stories.
Recently coalition forces found five hostages captured by al Qaeda. One was a boy who had been tortured by sending electricity through his tongue. Insurgents recently used a vehicle with two children in the back seat to easily pass through a coalition checkpoint. Once past the checkpoint, the men jumped from the vehicle and detonated the car bomb with the children still inside. Since this goes against the friendlier “freedom fighter” image the media tries to portray, these atrocities are deemphasized on broadcasts or buried in papers.
Do you remember when CNN obtained footage from the terrorists of American soldiers being killed by snipers? Can you imagine the aftermath if FOX News played footage from the US military of American snipers killing terrorists? Heads would roll. It seems that someone has chosen sides in this war.
Last year, the media began referring to the violence in Iraq as a civil war. Interestingly, in February of 2007, the Iraqi citizens themselves were polled, and only 27 percent agreed with the claims of American news networks. Who are we to believe: the agenda-driven American news media, or those actually living in Iraq?
If the media was fair and balanced as they claim to be, there would be no political agenda. They would report on the misdeeds of both parties. They would leave the opinions and spin where it belongs: on the opinion page and the commentary shows. But our news media is corrupt, committed to the advancement of the left. Stories are designed not to inform, but to win hearts and minds for the Democrats. The good news is: the majority of Americans can see what is going on. Most of us still want the truth, not propaganda. So on the T.V. side, FOX News is dominating the ratings. Massive amounts of subscribers are leaving liberal papers like the New York Times. You cannot hide from the truth.
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