tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1707444165003305798.post8567003861149040487..comments2023-10-24T17:21:16.565+02:00Comments on Sounds in the Hickory Wind: ‘Tabloid hacks will do anything to get a story’ shockThe Hickory Windhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02099970252405596982noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1707444165003305798.post-71799646167770035872011-07-16T13:26:58.558+02:002011-07-16T13:26:58.558+02:00It surprises me that people are surprised to learn...It surprises me that people are surprised to learn how these things work in reality. The idea that the press, the media in general, exist to speak truth to power and to defend our democratic freedoms is a myth propagated by the media themselves to increase their seriousness and importance, in the same way that US journalists like to claim that the their trade is uniquely protected by the Constitution. It isn't. The First Amendment mentions the (printing) press to explicitly extend freedom of speech to the written as well as the spoken word.<br /><br />Modern newspapers derive from the coffee house gossip sheets and the political pamphlets of the 18thC. Their purpose was to acquire power, not to control it. Although some outlets and journalists have and still do take it upon themselves to uncover and make known the acts and motives of the powerful, for which we can all be grateful, the great majority are simply not in that line of business and never have been.<br /><br />We need to understand this, and also to understand that it's up to all of us to hold government to account, at all levels and in any way we can. It requires great effort and sometimes courage, which is why we prefer to think we can delegate it to 'the press', but the reality is that we can't.<br /><br />If as a result of all this people begin to appreciate that newspapers and television statiions are part of multi-national corporations with their own interests, and need watching just as much as banks and oil companies, some good will have come of it.<br /><br />(Another little hobby horse of mine, tangentially relevant, is Hollywood. One of the most brutally capitalist industries in the world, selling an essentially worthless product by ruthless marketing specifically aimed at people of limited means, manages to present itself and the people who make fortunes from it as somehow cuddly and full of moral rectitude.)The Hickory Windhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02099970252405596982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1707444165003305798.post-63365603316977951472011-07-15T22:41:08.479+02:002011-07-15T22:41:08.479+02:00Yes but isn't there an underlying significance...Yes but isn't there an underlying significance to all this which you haven't mentioned? <br /><br />The Press were supposed to check on the powerful (politicians and others) to stop them being corrupt against the ordinary citizen's interest. The politicians are supposed to check on the opposing party so that the interests of those who voted for them are furthered. The police are there to make sure the laws are obeyed etc.<br /><br />If the politicians, Press and police are linked by their common interest in corruption (press pay police, politicians court the press, etc) then the checks and balances are destroyed. Not to mention the public turning a blind eye to how journalists get their information when they are interested in the stories which result.<br /><br />We've had the banks' self-interest causing financial crises, the politicians' expenses damaging faith in elected representatives. Now it's important to bring this other stuff in the open.<br /><br />Because everyone must be held to account. There is no point to democratic freedom otherwise.<br /><br />And when you say "In order to make money a business must give its customers what they want" it's important to remember the symbiotic nature of all such contracts. A business doesn't exist just to give customers what they want, but to stimulate new wants that people didn't think of wanting before (drugs, porn and mobile phones for example).<br /><br />You seem to take a rather cynical approach, rather than tackle the moral issues here - that we all share responsibility for the intricate interactions that make up our society.<br /><br />Not that I have any solutions to propose.Vincenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18297306807695767580noreply@blogger.com