Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Date:         Sat, 7 Nov 1992 23:28:18 EST
From:         "Michael A. Kline" <MKLINE@VDH.BITNET>
Subject:      Thanks for the Twist

Forgive me, I took some liberties on a recent post, I pray Dr. Nancy's
Sweetie won't be upset.

Subject:      Re: Thanks for the Rush

Dan Graham criticises the media, and the liberal Christian
political movement, in pretty harsh terms.

I  am no  fan  of the  media,  and  I consider  their  popularity to  be
irrefutable proof of  how education has suffered under  Reagan and Bush.
[ 1/2 8-) ] It is not that the media is particularly stupid; I would say
that they  are about as  smart as most US  citizens. But US  citizens in
general are  not all  that bright,  and the media,  who are  no smarter,
considers themself some sort of genius.


However, I do not think they are particularly evil; or at least, no more
evil than anyone  else. They are a political  commentator, and political
commentators often  get galvanised  so that  they start  imagining their
ideas not only RIGHT, but  OBVIOUS. They delude themselves into thinking
that anyone who  disagrees with them is either  self-deceptive or really
stupid.

Here is an  example: a week ago  they told us that the  economy was down
and out,  we had no  hope. Now  we are told  the economy is  "poised for
recovery."  How? (...rest  of example  delete, it  was a  good an  valid
point. Same could be said about the  phrases the media used in "As nasty
as the  president" and "Quayle  was "young and experienced"  but Clinton
and Gore being "fresh young blood".)

And that, in the end, is the  media's problem. They're not a bad guys, I
don't think. They're  just woefully  ignorant  of the things  they  talk
about. They  do slant the truth  with an amazing  bias -- if any  of the
`conservatives' did  their job as badly  as they do theirs, they'd never
let  up on  them. But  they do  not do  this intentionally;  they're not
trying to mislead  people. It's just that they themseves  are so utterly
confused about what's going on that  they can't help but confuse others.

They honestly believe  that their ideas are obviously  correct to anyone
who takes a serious  look at them. Whether this is  because they are too
lazy to try and understand their opposition, or they lack the brainpower
to understand  different perspectives, I  don't know. (I suspect  it's a
combination of both.)


What one  should be careful  of is making  this same mistake.  It's easy
for  us  to  say that  the  media  says  what  they do  because  they're
dishonest, just as  it is easy to  for them to say that  Bill Clinton is
honest.  But  we  should  not  yield  to  that  temptation;  superficial
analysis may be simple,  but it's often useless. We need  to do the hard
work of thinking that the media neglects.


Mind you, this doesn't mean the media is harmless; many people take them
seriously, and believe  the nonsense that they dish out.  Every day they
open their brains  and let them pour in whatever  gobbledygook they have
dreamed up the  night before. I don't readily predict  any dire results,
but neither do I rule them out. "If  a blind man leads a blind man, both
shall fall into a pit."

Originally from:
Darren F Provine / kilroy@gboro.glassboro.edu
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
                                          -- author unknown (at least to me)
Twisted by:
Maks
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU