Memories. Ahhh Yes, Memories of My Life

JAFBG Prompts July 2021

How do you feel about the integrity of the news? Can we believe what we read/see? How much bias is there?

         There are exceptions to everything, I know that. But what I'm going to write about here is what I see from the media outlets every day.

         I have to say, you have included two words that do not belong together. Before I continue, I have to say that I can't speak for any country other than the United States about this topic, but here we go.

         News. Integrity? The news Networks have ZERO Integrity, and I mean ZERO. I constantly ask myself what has happened, where is Walter Cronkite and David Brinkley when you need them? I find that the media (left or right, it doesn't matter), is not reporting the news. Rather, they will report on subjects they want you to inform you of. Gone are the days of reporting the news, nothing but the news, or 'The facts Ma'am, just the facts'.

         This issue is, the media wants people in office that are sympathetic to their views. 'Their' being the owner/CEO of the corporation. It's not a matter of reporting the news, it's a matter of using their platform to further a candidates position on issues to get favorable outcomes. Or the media will use a story to gain favorable views from the local public. I will give you a prime example of something that recently occurred here in Illinois, and backfired on the station involved.

         A city police officer and his partner were called to a residence for a domestic disturbance. When they arrived, the young man involved shot at them. The officer was killed in the shootout, as was the young man. The officer's partner was severely wounded. To me, both deaths are a real tragedy. The kicker was what happened a couple of days after this occurred. A local TV station ran a special program featuring the young man involved in the shootout, and depicted him 'floating in the sky' with angel wings and a halo. I won't go further into the young man's background or history, but let's just say he had been in trouble before. A lot of trouble.

         The backlash of public outcry to the station was overwhelmingly in support of the police officer and his partner. I myself have to wonder who in their right mind at a media outlet would think that a story like that would be a good thing to air. People are boycotting the station, I won't watch that channel ever again, the station was scheduled to do a town hall in a nearby small town, the town cancelled that.

         My point in all this, is that the media has no integrity, has no desire to report the news accurately and correctly. Like almost everyone in a position of power, the media cares about one thing only. Themselves.