Is the MSM Vested in America's Defeat?

General Vo Nguyen Giap

General Giap was a brilliant, highly respected leader of the North Vietnam military. The following quote is from his memoirs currently found in the Vietnam war memorial in Hanoi:

"What we still don't understand is why you Americans stopped the bombing of Hanoi. You had us on the ropes. If you had pressed us a little harder, just for another day or two, we were ready to surrender! It was the same at the battles of TET. You defeated us! We knew it, and we thought you knew it. But we were elated to notice your media was definitely helping us. They were causing more disruption in America than we could in the battlefields. We were ready to surrender. You had won!"

General Giap has published his memoirs and confirmed what most Americans knew. The Vietnam war was not lost in Vietnam -- it was lost at home.

The exact same slippery slope, sponsored by the US media, is currently well underway. It exposes the enormous power of a biased media to cut out the heart and will of the American public. Who is the real enemy?

A truism worthy of note: Do not fear the enemy, for they can take only your life. Fear the media far more, for they will destroy your honor.

Is the MSM vested in America's defeat?

A-6Dude

Great Ceasar's Martini
3 oz vodka
1/2 oz dry vermouth

Shake with cracked ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an anchovy-stuffed olive.

The Enemy’s Scorekeepers

In sports there are people that keep records of scores and statistics. They live and breathe this data so that they can publish for our consumption.

In the mainstream media (MSM) they also have people who keep scores and statistics. And just like in sports, there are consumers out there to digest it all. But the statistics that the MSM publish are not whether or not the home team won, or which left-handed hitter bats better than .300 on Tuesday evenings against a right-handed pitcher in a dome stadium while it is raining. To them it doesn’t matter if the home team wins, what matters is the Body Count!

In fact, there is no report of victory, only casualties.

The MSM just released a story that shows who they really are – they are the Enemy’s Scorekeepers!

The AP announced that as of January 31, 2008 there have been 3,942 members of the military that have died in Iraq since March of 2003. For the last almost five years the death count has been as keenly reported as the box scores for professional sports – without the mention of who won. The MSM have a fascination with death. They report it like a sportscaster reports scores of sports events, but without any pretense of objectivity. But at least it jived with the DoD statistics.

I wouldn’t have an issue with this so much if they did it out of, and with, respect for our fallen military members. If they would honor the sacrifice that these young men and women have given for our country and for others it might be different.

But they don’t. They live for the body count. These fallen men and women mean nothing to them. They are just statistics to be used to demoralize our troops and the American public, and to do everything they can to further their belief that America is bad.

And don’t think that the enemy doesn’t read this. They do so with the same fascination that we have regarding the outcome of our sporting events.

It also provides a service to our enemies. It let’s them know how they’re doing.

The American public has every right to know the cost of our actions here and overseas. If the MSM was doing this in an honorable and objective way it would be different. But they are in the business of selling newspapers and sensationalism sells.

And the way they report body counts is meant to achieve sensationalism. They treat the men and women that die in the service of our country as nothing more than a statistic to further the action line of the day – America is bad and is responsible for all of the world’s ills.

If the death count is so important then why aren’t they reporting the number of murders across the country each year with the same voracity? I know for sure it exceeds the almost 800 men and women that sacrifice their lives each year in Iraq. Wouldn't that make America look bad?

How about the tens of thousands we lose each year in vehicle accidents, or the 7, 000 or so we are said to lose to poor penmanship of doctors? Wouldn't that make America look bad?

Let’s put it in perspective. In 2007 there were 1,200,000 abortions in the U.S. That comes to about 3,288 babies killed per day. In any six hour period in America there are more babies killed (822 based on these numbers) than there are military members killed in Iraq in a year!

Why isn’t that body count making headline news? Does that make America look good?

All of those men and women we lose in Iraq are terrible losses. They leave behind fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, wives, husbands, kids, loved ones and friends. Their sacrifice is not in vain and it is worth more than a statistic to achieve a sensational headline.

How does Iraq compare to other places in the U. S. and the world relative to violent deaths? You can see from the chart below that there are more dangerous places in America. Even the MSM's hero Hugo Chavez's country is more dangerous than Iraq.

Based on the number reported to date, we have been averaging about 800 men and women dying in Iraq each year. In Vietnam it was more like 5,800 per year. And though every life lost in Iraq is terrible, isn’t the fact that we are losing less of our brothers and sisters a good thing?

One would think so. About a year ago (I think) the MSM did a report showing how advances in medicine are saving lives on the battlefield. What does this mean? It means that less of our men and women are dying in combat than ever before. That should be great news!

But, damn it, having lower body counts is not good for headlines. So they even spin that fact that we are saving more lives as a negative. They see that because fewer military members are dying, there are more wounded to deal with. And this puts a drain on our already failing health care system. You can’t win with these people!

The MSM used to be pro-American? Wouldn’t it be nice to see them that way again?

I’m not holding my breath. And just watch, the Enemy’s Scorekeepers will be gleefully reporting the build up to the orgasm they’ll have when they get to report the 4,000th fatality in Iraq.

A-6Dude

Churchill's Martini

2 parts Gin

Dry Vermouth

Pour Gin over ice in a shaker. Look at the Vermouth and shake the Gin until COLD! Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with olives.

Citizen Journalists

I’m not a fan of the ‘mainstream media’. I don’t trust them to report the news accurately or fairly. I believe they have an agenda. And I wish they would just be honest and say what they really believe in and not try to hide it behind the façade of trying to be impartial.

Bloggers, on the other hand, are usually transparent as to their real beliefs. I don’t have to agree with them but at least I find them honest about what they believe.

But we’re not real journalists and we expose the journalist industry to fraud and abuse. We’re dangerous!

That’s what David Hazinski, an Associate Professor at the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, said in a recent piece in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. I wonder what his students think of his comments. I’m sure that a lot of them are bloggers and users of You Tube and other ‘dangerous’ forms of non-journalistic media.

Although a graduate of that fine institution, I am not a journalist. Nor do I wish to be one. It’s more fun being dangerous and fraudulent! Maybe that’s what Hazinski doesn’t like. And because bloggers are not part of the mainstream media we should be regulated.

After all, bloggers can write opinions and our readers know that they are, in large part, opinions. Too often, the mainstream media write their opinions and try to pass them off as facts and unbiased journalism.

Hazinski writes, “Education, skill and standards are really what make people into trusted professionals. Information without journalistic standards is called gossip.”

Perhaps he hasn’t seen that we don’t trust journalists. CNN, once the go-to station for 24 hour news, has dropped from 42% to 28% in its trust ranking among viewers. That drop occurred in a 6 year period from 1998 to 2004. I looked at several different polls and studies by Pew and others that also show that trust in our mainstream media is sinking lower and lower.

I predict that one day Congress will have approval ratings higher than that of journalists.

But Hazinski offers a solution…regulate us. He thinks citizen journalists offer much but that our work should be verified to prevent having fake stories surface (you mean, like, Dan Rather and his fraudulent documents about George Bush’s National Guard service?). I know, I know. Fact checking takes time. But isn’t that their job?

Of his suggestions on how to regulate us are:

- “[Citizen Media] should clarify and reinforce their own standards and work through trade organizations to enforce national standards so they have real meaning.”

So I am “abusive and fraudulent” and now I have no “real meaning”. The difference here is that I don’t pretend to be something I’m not. I’m not a journalist. I’m a guy that lives at the end of a cul de sac and writes opinions on things I see.

And:

- “Journalism schools such as mine at the University of Georgia should create mini-courses to certify citizen journalists in proper ethics and procedures, much as volunteer teachers, paramedics and sheriff's auxiliaries are trained and certified.”

Journalists are taught ethics and such too. I don’t want to lump all journalists in the category of those I don’t trust but I don’t find many of them truly honest. Outlets like CNN should just say that they are a liberal leaning organization. Then, viewers will truly know what they are getting when they watch. I see FOX News as more balanced but they’re leaning is to the right and they should admit it.

But remember earlier that Hazinski said “…standards are really what make people into trusted professionals” … then he hits the nail on the head with this one:

“Journalists generally don't like any kind of standards or regulation. Many argue that standards could infringe on freedom of the press and journalism shouldn't be regulated. But we have already seen the line between news and entertainment blur enough to destroy significant credibility.”

While he knows that his own profession doesn’t want to be regulated, he feels that, since we are not professionals, the citizen journalists need to be. Maybe he doesn’t like the fact that the citizen journalists often shine the light on the mainstream media’s errors.

“Continuing to do nothing as information flow changes will further erode [credibility]. Journalism organizations who choose to do nothing may soon find the line between professional and citizen journalism gone as well as the trust of their audiences.”

I have news for you David, if you look at the latest approval numbers for the mainstream media you’ll find that we don’t trust journalists. But don’t worry, our approval rating of this Congress is lower – for now!

But typical of liberals, they want more control. So I have another suggestion for you David – move to Iran. The way a lot of the mainstream media cozy up to the enemies of America perhaps you’ll like the solution Ahma-genocide uses takes care of his citizen journalists – shut down the internet cafes. Regulation at its finest!

Yes, citizen journalists serve a purpose as long as we don’t challenge the views of the mainstream media and we support their current action line.

I don’t think most people confuse blogs with real news outlets. But then I don’t confuse real news with reality in most cases, either.

A-6Dude