I am years behind on my reading. Currently I’m on a Dave Eggers kick–he is a very entertaining writer and can make the reader think if he wants to–and I just stumbled across this gem in "Your Mother and I" in How We Are Hungry:
I guess a lot of what we did–what made so much of this possible–was eliminate the bipolar nature of so much of what passed for debate in those days. So often the media would take even the most logical idea, like private funding for all sports stadiums or having all colleges require forty hours of community service to graduate, and make it seem like there were two equally powerful sides to the argument, which was so rarely the case. A logical fallacy, is what that is. So we just got them to keep things in perspective a bit, not make everyone so crazy, polarizing every last debate. I mean, there was a time when you couldn’t get a lightbulb replaced because the press would find a way to quote the sole lunatic in the world who didn’t want that lightbulb replaced…. Honestly, when lynchings were originally outlawed, you can bet the newspapers made it seem like there was some real validity to the pro-lynching side of things. You can be sure that the third paragraph of any article would have said "Not everyone is happy about the anti-lynching legislation. We spoke to a local resident who is not at all happy about it…" Anyway, we sat everyone down, served some carrots and onion dip and in a couple hours your mother and I straightened that all out.
Perhaps Mr. Eggers needs to go watch a bit more cable news. Surely he does not mean to suggest that such a "fair and balanced" format often serves to obscure the truth!
Accidental Blogger 
2 responses to “What Is Wrong With The Media (Joe)”
How true! Excellent point by Eggers. Often I am appalled to see a wise seeming media person nodding sagely while an egregious “other” side of the argument is being made – affording some idiot or bigot “equal time.”
There are some things in life to which there is not an “other side” worth considering.
As for you being behind in your reading, being a law student at least gives you a valid excuse. What is my excuse? This is one aspect of blogging that rankles – the time taken away from books. I just read “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson for my book club this month. A very enjoyable travel/nature/humor read. A bit of “Garrison Keillor, Michael Kinsley and Dave Barry,” as one of the blurbs says. It is about hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Doesn’t quite happen as intended but that was the original idea.
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Here’s a tactic I saw on Fox News one time: they were setting up a debate over the death penalty. To argue against it, they brought on a liberal college professor. To argue for it? They brought on the family member of a murder victim, specifically the mother of a woman who had been murdered. The mother wept the whole time and obviously made a more sympathetic presentation. Didn’t really matter what the professor said, he was up against Emotion and Spectacle. It was a terribly manipulative move on the part of Fox. No surprises there, but this was low even for Fox. Long live The Spectacle.
m(att)
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