Monday, April 5, 2010

Word Up

(Queen Gran's note: I wrote this as a response to a blog I receive by email.)

As a former newspaper editor, I can attest firsthand that investigative journalism is as good as dead and buried. Local newspapers cater to their biggest advertisers, and the big city boys are politically motivated.

You cannot get a factual newscast on television any more. News anchors don’t report the news. They decide how you should feel about it. “Their” opinions are rampant throughout what should have stayed a report of the complete facts.

Journalists are heavily censored in every newsroom in this country. The only fun newspapers are your weekly community papers: that’s how you find out about a town. They are not considered “important” by the powers, apparently, and are usually left alone. Read its weekly or biweekly newspaper a few times and you will find the community’s heart.

They have little budget and their journalists might also be selling its advertising and their editors doubling as classifieds cold callers; but with those multi-hats comes an investment from the heart. Nobody there is getting paid much of anything, but they all are invested in its success. Personal pride is big in those tiny newsrooms, and it’s what is sorely lacking elsewhere.

As an editor, I also know what I, and fellow editors, do to other people’s words. And while editing newspapers is a lot different from editing books, journals, magazines, etc., editors change things. I like to think I don’t mess with a writer’s tone or style, and I get writers to answer questions raised in their stories that I want an answer to when I read it; but I know other editors who prefer to put their stamp on a story.

I imagine it’s the same with translators. Nothing can be translated word for word. I mean nothing. And for one person, or even a group of people (nothing like a committee!), to decide what was meant by a word, phrase or sentence, means original intent has likely been skewed. Writings have been translated over and over, and having the language “updated” can impact the original document in countless ways , with some never even close to resembling the original. 

Americans have let themselves be talked down to, believing things that are said on TV and that are printed in newspapers.

“Why, they wouldn’t print it if it weren’t true, would they?”

Jeesh. “Sheep” is right. We have been lazy and let ourselves be led astray.


7 comments:

  1. AMEN! Queen Gran you nailed this one! I think this is MOST evident in TV news as everyone gets to toss in their two cents worth and what gives them the credentials or intelligence to do so on EVERY news item. Personally if I wanted to know what they thought....I'd ask!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with everything you've said here about editors, etc., but. . .

    How do I put this? I think it's condescending to assume others are "sheep". I think most adults understand things like bias and personal opinions - and probably have a healthy skepticism about nearly everything they read or see on TV.

    The MSM appears to love to exhibit the ignorance of others, but I think it's probably (subconsciously?) intentional, making those watching feel smarter than the average bear.

    Speaking for myself, throughout my loooong life (being old and all ;-)), I've met many, many people and I have to tell you, most of them have been fairly intelligent, more than you would guess from reading the papers or watching the talking heads on television.

    Also, most crimes are committed by and against the less fortunate, less educated, and those lacking any real opportunities. And that's the kind of news journalists of all stripes seem to love to cover.

    I tend to believe that it isn't that people are "sheep", but rather, the silent majority just stays out of the news and keeps to themselves.

    Just one person's opinion. Great writing, as usual, Queen!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I do see your point, knowing many bright people. What I want to know then is, how come the newscasts get the kind of ratings that keep them on this opinion-spewing path? Is it just the less fortunate, less educated who watch and buy the advertised products?

    It would seem the silent majority is indeed silent. Why is that so?

    Are we able to remain silent and go about our own business quietly because we live here? In America the great and beautiful? Would the SM be able to stay silent anywhere else?

    You always provoke me to dig deeper; I count on you for that, my Peej. Thanks from the bottom of my silent but blogging heart.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aw thanks, Queenie. Great question, "why is the silent majority silent"? And why are the ratings for these shows high?
    Conjecture: silent majority is silent because they were raised well. You don't discuss religion or politics unless you can discuss it anonymously on a blog. And either way, you understand that it's simply an emotional release, because the chances of changing anyone's mind are slim to none. Getting involved would mean giving the blowhards credence, so refraining from the fray is a class action on its own. Living one's life well is the best revenge.
    As far as ratings go, I would assume that it's like driving by a car wreck. You simply can't NOT look and you must slow down anyway, because the guy in front of you has slowed to look. Maybe the fascination is zoo-like. People find it so wildly outside their reality and experience that it's pure entertainment. But I don't know.
    Always enjoy discussing these things with you, Blogging Queen. XO

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Raised well" hits the mark. Living well IS the best revenge.

    But the car wreck scenario, while maybe one's first inclination, can be changed. The guy in front of you has slowed down, so you must slow down, but you can refrain from looking. I've seen brains splattered on a road and I'd rather not see anything remotely like that again.

    I have been done with news and weather for the past three years. I just look. I don't miss it. It's amazing what that one shift in habit has done for me. You've heard all this from me before; I am not enraged or annoyed any more at the ridiculous stuff they present on news casts and news shows. Once I was a bit of a news show junkie and I admit I would turn on the local weather every morning. All it did was raise my blood pressure. I've found that what I need to know gets to me. There are some things I might have wished to know -- such as a friend's mother dying whose funeral I missed because I didn't know -- but I might have missed it anyway since I didn't check obits regularly. Weather reports are notoriously inaccurate more often than not and I now prefer to use my own judgment by looking outside. I'm not mindlessly drawn to the repetitiousness of weather peeps' deliveries.

    Then your posited "zoo-like fascination" of what's presented on news shows could be entertaining to many but you have to know it doesn't really change; it's like watching a repeat of a TV show that you didn't like to begin with. Stop doing that! The outcome isn't going to change.

    This comment is almost longer than the blog! I love when we get going ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Me too.:) And as it happens, I am beginning to do exactly what you said you are doing: avoiding the news. It's automatic for Bob to turn on the news when he gets up or gets home. It's always FOX and he does it in the morning, at lunch and when he gets home from work. It never seems to bother him, but I can't help but react badly. That's why I'm always watching movies or HGTV - which drives him crazy, lol. But it makes me mellower when I don't know or hear about the stupid, senseless inhumanities and inequities occurring throughout the world.

    I try never to look at accidents, but sometimes can't resist. I've never yet seen anything other than crumpled fenders and, once or twice, a covered up figure on the ground. More than I ever wanted to know, which is why I try not to look. I don't enjoy the misery of others and I don't need to be reminded about what sometimes happens on the road I'm still driving on.

    See no evil, etc., right?

    Have a lovely day, Queen. And keep up the excellent postings.

    ReplyDelete