The news media is biased. I think most people know that.
Looking for some Obama bashing?
Turn on Fox News.
The imminent threat of a Mitt Romney administration?
MSNBC’s got you covered.
These aren’t really news stations, more like entertainment in a sly disguise, wolves in sheep’s clothing that feast on hard facts and leave unrecognizable carcasses behind. Sure, you’ll get information between the agenda pushing and fact dodging, but I wouldn’t suggest sitting through the rhetoric in between.
So I was surprised when I heard someone express disgust in the news media for, “suppressing the people.” Apparently, we’re not getting vital information, the news that really matters. We the people are held back from being truly aware of what the U.S. is up to, both at home and overseas.
That man has a point. A lot of important stories fly under the radar and pass the population by without so much as being mentioned on television.
But we’re not suppressed.
To be suppressed is to exist within an information void, where the government says, “no, the people can’t know that” and censors accordingly. Think North Korea or China.
No one is stopping the American public from finding the information not present on major news organizations. The drone strikes in Pakistan that have killed hundreds of innocent civilians and lead to nation-wide riots? I don’t remember seeing those on television. I do recall reading several articles about them online, though.
Channels like Fox and MSNBC have agendas to sell a product, and that’s what works for them. They’re businesses, and they have to make money. They’d be foolish to switch to real news now that they have found their audience.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise when they market what they think will make them the most money. Usually, that doesn’t come from hard news.
One could argue that more balanced organizations like CNN skip important stories too and that proves the media censors important information.
That might be true, but it doesn’t negate the fact that the important information can quickly be found online.
The problem is people don’t care enough to find the information. That’s not oppression; it’s indifference. Just because the mainstream chooses not to air stories that deserve publicity doesn’t mean the stories don’t exist.
So, I suppose it comes down to what your definition of suppression is. If it means not being able to turn on the television and see stories about geo-political policies, secretive military operations and CIA plots, then yes, we’re oppressed and living in a tyrannical, totalitarian society where the government does all in its power to keep its citizens uninformed and submissive.
If suppression means living in a country where information simply isn’t there, where the government threatens news outlets and has direct control of the media’s content, then we’re not suppressed at all – just a little lazy and not motivated enough to search through the websites and radio shows where that information is.
Let’s just not get the two confused.
Daniel Serrano is a senior double major in English and journalism and a contributing writer for the Daily 49er.
