Politics and the Media

well, I think one very big reason is people depend on the media to gather the facts. This is quicker, cheaper, easier than me going down to the Gulf to get the info or flying over to Iran.... Now a days with the internet, we have SO much info at our fingertips. But a lot of people are too lazy to really dig. I have been guilty of this as well. But since the beginning of the media (newspaper) people have depended on reporters to give them the correct info. I think we are finally realizing that the media is biased.

I guess this is a problem in all countries. I recently experienced this and it really pissed me off. Local elections just finished here in my country and I was one of the Poll Watchers (I am a church volunteer o PPCRV volunteer). We employed an automated voting system this year and I was oriented on how it works, w/c server it sends its results, etc. Anyway, my mum said that one of the local news channels are getting information from the PPCRV server. I told her that PPCRV doesnt have a servem but KBP does (KBP is a national organization of broadcasters). She wouldn't accept what I was saying, I told her that I was oriented and I saw the machine's transmittal screen stating that's it's sending info to the KBP server. She wouldnt believe me. She shouted at me and told me I wasn't credible. I was shocked, coming from my mother. She wouldn't accept that the news channel made a mistake. I guess sometimes people tend to be really stupid. It's because the media have already brainwashed people into believing that they are the absolute right. It's sad and it's sickening. some people really don't think.

I don't agree with the notion that we have a "government controlled media". I believe we have a biased media...on both sides of the aisle...and that news is spun to reflect that. The only way that people can be brainwashed by them is if they do not get their information from multiple sources and, if they choose to only get the news from the outlets that reflect their personal views, they have already brainwashed themselves.

I believe it comes with the mindset that was instilled in people by the government programs starting with FDR's new deal. Basically, the welfare state, government handouts, and government interference in our lives create what I call a "child" complex in many citizens. This causes them to essentially become sheep. The symptoms of this complex are: stop wanting to work, start to get lazy, start to feel "entitled" to things (like health care), unwilling and sometimes unable to make tough choices for themselves and quit thinking for themselves. The reason I call it a "child" complex is that these people begin to act like children with the government serving as the mother. This is why I believe people are so easily swayed by the media, and why they don't do their own research. That takes too much work, it's easier to just accept whatever sounds good (and makes people feel good) coming from someone who appears intelligent and speaks well. I am not the only one who believes along these lines, but I couldn't cite others because I have formed this theory based upon many sources. Iain McLeod was the first to coin the phrase "Nanny State" though. Briefly, though, I would point to Greece as an example of this. Despite the fact that the government HAD to cut back on benefits to public employees or the government would go into default, people RIOTED because the felt they were "entitled" to these benefits. Even at the cost of the entire country's economy.