[J. L.
Navarro Blog Spot, United States]
Semana, Colombia
Colombia Must Avoid
the 'Foxification' of its News Programming
"The
U.S. media has arrived at a ridiculous state of polarization, increasingly absorbed
in a war between pro-Republicans and pro-Democrats that has nothing to do with
serving the purpose of informing the public. … What's so worrisome is that the
stupidity of this commentary is almost as great as the size of the audiences of
these radio and TV programs."
By Gabriela Perdomo*
Translated By Liz Essary
May 15, 2009
Semana - Colombia - Original Article (Spanish)
The Huffington
Post - an influential online
newspaper - reports that some pro-conservative media
in the United States are suggesting the swine flu epidemic is a Mexican
conspiracy to finish off North America. At this point the U.S. media has
arrived at a ridiculous state of polarization, increasingly absorbed in a war
between pro-Republicans and pro-Democrats that has nothing to do with serving
the purpose of informing the public.
And these aren’t just any
networks propagating these ignorant, disrespectful, and even dangerous rumors
against the Mexican people. Among them is Fox News, one of the most
powerful cable networks in the country. Several commentators from so-called
right wing radio, who are explicitly anti-immigrant, have also jumped onto the
bandwagon. Michael Savage, host of The
Savage Nation, said this last week: “Make no mistake about it: Illegal
aliens are carriers of the new strain of human-swine avian flu from Mexico. Could
this be a terrorist attack through Mexico? [translated
quote]”
It seemed to Neal Boortz, host of the Neal Boortz Show, that his listeners would also like to
contemplate the sensationalist side of the story when he said: “There's the angle
of bioterrorism. What better way to sneak a virus into this country than to
give it to Mexicans.”
SEE ALSO ON THIS:
La Cronica de Hoy, Mexico:
Is Swine Flu the Latest U.S. Bioweapon Attack?
Echourouq al-Yawm, Algeria:
America Uses Swine Flu to Cover its Sins
Excelsior, Mexico:
Why are People Dying in Mexico, But Not the U.S.?
The Tribune, India:
The Growing Planetary Threat from Biological Weapons and Terrorism
What's so worrisome is that the
stupidity of this commentary is almost as great as the size of the audiences of
these radio and TV programs. Much to the regret of journalism and the
intelligence of the American people, controversy and polarization, as well as explicit
support for one political party, is the formula for success at United States
cable news networks.
As Colombians we should be
worried by this phenomenon. Because despite the millions of
dollars that the most-watched channels receive - pro-Republican Fox News
and pro-Democrat MSNBC - there are no winners here. Neither the people nor democracy benefit from the little and not-so-little
white lies of the media.
In the increasingly polarized
and politically-charged political atmosphere in Colombia, our media are tempted
by this formula of bias. It's nothing new for a newspaper, radio station, or
television broadcast to have some affinity with a certain political platform or
even for a candidate or leader. But in the practice of journalism, setting
limits is essential. Ever since President Alvaro Uribe's first reelection,
several media in the country have defined themselves with respect to the image
of the most popular president in history - and they've fallen into their own
trap, defining every Colombian as being for him or against him. At this point
we already have media considered pro-government and pro-opposition.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Neither extreme is healthy, much
less useful to democracy or the development of our personal opinions. Consumers
of news and information should demand constant criticism of the government by
all media because that is their primary role - and that criticism should not
come from the opposition, but from a position of defending the common good that
is truthful and based on relevant information. We must equally demand that
recognizing the government's achievements doesn't mean glorifying it or utterly
ignoring its Olympian faults.
According to the Pew Center
for Excellence in Journalism's recently published annual report on the state of
the media in the United States, programs on Fox News have a generally
conservative audience, those on MSNBC are viewed more by liberals, and CNN
has a slightly more balanced audience. For example, The O'Reilly Factor
on Fox News is watched by an audience that is 66 percent conservative
and 3 percent liberal.
What these numbers indicate
is that the secret of the success for U.S. cable channels is the old formula of
giving the public what it wants to see. What happens then is that news and
information pleases and makes consumers feel good because they hear what they
want to hear every day - and not what they should hear or what they'd really be
interested in knowing. It is a fact that they consume doctored news. And the best
breeding ground for this formula is a polarized country. So let us hope that
the same doesn't happen to us.
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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US May 21, 6:35pm]
