It's likely I read George Orwell's timeless classic "1984" too many times or I've guzzled too many glasses of wine this evening (or a bit of both) but I am becoming more and more skeptical as I read national and world headlines smeared across my computer screen. The U.S. deficit, Libyan rebels, Japan's nuclear crisis, suicide bombings in Afghanistan, pacts with South Korea, upheaval in Egypt ... the news media reports and I feed upon their words like a pig at a trough. Oink oink! Yum Yum! I am at their will for information and take what I can get. That's not to say I believe everything Google feeds me, but I take the best out of what I am given, i.e. CNN or New York Times, something reputable.
However, I can't help but wonder ... what if it's all a lie? What if they are slanting the headlines, changing the news? Maybe just a little, leaning the information to favor one side or the other, or maybe a lot, completely hiding key facts and important scoop. The thing that makes me most uneasy is how would I ever know? I go about life, doing this and that, working to make money and living and worrying about what's going on right here and right now. Outside my bubble, I check the news online or watch it on TV. How am I supposed to know if what I'm being given is a lie? And, if I find out it's a lie, what am I supposed to do and, more importantly, what am I going to do? I am at the mercy of their information and the powers that be know this.
No comments:
Post a Comment