Media Got it Wrong: The Emperor Has NO Clothes!

The Media Are Wrong Again
The Emperor Has NO Clothes!

The corporate media, in its haste to appear objective, has failed the public again.

THE CHARADE

On the morning of October 13th, the Emperor took off all his clothes in front of the entire nation.  He stood stark naked in the illuminating glare of television cameras and an international video feed,  This time, there was no one around to throw a cloak over his exposed nudity or to convince onlookers that he was really robed.  This time, the Emperor had no clothes on at all, and everybody saw it.

This time, there was no way to spin the story.  The entire nation had witnessed the staging of an `impromptu’ conversation between the President and a group of soldiers in Iraq.  Under ordinary circumstances, it might have been an embarrassing exchange at best or an outrageous misuse of our troops at worst.  But in this case, the careful orchestration had been caught on film, and the proverbial cat was out of the bag.  The Emperor was stark naked and he had nowhere to run

And so, the media were forced to deviate from their normal mode.  They could not possibly give George W. Bush a free pass on this story, because there was absolutely no way to camouflage the event.  They had to report what was evident to everyone who saw it.  They had report it fully, to but they didn’t.  Once again, the media didn’t get it right.

The very next day, most of the corporate media made an attempt to cover the story. They accurately stated that the much hyped `conversation’ had been staged.  Finally, an overt criticism of this President appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the country and was featured on the TV news networks.   But, it was far from enough.

Still, the mere fact that the media reported a story critical of someone in the current administration caused quite a stir.  Pundits and bloggers read all sorts of things into this rare occurrence.  Some suggested that the media were jumping ship and abandoning a crumbling presidency.  Others hoped that reporters and news anchors had undergone an epiphany of sorts, and had discovered some of their lost integrity.  Still others simply stroked their chins in wonder and could offer no explanation at all.
 

The truth is that they simply had no choice.  The story was out there and they were not going to be left behind.   It was going to be the most discussed topic of the day, and not a single reporter worth his or her pay could ignore it.  There is no reason in the world to attribute any altruistic or noble motive to anyone who reported the story, because not a single reporter deserves it.

On the contrary, the corporate news media, in its haste to appear objective, once again totally failed the public.

THE REAL STORY

What the media failed to do was report the real story that took place in Washington. The real story was not about an awkward and scripted photo op for the President.  The story was not even about the shameful exploitation of American troops.  The real story was the motive behind the event itself, and the lies that were so blatantly told once again.  The real story, as is par for the course, was completely overlooked.