The Laughing Wolf

Digital Brownshirts, or Real Journalists?

While Chris Muir has the best take on the Gore speech (hat tip Misha) I’ve seen, the speech points out the real problem facing America: Getting the facts. The fact is, that being sure the facts get out is no longer the goal for many in politics and government. Indeed, for many the facts are the problem, what they want out is the story they want out, not the facts.

You can go back just 50 years and see the shift in policy. That was when newspapers lost their dominance in the news business to radio and television. Newspapers faced competition on breaking news, and extra editions became a thing of memory. Instead, the public turned to radio and television to see events unfold, and then to newspapers and magazines for the in-depth coverage and analysis. The newspaper market shrank, and competition reigned supreme – and many newspapers went the way of the dinosaurs. Major cities went from several morning and evening papers to just usually just one of each. Small- to mid-sized cities fared even worse.

With strong prodding from the media and most especially from the publishers, the government stepped in. The case was made that competing newspapers provided competing stories and competing coverage. This meant that different viewpoints would be heard, more stories had a chance at coverage, and that the public would be better informed and better capable of self-governance. The Government bought into this, and ended up, among other things, agreeing that newspapers could share a common printing plant so as to reduce costs and keep flagging papers going.

Ultimately, it didn’t work because the market was no longer there. While one can argue need, ultimately the public did not want that diversity in newspapers. They could and did put their time and money into other sources of information. That did not stop efforts to save the newspapers, because there was a clear perception in Government that divergent viewpoints were needed. Such efforts did not taper off until the 1980s.

Now, move forward to the last half of the 1990s. The internet has taken off, all news channels are on cable, and new technologies are changing the way in which we get and analyze news and events. Competing sources of news are now available in ways and amounts never dreamed, as are divergent opinions. Stories that would never have seen print or broadcast now draw world-wide attention.

Even more importantly, expert analysis is freely available (see here for more on this). Not only are “experts” available to write for publications, they also appear on television to discuss events for cheap or for free. They provide detailed analysis along with supporting documentation online in blogs and other New Media sites, most of which are available to anyone without charge.

Now, go take a look at Government policy during that same time. Look at legislation that has been introduced or passed. Look at regulations attempted or issued by agencies who control the means of distribution. The picture is not a pretty one, for there were and are efforts underway to eliminate dissenting opinion, to reduce competition or other challenges to the Old Media. Rather than the much needed competition of the 50s-70s, it is now a threat to be controlled or eliminated.

So, I have to ask: Who are the real brownshirts here? Those who attempt to muzzle a truly free and open press? Or those who live up to the ideals of journalism and point out mistakes and lies?

If pointing out inaccuracies, mistakes, and flat-out fabrications, and providing in-depth analysis by and from experts in the given fields is being a brownshirt, then I will wear that designation with pride. If pointing out the stories not covered by, or lost in, the Old Media and increasing the number of stories and viewpoints makes me a brownshirt, then I will wear that designation with pride. If pointing out efforts to limit or eliminate individual freedoms and liberty, if challenging Government and politicians makes me a brownshirt, then I will wear that designation with pride. For in this case, I would far rather be a brownshirt, than to be one of those who appears to have brown where grey matter should be.

-30-

UPDATE: One of the most articulate posts I have read on this, which cuts deep to the underpinings, is not surprisingly this one at Baldilocks. The more I think about this, the more I loathe and despise Gore for prostituting himself into the Bush=Hitler meme for nothing more than partisan politics and personal gain. What he has done is a calculated and vicious insult to every victim of the Holocaust, Jew, Gentile, and Other. It is a slap at those who opposed, those who died, and those who survived. Thank God this miserable excuse for a human did not become POTUS. Mr. gore, read my lips: Kisch mir im Tuches!