Captain PMS, 11/07

Captain’s Blog Stardate 11/12

I enjoyed our discussion on Chomsky quite a bit. It is interesting to read theorists and see ideas you have had before but have not been able to express as clearly. I was aware that there was propaganda in the media and have always noticed things that are slanted or seem inappropriately phrased, however, I did not understand exactly how many people the news goes through before it is delivered to us. It made me wonder why anyone would even want to bother watching the news. I suppose some people feel that as long as they understand the propaganda behind the stories than they are not in danger of being mislead. It occurs to me though, what is the alternative? If you choose to watch the news, all the while understanding that what you are seeing is processed, filtered propaganda, than should you develop the more cynical view point that nothing can be trusted? Or should you assume that most stories are whitewashed versions of real news stories and that everything is just a little worse than were told? And how do those viewpoints coincide with the fact that bad, local news is often hyped-up and exaggerated in order to drive our fear into high-gear? Does that then mean that propaganda can serve both the purpose of making things seems nicer, and the purpose of making things seem worse? If so than I am back again to the point of why anyone would want to watch the news at all. Unless you enjoy a good puzzle, or are a hardcore conspiracy theorist, than there seems to be little point. You are no more attuned to the real world than you were before the show started.