I grew up in Richmond, Texas, a town on the Brazos River of
(at the time) shy of 10,000 people. When
I was young, the river flooded rather severely – so much so that our little
town got even national media attention.
I remember seeing on CNN how high the river had gotten, and how people
were forced to leave their homes.
The number of evacuees from Richmond was something that
every news source agreed upon, even the Houston reporters – 20,000 people had
left Richmond. Keep in mind that the
entire population was less than half of that, and most of us were fine. My family didn’t evacuate, and I don’t recall
knowing a single family that did. In
fact, I had a friend who lived a few blocks from the river, and he hadn’t left
either. The reporters were either
grossly incompetent or they were lying.
Ever since then, I’ve been a bit suspicious of the news
media. That suspicion has deepened in a
time where the internet and cable news channels no longer have to come up with
news to fill a mere newspaper or hour-long news program, but all day of every
day has been commented upon, examined, and filled. There’s no way we’re not going to have news
reported. The question is whether what
is reported is actually news, and is actually worth reporting. And also, is it true?
There are little ways that we are lied to in reports. Every time we see some reporter on a beach as
a hurricane is coming in, conducting a fake fight against the wind that isn’t
nearly as strong as he is pretending it to be (usually with people in the background
standing around normally), we are being lied to. When a report in a war zone pretends that the
explosion you just heard was really, really close when it wasn’t, we are being
lied to. Let’s not even get into the
topic of a liberal or conservative bias, let’s just talk numbers. Let’s talk about pretending that every
citizen of Richmond had evacuated – twice.
Let’s talk about choosing what segments of interviews to air not on the
basis of their value and input into the conversation, but their shock and
entertainment value. Let’s talk about
filming small protests in a way that make them look big, and ignoring other
ones that aren’t as sexy.
Let’s talk about what we choose as news. I turn on the local news sometimes, and I’m
wondering if I’m actually watching TMZ.
They have segments of celebrity gossip (gossip, we must remember, is a
sin). Even the stories that we would
normally lump into a category of actual “news” isn’t. It is us talking about this citizen or that
one, their businesses and actions, so that someone can sit at home and collect
the gossip of the town without actually going searching for it.
And they do this because we demand it. We will tune in to the crisis before we will
peace. We aren’t interested in someone
on the beach saying, “Man, I thought it would be windier by now!” We want graphics and sound effects and lights
to go along with our sin. We want to
know about people’s personal lives, their ups and downs, their mistakes and
blunders. We want dirt. And if there’s video to go along with it, all
the better!
And for some reason, we’re getting on Brian Williams for
doing the same thing? By adding a little
flash to the story? I’m sorry, why were
you watching him to begin with? Did you
really think that the celebrity gossip, the inflated numbers, the glitz and
glamour, the subtle deceits, were all on the up-and-up? But all of a sudden, Williams adds an untrue
detail to an otherwise true report, and we’re ready to hang him.
To be honest, I’m not sure why we’re so outraged. I mean, if this was the type of news you were
watching, it was because this is the type of news you wanted. Why are you upset that you got it?
Don’t get me wrong. I
believe that lying is unacceptable both morally and professionally, but what I
believe about what reporters should and should not do is not shared by the rest
of the population. You are the ones
demanding it, not me. So what’s the big
deal?
And while we’re at it, let’s make this clear (again) –
gossip is a sin. Gossip is a sin. Gossip
is a sin. You can put it on the
evening news and try to gussy it up to make it look pretty, but if that’s your
gig, then you need to repent for the forgiveness of this heinous sin that
regularly destroys peoples’ lives.
So by all means, get upset at Brian Williams for lying (also
a sin) on television. But let’s look at
ourselves too. Because at this point,
you’re consuming it, so they’re going to give it right back to you.
