Presentation vs Substance…
When did presentation become more important then substance? When did performance and lies become acceptable and real hard news journalism lose respect? I’ve asked these questions myself often over the last couple of years.
Is it social media? Information is now available in a matter of moments to millions of readers. Whether that information is true or false is not confirmed. Often true stories are buried and left unread.
Is it the loss of print media? Newspapers are no longer support a large investigative staff. Does this make it easier to hide the lie for the public and mask the truth?
I do know that in a democracy this is a dangerous trend…
A democracy dies if lies are believed and truth wilts on a vine. Disagreement should lead to compromise and better solutions. It should not be a means to re-election as is so often the case today. We must learn to value those who compromise and weed out those with closed minds.
Rights and Ideals?
We must not allow politics of hate and division win. Divisiveness in any form does not serve our democracy. Our President’s actions should embody the ideal’s set forth in the Declaration of Independence “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”. Note, this does not say Americans, but “all men.” For our ideals to be real, our rights must apply universally and not only for the white protestant men who originally wrote them.
These high minded ideals become diluted when our actions don’t match our ideals. It makes it more difficult to support democracy in other countries.
Success will be achieved only when identifying as a minority is not important. Because the laws both in the courts and on the streets will be applied without prejudice or malice. Those who deny these rights to anyone should be held accountable.
Journalism…
Journalism needs to be sound, impartial and free. Stories and news organizations critiqued by our politicians is a dangerous road to take. We are heading down a path where our news organizations support a position or a party. I suggest that the louder someone declares something as “fake news” the more likely it is that it holds some truth.
Journalist should report the news and not slant the findings. That said they should be free to investigate. For a true democracy, journalist investigating our public figures is a job. As a people, we need the information. The source of that information are stories by journalists free to investigate without fear of reprisal. Yes, part of the process is vetting and substantiating the stories. Sensoring should not be part of the process.
Education…
We should be true to our ideals. True education provides an adult who can think on their own. A person who can recognize right for wrong and is willing to act accordingly. Our democracy can not survive a poorly educated public. Hence our government must support public education and not give into interests which support vouchers which move our best students into private institutions and leave the public schools working for funds.
Elections…
We must not be influenced by foreign powers. We must find a way to recognize the source of our social media and understand the goals. Russia’s chief goal is to drive a wedge between our conservatives and our liberals. We must not let them be successful. We must find a balanced path.
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