Who is Molding our Lives?

The powerful media is fully taking advantage of being the one and only voice that people will listen to. It used to be that we got information and guidance from parents and grandparents, from the wisdom and experience of the elderly.

Now we have television and magazines to teach us everything we need to know; what to eat, what to wear, what to look like and most importantly what to think. If we are still thinking at all, probably we should ask ourselves what are the ulterior motives and who is the Media controlled by.

If your answer is “big business” you got it right; if you think the media feels any obligation to give perspective and bring balance to people lives, than think again. 

Aside from the fact that the Media is (in its totality) in the hands of just few people, the Media is first and foremost a business and as such interested to make a profit any way they can. Morality does not enter the equation of profits.

The times when journalism was a respectable and dignifying profession are long gone. The authoritarian and reassuring voice of Walter Cronkite and his celebrated “and that’s the way it’s” is long gone.

Obsessed with ratings, the Media is sensationalizing even the most ordinary facts and presents them as life changing events. We are left with ambitious young journalist ready to stretch the truth and manipulate opinions just to make a name for themselves. To get half the story one needs to watch at least two different television channels, to read a few newspapers a day and possibly to be fluent in a couple of languages.

We have all seen the extent of media’s bias during the electoral campaign; to make it perfectly clear I was and still am a big supporter of Obama and the Democratic Party. But I am also an even bigger supporter of fairness and journalistic responsibility.

I am not saying Sarah Palin was a qualified candidate or that she was vaguely informed about any of the issues at the time she was running on the republican ticket. If anything, the exact opposite is true. Except for her good looks, she had nothing to offer.

The very last America needed was for Palin to be cute and graciously wink at Putin in their first meeting.

However, the way our Media unlashed a merciless campaign against her and focused only on the negative, including personal family affairs, is far from being a professional and impartial way of presenting reality and does not bring credibility to the journalistic profession.

Let me say it again, I didn’t like Sarah Palin, but I liked even less the way she was treated. She is taking now her arguments on the road and making money, using the same Media that denigrated her; that proves she has political abilities than what we gave her credit for.

Could it be that she is more shrewd than many thought her to be, or it is a kind of revenge? Most likely she is trying to pave the road to a new attempt at the highest office.

Whatever it is she wants or hopes is not as important as the fact that the Media has changed its attitude, just because Palin’s presence in the news is going to attract viewers and bust rates.

I feel more than just nostalgia for the times when I heard and believed a man who told me “that’s the way it’s”