Very perceptive. You've hit on something that's important, IMO, wrt the media.
I'll try to be brief, but this is important for all to understand.
Those who work in the media, other than upper-level management, usually don't make much dough. Generally, the wage scale is based on what school teachers make. Now, media people, by necessity, must pursue multiple assignments at the same time. Which means they're always waiting for so-and-so to call them back so they can finish their story and go home.
Here's the part all of you need to understand.
In getting the facts right, a media person relies on someone in a position of authority _ the police chief, for example. If the chief of police says the sky is purple, then, by golly, it's a fact that the chief of police said that. In the interest of balance, a media person then finds someone who says he/she believes the sky is green. As long as that person is quoted correctly, then those become "the facts."
Such statements almost always go unchallenged, except in cases of deep investigative reporting, which is a whole different subject.
So, when a reporter can say to the editor, something like, the plant manager called me back and said (fill in the blank), then that becomes the basis for that day's story.
Which, to get to the point, is why the media (TV, newspaper, doesn't matter) is almost always wrong, or at best misleading, when reporting what they consider to be fairly routine, day-to-day stuff.
In a nutshell, that's it. There are always exceptions and special circumstances.
I hope I have to contributed to your understanding of how the world works. If I have not, I apologize for wasting your time.
PB |
