Reading Rick Stiebel’s column (Rickter Scale, March 28) I must admit he got off to a great start, but it quickly spiralled into needless moralizing toward the end.
The nobel pursuits of intrepid investigative journalists in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, revealing egregious acts by nefarious actors at their own mortal peril, is indeed noble and commendable. But to contrast their actions with the actions of all media and journalists, especially North American mainstream media is disingenuous at best.
Admittedly I’m not familiar with Mr Stiebel’s lifelong journalistic output, but I would suggest he dust off his copy of Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent.
I’ve become a lifelong student of news/media tactics in North America, the endless deflection, obfuscation, deceptive polling, lying by omission, staging/orchestration, pushing the pet narrative of parent corporations, deceptive editing, non-reporting, pandering, and endless editorialization in the guise of “reporting news,” partisan hackery, etc.
These practices are not commendable in any measure.
I remember the days where reporters and anchors reported facts and allowed the populace to form their own opinions about topics of the day. I only want to be told the Five W’s of the issues. I don’t need to be told how to feel about the news.
Media only deserves respect if it commands respect, and not be awarded some merit based solely on the badge of their chosen profession.
What I see currently in the news media is practically nothing but editorialization. Media must remember it is neither the arbiter of truth nor morality. The best of journalists are servants of truth. Anyone who can’t see the obvious problems in North American media, isn’t worthy of the journalistic profession.
Charles Ward
Sooke
