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BS ‘n’ About…
The Fourth Estate
Freedom of the Press is one of the most sought after and cherished freedoms known to man. But implied along with that freedom are certain responsibilities, primarily that the press’ job is to report the news, not be it. And its primary allegiance ought to be to the Constitution and its citizens, not a Board of Directors and its stockholders. Unfortunately, capitalism and the Information Age have made these responsibilities almost impossible to fulfill.
Modern technologies have given the Fourth Estate an unprecedented power way out of proportion to it’s role in the grand scheme of things. It has become the self-appointed arbiter of our every outlook on the world. It tells us how we think, how we feel, and what is news.
As long as profit drives the bus, ‘news’ will be a tour of spectacular aberration. Celebrity screw-ups, pit bull attacks, the latest train wreck, and tsunamis in Timbuktu will invade our living rooms. While making for great “News at 11!” soundbites, none of this stuff has any real bearing on our lives, our country, our world, or our role in it. Not only is it irrelevant, it gives us a completely distorted view of the world, a much darker view.
Freedom of the Press is necessary for a free people. But when it is driven by bottom line, capitalistic motivations, it threatens the very freedoms it is supposed to protect. We’ve known our favorite Talking Heads and columnists for decades, yet won’t meet our next President until a few weeks before or after New Hampshire. Some issues get glossed over. Others get beat to death. The media has the power to make or break a candidate these days.
Power that great shouldn’t be wielded by entities with selfish, bottom line motives. That is a disaster of major proportion just waiting to happen: Too many ways to corrupt the very process of freedom, not enough motivation to be the kind of impartial that true freedom requires.
When our leaders are terrified of the media, democracy is in danger. And how can they be anything but? The media can make them or break them. It decides which issues get blown out of proportion and which get swept under the rug. It not only translates every word that comes out of a politician’s mouth, it also tells us what we think about it!
In the early days of television we had these bigger than life radio days politicians set against the backdrop of the ‘60’s. They pulled their dog’s ears and banged their shoes on the table. The networks stayed behind the camera and the political types weren’t yet media-savvy enough to have their every move orchestrated.
As TV’s influence grew, it emerged from the background, plopped itself down in the middle of our living rooms, and ordained itself the arbiter of our political process. It deified Kennedy. It hounded Johnson from office. It never did like Nixon. And it was anything but impartial about Vietnam.
The Fourth Estate had taken control. Somewhere between the Kennedy-Nixon debate and the latter’s farewell as he boarded Marine One, the rules had changed. No longer where those in front of the camera in control.
Then along came Ronald Reagan. The camera loved him. He filled the role with such dignity. He was so damned Presidential. Yet few of us saw him as cerebral. Certainly not cerebral enough to be the guiding force behind the sweeping changes brought about by his administration. We accepted him as a fatherly front man for some sort of Pentagon-Wall Street cabal. The Presidency had changed. We had changed.
The strongest of our past Presidents were dominant personalities who seized history and shaped it to their will. They left no doubt where the buck stopped. Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln. FDR, JFK, and LBJ. Their words and writings cry out with the burdens they so personally shouldered.
Nowadays politicians usually sound like they’re saying someone else’s words. Usually they are. A good ‘Where’s the beef?’ quip can turn an election and belittle an entire career. Effective marketing can make one a champion of family values while feeding our kids ketchup and calling it a vegetable.
Not many lives can survive the scrutiny of an unfriendly media. Affairs would have done in Jefferson, Ike, and Kennedy. Polio the same for FDR. And Lincoln, well, he was just plain too ugly.
We used to get a wide range of very opinionated candidates with things still very up in the air before New Hampshire. Every four years the Muskies, the Rockefellers, and the various Kennedys would march off to do battle in New Hampshire. Every once in a while, a Jimmy Carter marched back. Now we aren’t even introduced to our next President until we’re told he’s the only guy worth voting for. Clinton and George W. were virtual unknowns until the media anointed them prior to New Hampshire.
Where are the George McGoverns and Jerry Browns? …..the George Wallaces and Barry Goldwaters? Back then we had some politicians who really knew how to make a spectacle of themselves. But most did it by daring to believe in something. No one was going to confuse Eugene McCarthy with Alexander Haig.
Why the change? As they say: ‘Follow the money’. It is not coincidence that the Anointee isn’t the guy who shows up in New Hampshire with the most charisma, the best ideas, or popular support. No. It’s the guy who shows up in New York with the most money: Money amassed primarily from special interests, money to be spent primarily with the very same media which trumpets him the front runner. All this before the people are even involved. All this before the democratic process is even begun.
When you think about it, political advertising is a pretty undignified and undemocratic way of electing the Leader of the Free World anyway. Let those who want to run line up. Make ‘em run their own website and give them a Ken Burns documentary. Sic Geraldo on their schoolmates, relatives, and co-workers. Graphically represent and compare their positions and past accomplishments. Make them talk about themselves, not the other guy. Pick ten semi-finalists and debate them every night if necessary. Heck, put ‘em on Jeopardy.
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