Media Watch 2020
All Commentary by Zorek Richards (unless otherwise noted)
Sept 2, 2020:
👉Is the media the enemy? I used to think that but not any more.. There was a time when the media did the job of reporting events and challenging problems in government. There are still some doing it, but the rest reports the media according to their narrative of choice. Left Wing, Right Wing, up and down... That media is just taking advantage of the fact that most people dont really care whats going on as long as they protect their narrative. They want an audience to pay the bills because they have built such large new conglomerations and hire their anchors and reporter for up to a million dollars plus per year. Much more than their worth.
👉The media now feeds off people mainly who cannot think critically. The non-critical thinkers choose their news like they're ordering off a breakfast menu. Hence they choose their reality. Relativism is a failed proposition in logic and debate and will have a bad end. When "what I feel" trumps "the way things are" there will only be common ground amongst the people who chose the same news source off the break fast menu.
👉Is the media the enemy? I used to think that but not any more.. There was a time when the media did the job of reporting events and challenging problems in government. There are still some doing it, but the rest reports the media according to their narrative of choice. Left Wing, Right Wing, up and down... That media is just taking advantage of the fact that most people dont really care whats going on as long as they protect their narrative. They want an audience to pay the bills because they have built such large new conglomerations and hire their anchors and reporter for up to a million dollars plus per year. Much more than their worth.
👉The media now feeds off people mainly who cannot think critically. The non-critical thinkers choose their news like they're ordering off a breakfast menu. Hence they choose their reality. Relativism is a failed proposition in logic and debate and will have a bad end. When "what I feel" trumps "the way things are" there will only be common ground amongst the people who chose the same news source off the break fast menu.
CNN Reporter Omar Jimenez reports: "Fiery but mostly peaceful protest after peaceful shooting."
In the background there are buildings and cars on fire.
By that standard, if Omar was in Louisiana he would be reporting: "All the swimming pools are open today!" (8.27.20)🤔
In the background there are buildings and cars on fire.
By that standard, if Omar was in Louisiana he would be reporting: "All the swimming pools are open today!" (8.27.20)🤔
Aug 19, 2020:
If "Fake News" (mainstream media) is a thing, then "Non-Fake News" would have to be everything that "Fake News" isn't. The problem with the "Non-Fake News" is that it essentially steals news from the "Fake News" and just spins it to create a narrative. People then pick their news to confirm the narrative they have chosen. Then it becomes not about the news at all but only about the narrative. It's also not about it being right or wrong...it is still about the narrative. In a world where picking your news is as easy as choosing from a salad bar creates a very distorted perception of reality which begins to become prominent based simply on that first initial spin. The world, however, is much bigger and less conspiratorial than people think. .
If "Fake News" (mainstream media) is a thing, then "Non-Fake News" would have to be everything that "Fake News" isn't. The problem with the "Non-Fake News" is that it essentially steals news from the "Fake News" and just spins it to create a narrative. People then pick their news to confirm the narrative they have chosen. Then it becomes not about the news at all but only about the narrative. It's also not about it being right or wrong...it is still about the narrative. In a world where picking your news is as easy as choosing from a salad bar creates a very distorted perception of reality which begins to become prominent based simply on that first initial spin. The world, however, is much bigger and less conspiratorial than people think. .
Aug 8, 2020: Psychology Today:Junk Food For The Mind: The Dangers of Media Overdose
Second, we must recognize that the news in America is by and large a for-profit business. It generates profits by getting eyeballs on the news product. In other words, it needs to attract consumers’ attention. And you already know what attracts our attention: that’s right—mayhem. The news, therefore, will prioritize mayhem, exploiting our brain’s innate tendencies. If it bleeds, it leads. Airplane crashes will always make the news. Airplanes landing safely will not. Consuming the news, hence, is not merely acquiring knowledge. It is acquiring a certain type of knowledge, heavily tilted towards brokenness.
Second, we must recognize that the news in America is by and large a for-profit business. It generates profits by getting eyeballs on the news product. In other words, it needs to attract consumers’ attention. And you already know what attracts our attention: that’s right—mayhem. The news, therefore, will prioritize mayhem, exploiting our brain’s innate tendencies. If it bleeds, it leads. Airplane crashes will always make the news. Airplanes landing safely will not. Consuming the news, hence, is not merely acquiring knowledge. It is acquiring a certain type of knowledge, heavily tilted towards brokenness.
“The government don’t need any help creatin’ Big Brother. Folks are buyin’ up that stuff all by themselves. Cameras and microphones all over the house, watchin’ and listenin’ to everything. Their whole lives played out on social media platforms.”
― Angela Mullins, Working for Uncle Henry
― Angela Mullins, Working for Uncle Henry
June 10, 2020: Christianity Today: Conspiracy Theories, Engaging Online, and Wisdom: The Intersection of the Three and How to Respond Biblically
Having acknowledged the failures in journalism, it is critical that Christians resist the temptation to reject mainstream reporting altogether. This is a critical mistake that leads us down the pathway to isolation whereby we invalidate any news article we find unfavorable.
Having acknowledged the failures in journalism, it is critical that Christians resist the temptation to reject mainstream reporting altogether. This is a critical mistake that leads us down the pathway to isolation whereby we invalidate any news article we find unfavorable.
May 14, 2020: The Trump administration was named by white evangelicals as the source they would most likely rely on as a major source of news. That was followed by national news networks and local news outlets. Public health officials were the fourth most consulted source. Christianity Today: Where Do White Evangelicals Get Their Coronavirus News? The White House
Reporters believe they're reformers. They view themselves with reverence as though they were protecting the world against the forces of evil. People who evoke utopian ideas are loved by them. Reporters love the ideas..in particularly the more utopian..because they embrace a "humanity" that is purely ideological regardless of whether the ideas can even work in the real world or government structures. Utopian ideas generally cannot. So the media pursues the fairy tales that make people feel good and rarely come to the place where they can reconcile that the ideas are simply warm and fuzzy fables. Election cycles are generally loaded with pithy platitudes and it is also the times that the media reveals a bias they don't even know they have because they're too self absorbed protecting us against the forces of evil. They believe they are right. A dogma that can rarely, if ever, be breached.
--Zorek Richards
--Zorek Richards
Apr 24, 2020: Vanity Fair: COVID-19 Conspiracies Are Turobocharged Through Conservative Media
Fox News and Trump himself amplified many of these misguided COVID-19 beliefs. Sean Hannity hosted a supposed medical expert in early March who insisted “this virus should be compared to the flu. Because at worst, at worst, worst-case scenario it could be the flu,” while the president said “treat this like you treat the flu” in late February.
Fox News and Trump himself amplified many of these misguided COVID-19 beliefs. Sean Hannity hosted a supposed medical expert in early March who insisted “this virus should be compared to the flu. Because at worst, at worst, worst-case scenario it could be the flu,” while the president said “treat this like you treat the flu” in late February.
8.19.20
If "Fake News" (mainstream media) is a thing, then "Non-Fake News" would have to be everything that "Fake News" isn't. The problem with the "Non-Fake News" is that it essentially steals news from the "Fake News" and just spins it to create a narrative. People then pick their news to confirm the narrative they have chosen. Then it becomes not about the news at all but only about the narrative. It's also not about it being right or wrong...it is still about the narrative. In a world where picking your news is as easy as choosing from a salad bar creates a very distorted perception of reality which begins to become prominent based simply on that first initial spin. The world, however, is much bigger and less conspiratorial than people think. . --Zorek Richards
If "Fake News" (mainstream media) is a thing, then "Non-Fake News" would have to be everything that "Fake News" isn't. The problem with the "Non-Fake News" is that it essentially steals news from the "Fake News" and just spins it to create a narrative. People then pick their news to confirm the narrative they have chosen. Then it becomes not about the news at all but only about the narrative. It's also not about it being right or wrong...it is still about the narrative. In a world where picking your news is as easy as choosing from a salad bar creates a very distorted perception of reality which begins to become prominent based simply on that first initial spin. The world, however, is much bigger and less conspiratorial than people think. . --Zorek Richards
May 26, 2020: Z-NOTE: This article is from Jan 22, 2020. It is making its way through social media right now, I presume because most people pass it along based on the headline without ever reading the article. This was before much was known about the virus and Canada was off the radar initially as far as a "pandemic" and I have not looked up any updated info yet. --Zorek Richards
This link is current statistics from Canada: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/canada/ Dr. Sohail Ghandi, president of the Ontario Medical Association, said early data on the new form of virus suggests masks won’t be especially effective. While masks may have helped ward off the spread of SARS during the deadly 2003 outbreak, preliminary research indicates the same won’t be true of the current virus, he said. “Handwashing is more effective than face masks with this particular virus, particularly if you’re not infected.” (Actually "Gandi") Presently, the World Health Organization and the Public Health Agency of Canada recommend those caring for a patient use a medical mask, while the United States is recommending the N95 mask. “A mask that you buy in the pharmacy can never give total protection against a virus that is transmitted through the air,” said Eric Litvack, medical chief for preventive medicine and control in Montreal’s Public Health Department. (Actually "Litvak") https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericlitvak/?originalSubdomain=ca Montreal Gazzette: https://montrealgazette.com/…/coronavirus-fears-should-you…/ JAN 29, 2020: National Post: Why a mask won't protect you from the Wuhan coronavirus 
May 22, 2020: So how do the conspiracy folks handle something like this. The headline fits their narrative...but it's from the news network that pretty much all of them call Fake NewsCNN: Arman Azad and Renee Baharaeen, CNN
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged on Friday it had mixed together results from viral and antibody coronavirus tests on its website. 
May 22. 2020: Bloomberg: Hydroxychloroquine Tied to Deaths, Heart Risk in Covid Study
The headline says what it means: "Antimalaria drugs ....were linked to an increased risk of death and heart ailments in a study." In other words it was a study on heart disease not Covid-19. But the whole sentence actually reads: "Antimalaria drugs that U.S. President Donald Trump has touted for treatment of Covid-19 were linked to an increased risk of death and heart ailments in a study." Not sure why it was necessary to throw in the comment about Trump in that sentence. But then the author adds: "Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine didn’t benefit patients with the coronavirus, either alone or in combination with an antibiotic, according to the study published Friday (today) by The Lancet medical journal." --Zorek Richards 
The best things in life are free....at least for the first 30 days.😉
April 24, 2020: Life News: MSNBC Host: “Silver Lining” of People Dying From Coronavirus is That It Hurts Trump
Very broad interpretation by "Life News" The original story where this came from was on NewsBusters on April 23. The actual quote from Nicole Wallace was "the things that we’ve been talking about for three years may be finally catching up with him." Pretty sure they havent been talking about Covid-19 for three years. "“Silver Lining” of People Dying From Coronavirus is That It Hurts Trump" --is not true and was not said by anyone in this exchange between Wallace and the CDC director. It's click-bait designed to go to the conservative conspirators which it appears to have found it's mark as I see it begin to float around social media --Zorek Richards🤔 |
Killing of George Floyd
“This incident shouldn’t be limited to African American leaders. Anyone looking at this situation and observing the video couldn’t help but conclude that a man on the ground, on his stomach, with hands behind his back, with handcuffs on and surrounded by four officers and a knee on his neck–all leaders, red, yellow, brown, black, and white should be able to say that was inhumane.”
“If not. God help us all.” -J.C. Watts, a former congressman from Oklahoma 5.30.20: 9Marks: Should I Respond to George Floyd’s Death This Sunday?
"Victory is mine" as the "peaceful protester" stands on top of his prey in Salt Lake City and takes a selfie. □ "Smile and say "Cars Are Evil"
May 29, 2020: Fox 9:Rioters damage more than 170 businesses in St. Paul
MSNBC reporter in Minneapolis: “I want to be clear on how I characterize this. This is mostly a protest. It is not generally speaking unruly." Behind him a building is burning. 🤔 Wonder what they will do if they become unruly?
May 27, 2020: Christian Post Christian leaders express outrage over George Floyd's death, call police actions 'evil'
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Jan 12, 2020:
The BBC has released a three part documentary titled "Sex Robots and Us." The concept proposes that they will create child-like sex dolls and believe that the paedophile will use it instead of targeting real children. I can't think of an instance where feeding a perversion has worked better than dealing with the perversion.
The BBC has become a mouthpiece for various subjects including a recent documentary on climate change that became a catapult for mass demonstrations by children demanding climate change be battled seriously by governments. This involved them leaving school to "demonstrate" (so you can decide whether it was really for climate change or just time off from school.) Italy will be making climate change classes mandatory for every grade starting next year.
The Daily Mail claimed in 2006 that Andrew Marr stated, "The BBC is not impartial or neutral. It's a publicly funded, urban organisation with an abnormally large number of young people, ethnic minorities and gay people. It has a liberal bias, not so much a party-political bias.
The BBC has released a three part documentary titled "Sex Robots and Us." The concept proposes that they will create child-like sex dolls and believe that the paedophile will use it instead of targeting real children. I can't think of an instance where feeding a perversion has worked better than dealing with the perversion.
The BBC has become a mouthpiece for various subjects including a recent documentary on climate change that became a catapult for mass demonstrations by children demanding climate change be battled seriously by governments. This involved them leaving school to "demonstrate" (so you can decide whether it was really for climate change or just time off from school.) Italy will be making climate change classes mandatory for every grade starting next year.
The Daily Mail claimed in 2006 that Andrew Marr stated, "The BBC is not impartial or neutral. It's a publicly funded, urban organisation with an abnormally large number of young people, ethnic minorities and gay people. It has a liberal bias, not so much a party-political bias.