Shooting an Elephant

There was a time when it was acceptable and common place to take what was broadcast with good faith and a deal of trust; when a newsreader was part of the family (cite cronkite). This period is nigh coming to a close. Now, issue must be taken with orthodox news channels. They are plagued by, and propogators of the worst afflictions of our time. That is to say, greed, perversion, injustice, corruption and narcissism. The number on tool in this horrorshow is the act of lying. Not only that, but doing so with a shred of truth is measurelessly more wicked.

It is to be seen that the framework of news relay has changed dramatically over the course of human history. Formerly, observational knowledge was imparted on those directly in contact with the witness. There exists little opportunity for misconstuction of the truth, as its awareness of was directly local. Excepting a case of skulduggery, whereby the truth could be willingly manipulated by a third party as a means to an end, there would be no common purpose in its debasement. Of course, it would be foolish to suggest there were no intrinsic flaw in the human psyche that inspired such wrongdoing. What is certain is that its effect would be considerably less potent, orchestrated and widespread. This is the role of structurally globalised society.

When global awareness of an issue is procured from a few reporters on the ground, reproduced in various countries, in different languages, to unqiue populations as part of a highly choreographed process, great and deeply troubling problems arise. Exactly like a game of chinese whispers, the message will be packaged, interpreted, summarised, commented, repackaged and processed again and again in this manner until scare all remains of what is important to an audience. What remains, is a carcass. All the nutritious meat has been cast aside, leaving only bones and grissle, enough to convince people that it is still a story. It still exists, but is no more recognisable as what it was conceived as. The news cycle feeds itself upon the flesh that is most constructive to its purpose, and leaves the rest for someone else to clean up.

More broadly, this is to suggest something at a fundamental level is corrupt with society, some untold wickeness that has forever laid underneath everything is beginning to broaden its reach, and we are starting to detect it. There is no reason to not believe in the individual goodness of persons, rather this proposes that when in large decentralised and impersonal groups such as corporations, all things immoral are cultivated.

"And that's the way it is"