Why do I not Trust the Media? The NPR Drinking Game, Mega-Thread
“I’m not upset that you lied to me; I’m upset that from now on, I can’t believe you.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, or whenever you find these words of wholesome goodness. I slept well; I woke up about 6:00, and instead of getting up, I chose to snuggle with my wife; making an excellent first decision that makes life easier is a nice way to start one’s day.
Cousin and I ran to the office for a meeting; he hung out reading his book, my wife and I had our weekly staff meeting. We talked about perception vs. reality how no matter what we believe, there is always another opinion or angle to view every situation.
What is interesting to me is how angry folks get these days. They get worked up if they hear something that does not align with their perception of reality. So stressed, I guess, is the term that might apply; if you begin feeling angry or stressed, that is a cue to take a breath and ask yourself, why did that upset me?
You may read, see, or hear something that you feel is incorrect. I find myself doing this when listening to NPR. I have shared before my daily listening patter of NPR, I think they do a great job with the content, but their news reporting is a little skewed. So could you do me a favor and listen to NPR and have a glass of water. Take a drink each time they mention racism, climate change, or COVID. You will never be thirsty again. It’s the trifecta of social justice.
The demand for racism is much greater than the supply. Look no further than Chicago, where a trial is wrapping up of a man that wanted the narrative of racism to be accurate; he staged a hate crime against himself. Unfortunately, a few news outlets did not see the silliness of the claims, subway, negative 16 degree weather, MAGA hats, come on, man? Take a look at the interview with Robin Roberts if you want to see what that narrative some believe to be true.
“Why did they come after you, Jussie?” “Cause I come after 45 hard!” Here’s the sad thing, legitiment hate crimes are being perpetrated, but when you fake one, it diminishes actual hate crimes. It’s like the boy who cried wolf; real wolves fall on deaf ears after so many cries.
I caught a Twitter feed that I thought did an excellent job of explaining how some in our country are feeling and the basis for their feelings. As a reminder, I am vaccinated, but I think it is up to each person to make that personal medical decision. The thread does an excellent job of explaining why some mistrust the media and the establishment. It’s written by @KonstantinKisin and is worth a read.
“You’re struggling to understand why some people are vaccine-hesitant. The “let me help you” mega-thread: Imagine you’re an average person. The year is 2016.
Rightly or wrongly, you believe most of what you see in the media.
You believe polls are broadly reflective of public opinion. You think doctors and scientists are trustworthy and independent. You’re a decent, reasonable person who follows the rules and trusts authority.
Imagine your shock then, when Brexit, which you were assured won’t happen because it’s a fringe movement led by racists for racists, happens. The polls, which widely predicted it wouldn’t happen, were utterly wrong.
The experts and media pundits who told you it wouldn’t happen day after day are also wrong. “Oh well,” you say, “these things happen”. Imagine that soon after Donald Trump is running for President. You are told by your favorite media publications that he will lose.
Some experts say his opponent has a 99% chance of winning. Imagine waking up on the morning after the election to discover that pollsters, media experts, and politicians you still trusted were wrong again.
And now, the racist monster they told you would never get near the White House is the leader of the free world. “How did this happen?” you ask yourself? How could all the people in charge of informing me be so wrong? “It was the Russians,” they tell you.
“The Russians did Brexit, and they got Trump elected too.” Imagine that for the next 3.5 years; you watch as the media and the political class run with the Russia collusion narrative. They tell you the how, when, and where.
The dossiers, the whistle-blowers, the peeing prostitutes. Imagine your desperation for things to make sense again. The Muller Report is coming, and it will set your world straight.
Evidence of foreign meddling in the 2016 election and Brexit is coming to save your unsettled mind. Imagine your shock when you discover that Brexit and Trump had little to do with foreign meddling. The screaming about Russians and Brexit dies down as well.
Imagine that bit by bit; you discover that events which the media and political class told you would not and could not happen not only happened but happened without some sort of evil interference. Instead, millions of your fellow citizens voted for them.
Again, you ask, “How could this happen?” and again, the media has the answer: racism. “Your country is racist,” they tell you. If you’re white, this seems strange to you. But, other than a handful of idiots, you’ve never met a racist.
f you’re an ethnic minority immigrant like me, this seems even stranger. Why would people in one of the most welcoming, tolerant countries in the world want to convince themselves their country is racist when it’s so obviously not?
But the evidence is right there on your TV screen. Imagine your horror as a gay black actor is assaulted by MAGA hat-wearing thugs who racially abuse him and put a noose around his neck. He cries while talking about it:
Imagine your outrage as you see news reports of many MAGA hat-wearing kids from a religious school contemptuously confronting a native American elder. Reza Aslan tells you the kid has a “punchable face,” and while you abhor violence, it’s hard to disagree.
Imagine that for days, you watch coverage of these events, with expert after expert, pundit after pundit, sharing and fuelling your outrage about them. Your belief that you are a good person and that your country is good.
Imagine that soon after. However, the Jussie Smollett story turns out to be an attention-seeking hoax. Imagine that you quickly discover that the native American elder was the one who confronted the kids and not the other way around.
You can find the entire thread here:
It explains why some might be concerned with how the media manipulates the facts. But alas, I am an optimistic fellow; I think that through dialog, we can find agreement in things we disagree, and eventually, a man, woman, or transgender will arrive at closing the divide among us. My only hope is they get here pretty damn quick.
“I’m not upset that you lied to me; I’m upset that from now on, I can’t believe you.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche
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