The Downside of Slanted News Reports

There was a time when most Americans believed news reports and many even respected members of the news media. Indeed, the news media was almost regarded as another branch of government, described as the “fourth estate.” Neutral reporting of events helped citizens make informed choices about politicians, proposed legislation, and governmental endeavors. But that was long ago.

Members of today's media feel that proselytizing takes precedence over reporting. Consequently, they report incidents selectively, deviously rationalizing their biased reporting by applying the philosophy “the end justifies the means.” I had a personal experience with this kind of news reporting some years ago that really opened my eyes. It occurred when I saw how an event I witnessed was portrayed by news media. It was probably the late 1950s and I was a young CPA conducting a financial audit of a company in Birmingham, Alabama. As part of the audit procedure, I had to verify the title to property the organization owned. This involved a visit to the county courthouse, which is located beside a large public park that separates the county courthouse from city hall. Walking to the courthouse through the park, I came upon a dozen or so people curiously watching a TV camera crew at work. Television was a relatively new phenomenon at that time, so the filming of events usually attracted attention. These bystanders were what you would expect to find around a city hall and courthouse; professional men and women in business suits and dresses, typical of that time. My curiosity was also aroused, so I lingered and watched for a few minutes. I saw a member of the camera crew directing a group of relatively young black people, apparently arranging them for optimal filming angles. - Some of these young black men, I don't remember any females, were carrying placards proclaiming slogans typical of the civil rights era. - I recall the director moving a tall man to the end of the line, and instructing another to hold his placard sightly to the left rather than straight up. I watched this filming set up for while and then left for the courthouse. When I returned, maybe 45 minutes later, everyone was gone, except a few members of the camera crew who were packing up equipment.

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Advocacy Journalism

At home that evening, I watched the news on television. At that time, TV news programs were quite different from what is dubiously called the “news” today. You watched mature news commentators; not glamorous women in short skirts presiding over panels that often erupt into shouting matches. Back then, news programs were serious viewing, lasting only 15 or 30 minutes, broadcast once a day, in the late afternoon. However, there were only three networks, so we were stuck with their versions of events. The civil rights demonstration I watched being set up was briefly featured on the national news. However, in this version the demonstration appeared to be completely spontaneous and unrehearsed. The curious bystanders were not shown, but a brief clip of angry blue collar workers reacting to an event in a nearby town a few days prior was spliced into this segment. Narrators did not claim that these blue collar workers were harassing the demonstrators but that was certainly the impression that a viewer would have drawn. My reaction to this news segment created my first realization of the phenomenon of “advocacy journalism.” At that time there was still a general feeling that news events were faithfully reported and opinions of the events would be reserved for editorials. But members of the news media began to realize that they could better advocate certain agendas by combining both “reporting” and “editorializing.” Years later, I mentioned the above incident to a neighbor's daughter, who was a college senior. Her reaction to the television presentation was significantly different from mine. She felt that it was entirely proper, because it concentrated on what was” important” - a demonstration by members of an aggrieved minority. Being partially scripted and rehearsed were simply “unimportant side issues”, despite their lack of authenticity. The spliced inclusion of angry blue collar workers reacting to a different situation didn't bother her because the workers were reacting to a similar type of incident and it had occurred around the same time. Like this young woman, the majority of today's population was born after 1965. So what they know about the civil rights years comes from TV portrayals and Hollywood films. In these venues, the characterizations of those crucial years are skewed and carefully scripted. Depicting police as villains and demonstrators as saints has become de rigueur. Consequently, many doctored versions of events have become a sacrosanct part of the civil rights mythology, and it is now considered blasphemy to question them.

We wonder if their indoctrination encourages them to view their criminal acts as justified civil disobedience

One classic civil rights heirloom is the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March. Although the public has been inundated with ongoing media depictions of this event for over fifty years, Oprah Winfrey is producing yet another blockbuster film version, scheduled for release during the Christmas season. - Oprah has made her views on whites crystal clear. In a BBC interview, she stated that older white folks are so steeped in racism that “...they just have to die.” So we can expect her film to depict white law enforcement officers as vicious brutes, with their ruthlessness exaggerated for dramatic effect. Of course, the marchers will be portrayed as morally upright, and flawlessly virtuous innocents. Excised from the permissible versions of the famous march are eye witnessed incidents that do not fit the stereotype. It would not be befitting to detail the indecent acts of some the demonstrators but suffice it to say that the consequences of their drugging, drinking and inappropriate sexual conduct kept emergency rooms of local hospitals hopping. But in today's media portrayals, these offensive behaviors have been dismissed as “unimportant side issues.” As this march has become the stuff of legend, it can only be represented heroically. Today, when we consider the epidemic of young black mobs attacking innocent whites on the streets or in restaurants and shopping malls, we should remember that these young people grew up watching media adaptations of famous civil rights events. Years of viewing carefully scripted television and movie portrayals of civil rights events has led these young blacks to believe that white racism is holding them back; law enforcement is discriminatory, and police unfairly target blacks. We wonder if their indoctrination encourages them to view their criminal acts as justified civil disobedience. To be sure, violent attacks by these young blacks will continue because they know that the Obama justice department will take no action against them and news media will not criticize them.