Why the Media Lies and Why We Still Believe Them (Revised)

in #steemitzombies6 years ago (edited)

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I originally wrote this little opinion piece my first week on this site and I still stand by what I said in it. It is a little off topic from my regular content which primarily deals with the drug war, cannabis, psychedelics, and the occasional movie review. I do think that this subject is, at least, tangentially related to most of my content, however. This short article that I am reposting in the steemitzombies tag, as the title suggests, is my opinion on why the media lies and, more importantly, why we believe their lies and that does tie into their spreading of drug war propaganda. At, any rate, I think it was a pretty good post for a one off but, sadly, very few people actually saw it. If this isn't your cup of tea, fear not I will be back to producing my regular content this evening, so you can still look forward to an upcoming Philosophy of Use post tonight or tomorrow, at the latest. Anyway, lets sacrifice a ram, say the incantation, or what ever we have to do and raise this zombie post from the dead and don't forget to stay tuned after the repost for some all new bonus content.

As George Carlin pointed out, the media is completely full of shit. This isn't news though. We all know (on some level, at least) that this is the truth. Anyone can read through the articles on a news website or watch a few stories on a cable news network and see that these people are peddling fear, half-truths, lies, and, worst of all, ads. The question remains, however; why do these media outlets lie and why do we continue to believe them?

The first part of the question is easy. They lie because they have an incentive to lie. To be more specific, the corporations that run the bulk of the media understand that sensational lies draw more attention than boring truths and the more people that view their content means more money in add revenue. There is more, they also understand that they, as large corporations, can benefit from certain changes in public policy so they use their influence to sway public opinion in their favor.

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The second half of the question is harder to answer. I have come to the conclusion that people continue to believe the lies of the media because they are easier to stomach than the truth. It doesn't matter if we are liberal or conservative and it doesn't matter where we get our news, someone is still lying to us and we are buying it. This is because the lies are carefully crafted to reinforce what we believe and that makes us feel comfortable and righteous. In time, we seek out only what reinforces our beliefs and accept that as "the real truth." Then when it comes time for the media outlet to sell us their agenda we take it as gospel because they have already "proven" themselves to be "trustworthy".

Unfortunately, believing a thing doesn't make it true. The truth is often better and swallowing sweet lies doesn't do us any good. We need to challenge ourselves, to hear things we disagree with, and judge claims on their merit instead of on how much we like them. If we don't do this and we continue to believe the lies, we will continue to live under the yoke of the elites in the media and in politics. We will continue to be starved of knowledge and when ignorance rules freedom of thought and action cannot exist. It doesn't matter who you are or what you would like to believe; the truth is the truth and only the truth can lead to enlightenment and liberation from false fear.

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Bonus content!

I have said before that I don't really like just cutting and pasting and calling it a day, so I will throw in a little something extra for anyone who happened to see the original post. I didn't really have anything prepared for this section of my steemitzombies post but we can make something fun, I think. Free writing can be cool, right? I mean it isn't as polished as prepared material but I think it has value. I could, however, just be telling myself that this is the case because I want my free writing to have some value. Who knows? Anyway, lets move on with the bonus content.

Ummmm.... Here is a cool picture that I think would make an awesome meme if you are into making memes. It is from a free image website (unsplash.com) so you can use it all you want.

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Have you ever been to the desert? A lot of people complain about the desert being "ugly" but I see a certain harsh attractiveness in it's landscape. Besides being at sea, there are few places where the sky is so large. I always saw a kinship between being in the desert and taking psychedelics. Like the desert, psychedelics demand respect. You are free to travel through the desert just as you are free to travel through your own mind but if you become careless both the desert and psychedelics will slap you down pretty hard and let you know your place. Neither thing is uncaring either. The desert can sustain life if one knows where to look much like psychedelics can sustain ones sanity if he or she knows how to use them to that purpose. Both are full of alien beauty and majesty that can scare many people away but rewards those who are willing to embrace them. I kind of like this topic. I may return to it at some point.

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Peace.

Unless otherwise credited, all the images in this post were sourced from the free image website, unsplash.com.

As a side note, if you are interested in resurrecting a dead (good quality) post, please check out the steemitzombies tag. There are a few (very simple) rules but I think that it is a great idea. Plus, if you take some actions you can actually win a few rewards if you are selected.

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Good my frend

I agree the media lies since shit sells. Here is an article about chum, the crap that covers so many websites today. The sponsored crap that is from Outbrain, Taboola and the other promoters of crap content. The fake news that covers 90% of websites.

By the way, I like this resurrected post and love that desert picture at the end. I agree about deserts and psychedelics. They are both deserve respect. Finally, steemitzombies sounds like a good idea. I'm going to check it out.

Thank you. I talk a lot about drug war propaganda but that really only scratches the serface of what is wrong with the media.

Haha Yeah that was my last minute content lol. It is one of those things that I always think about writing about but it never really fits anywhere. The pictures are all free to use from unsplash. That is where I find most of what I use. Typical stock images are kind of hard to find there but if you are a little bit creative about how you use them, they can be made to fit in most things. They have some great landscapes and a lot of abstract type of art photos.

Steemitzombies is still very small and few people know about it at the moment the guy who is really behind is called whatamidoing and he is running show over there. I feel like it will pick up more as more people find out about it (I hope, anyway) so I try to include a little "plug" for it at the end of the post. The big rules are the post has to be over a month old, steemitsombies has to be the first tag, it has to be of good quality (not spam), and it can't have made more than like a couple SBD (I think the limit is 5.0 but don't quote me on that). They also want you to write a little paragraph at the beginning explaining how old the post is and why you think it deserves a second chance.

Yes, there's a lot wrong with the media. I think your focus on drug war propaganda is good since it's been going on for decades and for some reason the MSM thinks nobody notices. But, though, there are people that care. It's much the same as with Indigenous groups. The average jerk keeps saying it's a shame they were wiped out, but times have changed and we must look to the future. Except, they weren't all wiped out. In fact 5-6 million are still alive and well in the U.S., a similar number in Canada, and around 50 million in Central and South America. The MSM, though, do not care since there is no revenue for them to make by reporting Standing Rock, et al. The growing strength of native casinos, though, is beginning to make the revenue that may result in more coverage and awareness of indigenous issues.

Legalization, though, has begun to be a money issue with a larger number of corporations and others looking for places to park their funds for a more profitable return on their investments than bonds, etc. So, keep up with it; it may be a small part of the picture, but it's in the picture.

Truth. Yeah things are getting better for cannabis because people are starting to smell the money they could make. Sadly, other issues are still spun in one way or another. That is a good point about the native people. I lived in an area were there were plenty of Native Americans and I knew many myself. They were just like anyone esle who was born in this country amd raised the culture here but if you listen to the midea or believe many of the representations in films and literature you would think they almost have a magic connection to enviromental issues and are somehow a greater authority on those issues which is clearly not the case.

Yep, indigenous or not, we mammals aren't very eco are they? Not like plants: CO2 eaters. We belch and fart CO2 and methane all the time. Damn reptiles and birds as well. No magic there.

Shoun the sheep

nice use of the tag..:)
shows like cops are making the war on drugs. black and white if you are using somethings but a are have stage 4 cancer. and they are going to die. get treat you like the worst criminal. and people believe in this.
its making people do not care.

Resteemed your article. This article was resteemed because you are part of the New Steemians project. You can learn more about it here: https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@gaman/new-steemians-project-launch

Absolutely spot on. Couldn't agree more.

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