Irreverence in the Media

Our papers have one peculiarity. . . They are irreverent toward pretty much everything, but where they laugh one good king to death, they laugh a thousand cruel and infamous shams and superstitions into the grave, and the account is squared. Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its only sure defense.

- Mark Twain, Notebook, 1888


If you expect news to always have and be told with a floppy, soft, cuddly, warm and pussy feeling, go work for a public relations firm. There, one may harness one's own bleeding-heart inclination and care-bear skills to your heart's content.

It is absurd to lead others, let alone ourselves, to believe that events are absent of wrong deeds; that is why news are told! To expose wrong and put it in the light: that others may see and prevent such thing from occurring again.

Commendable deeds are rewarded in private; sometimes, one needs to expose wrong for the good to exist. Also, one cannot rely on a news correspondent alone to set the tone of one's opinion. Hence, it is impossible to make an informed choice based on the article or report of one individual.

A mature news reader would confirm, through an independent research (preferably your own), the basis of the article and if necesary, determine how the article came to a conclusion. This adversarial demand ensures that information is not particularly tailored to favor a certain bias.

Burdensome it is not? Perhaps, it is this burden that makes the average individual neglect their duty as rational beings capable of choosing for their own what is appropriate or ought to be. It is something that only those capable of assuming the burden of citizenship may realize.

In any case, news media that focus on commendable deeds all the time ought to start considering whether it should provide their services to those who wish to only hear and see what they wish to hear and see.

One of the worst kind of censorship, some newspaper stick with "positive news" or news which is not offensive to the subject of the news even if the object of the news is to reveal the subject's abominable, offensive or unlawful actions.

Stay away from them. It is bad for an individual's ability to stay with reality. It is only recommended for those who see society without hope, that is, in limited and prescribed dosage.

Truth intentionally told in a passion which prohibits offending anyone is not truth. Half-baked truths will not set me free; it will only free me partially and half-heartedly.
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