I was reading a quote by Donald Rumsfeld this morning:
Private media does not get up in the morning and say what can we do to promote the values and ideas that the free Western nations believe in? It gets up in the morning and says they’re going to try to make money by selling whatever they sell… The way they decided to do that is to be dramatic and if it bleeds it leads is the common statement in the media today. They’ve got their job, and they have to do that, and that’s what they do.
We need someone in the United States government, some entity, not like the old USIA . . . I think this agency, a new agency has to be something that would take advantage of the wonderful opportunities that exist today. There are multiple channels for information . . . The Internet is there, blogs are there, talk radio is there, e-mails are there. There are all kinds of opportunities. We do not with any systematic organized way attempt to engage the battle of ideas and talk about the idea of beheading, and what it’s about and what it means. And talk about the fact that people are killing more Muslims than they are non-Muslims, these extremists. They’re doing it with suicide bombs and the like. We need to engage and not simply be passive and allow that battle of competition of ideas.
What do you think? I think citizen journalism, that is having the people do the reporting on various mediums, is far more trustworthy that a government agency reporting on issues. Maybe that sentiment comes from a complete distrust of government and authority, but I don’t think a government run news agency would be well received.
But then again, NBC still airs so..
What Rumsfeld actually means is:
“The media reported bad news in Iraq while I was defense secretary, while I in my fantasy world bubble knew for certain that freedom was on the march and I and Paul Wolfowitz were geniuses. If only we had learned from those damn communists back when I was still selling arms to Iraq. We would have banned independent media when we had the chance in September, 2001 and ensured all news came from a department under Dick Cheney’s direct control.”
Hi Duane,
Citizen journalism is not always a better way to go unless there is a distinction made between news reporting and news opinion. Often the loudest, most persistent and shrill voices are heard which may not necessarily represent the majority view.
And if all news is a form of propaganda, there are many examples of the minority view fabricating news events in order to advance their cause.
Need an example close to home? Take a look at the archives of the now closed http://indymediawatch.blogspot.com/
Citizen journalism is a double edged sword.
Al
That’s a good point. It’s like wikipedia — sure everyone can edit it and contribute to it, but the information they put up there might not necessarily be accurate. So yah, I can see it being dangerous as well.