Blog #6

CNN, FOX, NBC, WNBSC, whatever. There are a lot of television news channels out there. And at first glance, you could probably there's a lot of differences about them. The topics will be different, the importance of certain topics will vary, and there will be a variety of guest speakers. But it's pretty much all the same. Let me explain. 

Aside from the obvious, but not so obvious fact that all the media and TV we consumed are owned by the same few companies who are owned by the same few people, all the news is pretty much the same. Here's the script; report an ongoing issue whether it's police brutality, COVID, gun laws, anything that emotional value connected to it. Will it make someone angry; will it make someone scared? From there you find a specific case, spin that case in the way you want to present it, then show pictures of the people who were involved to humanize them. Then spread whatever message you want to spread and keep it repeating it. Known as the illusory truth effect, if you tell someone something and keep repeating it, they will more than likely eventually start believing it. Especially when it's something scary. 

So why do certain news websites such as ANTIWAR.com, and The American Conservative stand out? That's because the one topic all news channels have in common, is they're all pro-war. If it's Trump in office, FOX is pro war. If it's Biden in office, it's CNN who's pro war. But at the end of the day, they're all pro war. Why is that? Because it makes some people very rich. It makes manufactures rich, but more importantly it makes news media rich. Why's that? Because just like sex, war sells. When people have something to be afraid of or something of note, they're more likely to consistently check the news to get an update. The reason why these websites aren't heard of in the mainstream is because they are antiwar, and being antiwar isn't good for business. This is also why you have to seek out this kind of information, because there's no profit to it. 

At the end of the day, it's very unfortunate but a truth that war sells. It makes money, and whatever makes money is what the news is going to show. A perfect example about how the news media work is the movie Nightcrawler featuring Jake Gyllenhaal. To keep things brief, Gyllenhaal starts as this nobody weirdo, to becoming the top nightcrawler for LA's lowest rated news station. Gyllenhaal essentially plays a sociopath with no emotional capacity. The guy will do anything for success, which means doing some really shady stuff to get good shots. Like moving bodies at an active crime scene to get better lighting, setting up a rival nightcrawler to crash to then film the crash and the guy being wheeled in a stretcher with a neck brase into the ambulance, or even chasing after an armed fugitive and allowing his partner to get shot and filming the man's death on camera instead of helping him. Obviously a little overexerted, but the point stands. The guy got a ton of really gruesome shots, and he got paid handsomely. Not only that, but the news station he worked for went from one of the worst in LA to at least serviceable.