After reading the full text of the Senate document--and the early-on reportage by the national media--I feel compelled to pass along a bit of information for those unfamiliar with daily newspapers and how they operate. I am a 17-year veteran of the newspaper business, most of it in what I call "real" journalism, or community journalism, but my last stint was as the business editor of a daily newspaper owned by the liberal Cox chain. Each day, usually at 3:30 p.m., all the editors gather for what is called a budget meeting. That is where the various editors decide what will go in tomorrow's paper, and where it will go. I have sat in those meetings and watched how the news is manipulated, either by placement or by willful ignorance, i.e., it doesn't get in at all. If the editor has an agenda--usually suggested by the publisher who, in turn, has completed a successful career by acceding to the wishes of his superiors--it is quite evident during that budget meeting. The major networks go through much the same routine, as the editors and managers decide what will air and what will not. It is an insidious process unknown to most, and most would not object if they knew of the process. What we are seeing now is that process in full dress as the national media continue to manipulate the mental processes of most Americans. It is sad... but it is true. I know. I have watched it first-hand.

-- Vic (Roadrunner@compliant.com), March 03, 1999

Answers

I don't doubt the accuracy of Vic's comments. However, with respect to this story, this behavior borders on criminal.

-- Steve Hartsman (hartsman@ticon.net), March 03, 1999.

Us Americans hunger and thirst for information, scandal, sensationalism, etc. The tabloids are in business to make money from their incredulous "news." The news media are very clever in planting "ideas," whether they are true or false. Just put one scandalous tidbit out on someone or something whether it may be true or false, and it's imprinted forever on the minds of the public. For example, remember when they arrested the security guard for the bombing that took place at the Olympics? The news media had the man guilty and his life was ruined. As it turned out, he was totally innocent but that did not matter, the damage was already done. He sued and won, but money cannot bring back your peace of mind nor your good image. We will continue to get different conflicting information from the news media on Y2K. I wouldn't be surprised if they prematurely reported news that there are already runs on the banks or whatever hype they want to give to get the ball rolling. News right now is somewhat lacking. For the past 3 years the public's attention has been centered on OJ Simpson and the Clinton/Lewinsky episode. Nothing immediate is happening that is news worthy so perhaps a media-induced scare monger panic would be right up some newspaper-TV's alley. Look for the spins and look for sensationalism because that is what sells.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), March 03, 1999.

Watch out roadrunner. The coyote's after you

-- watchoutroadrunner (coyote@roadrunnersdead.com), March 03, 1999.

I seem to rant about this quite often, so I will simply say, this subtle manipulation is more persuasively powerful than I ever imagined.

I am forever changed, this is a lesson I will never forget.

-- Deborah (info@wars.com), March 03, 1999.

Television is the tabernacle of satan, given pride of place in almost every home. Children's innocent consciences are corrupted by images of evil. All minds are clouded by this false light from hell.

-- RELAY (Shantih@Truth.com), March 04, 1999.

But Deborah - isn't the more frightening to realize that until you began closely tracking Y2K issues in independent forums such as this, you didn't realize you were being manipulated?

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), March 04, 1999.

Robert,

I knew I was being manipulated in the sense that I percieved bias.

Nothing this blatently false about a life or death issue before.

Example local 'news' blurb:

"The Senate Report on Y2K was released on the Hill today. Good news, no expected power outages, no need to store food or water."

The ACTUAL REPORT:

However, each of the 3200 electric utilities is at a different stage of remediation, and many may experience problems. All of the evidence seems to indicate that there may be isolated and diverse electrical outages across the country. The questions now are: Where will they occur, how long will they last, and will they be significant enough to affect the overall grid?

That is so much different to me, I guess because I belive it places lives at risk.

-- Deborah (info@wars.com), March 04, 1999.