Ferguson: Hook Line and Sinker I tried in vain not pay attention but to no avail. Every outlet is saturated with it. Stay with me for a minute and try to clear your inhibitions if it’s possible at this point. Leave the opinions of politics, left or right. Leave the pressed opinions of race, demographics, economic divide, class warfare, militarization of local law enforcement, gun rights, illuminati and the new world order. I’m sure we all have opinions on most of them. For right now take the crisis in Ferguson, Missouri. And if you have had a heated discussion or regurgitated information or inflammatory posts, articles or blogs you may find this interesting. Or maybe not, ignorance can be bliss. I am writing about this not for any of the hot button topics but something I thought could spur an intelligent conversation based on independent rational thought. I thought about writing this when I became impressed that the media finally started acknowledging the foreign element in the mix in Ferguson. This week I have been using my free Sirius trial to bounce back and forth between an ultra-conservative and an ultra-liberal talk radio shows. It was a personal research. The incident in Ferguson was a perfect catalysts because I knew both would be talking about the same topic and interpreting the same facts I myself had access to. It was enlightening to watch as these intelligent hosts weaved through the same information and came to conclusions their listeners expected. You have to have understanding however in tis because this is what they are paid to do. Unbiased talk shows don’t really get your blood pumping right? I listened how they omitted what worked for them and helped their listeners “infer” conclusions on what remained. They both however acknowledged the multitudes of influences in Ferguson that were foreign to the community and the crises that arose. Take a short trip with me back to the day the story broke. Stay with me from what we know now and what we knew then. Knew remember, not what we thought. If you remember, how much of the news story was fact and how much was filled in by our media outlets. Now stay with me and don’t hold back. Remember this isn’t about the above hot topics and at the end it will not loop back around and give you cause to feel like an attempt was made to sway your present opinion. With that being said, now go back in your mind and start playing back as the mercury shot up from the original breaking news and what was being kicked around in the media. The outlet is inconsequential to the discussion just try and remember. What was reported to be known and what was inferred. Now, I want you to think of the days of 24hr coverage of the Malaysian flight that disappeared (Don’t fly that airline by the way). Hopefully you have the two streams running in your head now consider this analogy. If you watch sports (anyone works but football is in my mind) you know that in-between the action there are commentators. The sporting event isn’t 100% action and over a broadcast the time must be filled makes sense? News is very much the same way it seems and it’s this “commentary” that is mistaken for news and this is where “our” opinions are formed dear reader. With the Malaysian flight there were days with nothing going on and the talking heads had all kinds of people in to fill the time slots. FAA agents, pilots, statisticians, political analysts, emergency search and rescue specialists. Then as the days went on the panelists got more exotic with conspiracy theorists, alien abduction researchers etc. It’s the commentary section is where the news agencies split and start to move more into agenda spin then reporting. It’s not what the facts are you must realize it’s how they are reported. We could theorize for quite a bit on who is directing the agenda but that was a small part of my point. We all (if we can be objective) have witnessed this in the media and if it hasn’t lead you to distrust the manner in which information is being passed to us I can’t help you, just take the blue pill and switch back to tumbler. The media outlets are finally talking about the outside influence in Ferguson. Perhaps because it can’t be hidden, and we have the citizens of Ferguson to thank for that. The citizens of Ferguson are working with police and THEIR community leaders to separate themselves from outside elements that have descended upon their community with their own agendas. The biggest coverage of these foreign influences are the violent protesters who came to town just to rampage and be violent. Let’s pull the lens back some though and if you were paying attention take a note of the people and organizations who wouldn’t open a letter with the topic of Ferguson Missouri before the dreadful shooting of an unarmed suspect by police. Who? From Where? And Why? Have a look and what influences have they had or tried to have on the situation. Positive or negative? Self-serving or selfless actions? This is a phenomenon I witnessed firsthand in my own community so it’s not some far off incident I am identifying with. It helps at this point if you are still objective and now follow the chain of events and information and focus on how it was presented. Not what was presented but how? Is our opinion really your own or are we still regurgitating sound bites, FB posts and witty captioned photos from our favorite political websites? I don’t know but I’m glad they had to report that the hostile elements looting and pillaging were mostly from out outside of the community and for that, I thank you.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 01:19:57 +0000
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