Quote:
Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos
Gotta admit I'm kind of drunk and tired and disappointed about the hockey game tonight, but a lot of posts in this thread seem to suggest that black people in the States get a free ride from the media and cops and the justice system in general.
I'm almost positive I've read in the last few pages that if a black person had been brutalized by some white people, the country would be in flames. That such injustice would not be tolerated.
|
If the races were reversed in this case - four white adults kidnapped a disabled black man and tortured him on camera while shouting "F*** n****rs! F*** Obama!" the story would be leading every newscast for days, news anchors would be flying to Chicago, there would be dozens of editorials written tying this into a narrative of white oppression. It goes without saying Trump would be blamed for fostering a climate where this was inevitable. Guest columnists at the Globe and Mail would write deeply personal accounts of how this made them feel. The CBC's Maria Tremonti would talk to sociologists and community activists about what this means for America. The Atlantic would publish a beautifully-written 4000 word story on the crime and its place in American history. It would be a cause celebre for months.
Because the media has bought into the culture wars. Abandoned any pretence of being detached observers of society and leaped head-first into the toxic pool of Us vs Them rhetoric. Every story that involves race of gender is now fit into an ideological narrative. The problem with narratives is they're emotionally satisfying, but simplistic. They omit and emphasise and employ the techniques of fiction to provide an emotional catharsis. The news media has always done this. But never to this extent, and never in so unashamedly partisan a manner.
The mainstream media is dying. As I pointed out in another thread, the Herald building used to hold 600 employees. Now, the combined Herald and Sun staff number 100 and they rattle around an almost building. They'll probably all be out of a job within a year or two.
Most of that is down to changing technology and the collapse of their business model. But they also suffer from self-inflicted wounds. When confronted with the challenge of online blogs and amateur quasi-news sites, they could have assessed their long-term prospects and decided to emphasise what they brought to the table that blogs can't: thorough research; balance and fairness; a detached and more rational perspective. Instead, they tried to beat bloggers and alternative media at their own game by emphasising opinion and emotion. By engaging in advocacy and partisanship instead of objectivity and empiricism.
And now it turns out they don't offer anything different from partisan bloggers. They've either bought into identity politics or they appeal to frightened bigots. They have no credibility as balanced centrists, or genuine liberals who offer a forum of diverse perspectives and opinions.