Strategically Communicating

I’m going to come out and just say it: I like C-SPAN.

I like that it broadcasts an unfiltered, unedited range of content. I get to be both consumer and creator. I call the shots.

However, the problem with C-SPAN for many consumers (myself included) is that we just don’t have time to view, digest, and come up with an informed opinion about many news events. Sometimes we just want it delivered to us – with a bow on it.

During the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement a few years back, I relied on sources from both major media and individual media sources. In Mediating the Message in the 21st Century: A Media Sociology Perspective, Shoemaker and Reese contend that there is a level of pressure and bias that cannot be removed from media.

I shook my head at the OWS’ perceived lawlessness and lack of motivation (as reported by CNN).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRGns6LaJgA

Then, I scorned law enforcement for their perceived bent towards violence against protesters (as reported by citizen journalists). (Warning: some of the content in this video is explicit and may be hard to watch.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QngE6kKk8Lg

Take a look at RT America’s interview with Peter Joseph. In it, he posits that there is a normal existence of bias, especially in corporate media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdxsO1OxwTM

Who’s got it right? The mainstream media, reporting to write history, or the individual, reporting because they are living it?