THINKING IS EXPENSIVE.

REPORTING IS EXPENSIVE, BUT CORRECT OPINION EVEN MORE SO.


In his article "Suicide Watch" Frank Rich of the NYT thinks that "The real question is for the public, not journalists: Does it want to pony up for news, whatever the media that prevail?" True, I agree that real journalists are needed, and true, they will have to feed off the Internet, and that means the Internet will have to charge for news. Maybe, to avoid what is called in law and economics, the "tragedy of the commons" a tax will have to be paid by everybody to pay for independent journalism.

But then on the way he can't resist to feel that reporting is expensive (true) "But opinions, however insightful or provocative and whether expressed online or in print or in prime time, are cheap." In other words, according to Rich, thinking is cheap. Well, not so. The distinction between "opinion" and "reporting" is viewed, in some countries with the most advanced critical and philosophical traditions, as illusory. American journalism has also fallen on its own sword. By insisting on this illusion, it lost all critical sense. For years, American journalism has embraced the militaristic and plutocratic propaganda of the oligarchy with unfathomable enthusiasm.

And this still goes on: this week "reporting" on the American bombing of civilians in Western Afghanistan illustrated what is very wrong with American journalism. Namely, the media of the USA followed exactly the story as it came out of the Pentagon, every twist and turn. I am graced with the capability of perfect understanding of some foreign TV reports, and the "reporting" there was very different.

In the end, some times years later, the American public finds they have been lied to again and again, and again and again, it's getting worse and worse. The crimes of Nixon are childish, compared to those of the Bush administration, and the price will be incomparably greater.

This is directly related to the fact American media reported the tiny stuff while having no opinion about the really big conceptions. The mixture of politically correct and plutocratically compatible is proving highly poisonous. As Stalin put it: "Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas?" Facts are nothing if not brought forth by the power of opinion. To claim both are independent is to claim that the only opinion that counts is that of the oligarchy. No wonder people are bored by journalists.

No wonder there is a malaise. No wonder it's a suicide watch. If you know only facts, and you can't think, you will know an ominous fate.

Patrice Ayme
http://patriceayme.wordpress.com/