Non-Mainstream Media Has Its Faults
by Al Diamon
Much is made by extremists on both the left and right of the general untrustworthiness of the so-called mainstream media. Ultra-conservatives believe all the news is filtered through the inherent left-wing biases of reporters and editors. Mega-liberals are convinced important information is suppressed by corporate overlords. Lack of evidence in no way deters these misconceptions.
The MSM detractors often claim their own online networks provide the only unfiltered avenues for information. And they’re right. It is unfiltered. Which means nobody bothered to figure out if the stuff they’re reporting is true.
This week in Maine, there was a stunning demonstration of the shortcomings of the extremist media. A website called Secure Our Freedom, which caters to gun-rights advocates, militia members and others who believe constitutional protections are being eroded, began reporting on May 12 that, “We are receiving unconfirmed reports of [United Nations] movement in Maine. Reports include connex trailers and tanks being moved along I-95 (between Bangor & Portland) and UN equipment being moved VIA (sic) shut down railways. There are some reports of local Militias mobilizing.”
This story was prompted by all sorts of social-media weirdness, including a claim the Casco Bay Bridge had been locked open (the poster was “too afraid to take a photo”), an eyewitness reporting there were “UN troops in Bangor near the airport” and a warning that “SOMETHING IS HAPPENING OR ABOUT TO HAPPEN.”
Difficult to dispute that last one.
A day later, when the site admitted there didn’t seem to be any truth to the report of a UN incursion into Maine, one commenter seemed to blame everything on President Obama, claiming it was all a “False Flag event” designed to distract the citizenry.
It would all be laughable if the site didn’t contain frequent mentions of revolution, mobilization and other calls to violent action against an enemy that was nowhere to be found. Whatever the mainstream media’s faults (and there are many), it rarely falls victim to this level of paranoia.
Not to mention irresponsibility and inaccuracy.
Al Diamon can be emailed at aldiamon@herniahill.net.
