Restoring Sanity and or Fear

In Digital Media and Democracy, Boler explores press and the power that they have over our understanding.  The press controls not what they deem to be newsworthy, but rather what they want to report.  Boler illustrates examples of news organizations and their somewhat biased points of view, especially when it comes to politics.  You have both right and left winged press that will take the same story, then twist and edit it to fit the point of view that they want.  A quote from the article by Walter Benjamin, “It is hardly possible to write a history of information separately from a history of the corruption of the press.”

The article explains that the media is consolidated and controlled by a select few corporations.  And that these corporations are controlled by what Fernandes views as, “Elite white hands” that do not account for the huge diversified majority.

Recently hosts of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and The Colbert Report took action against the consolidated media.  In an announcement on air, the two hosts said that they would be holding a Rally to Restore Sanity and or Fear.  Not giving much information or a description about what exactly they meant.  This lead to a flux of postings on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  With the popularity of the topic growing the mainstream news began to cover the story.

All reports seemed to point to the rally as a political tactic.  Since the rally was to be held around the time of the midterm elections.  Just as Tim Russet reported about Bush’s proposed invasion without having all of the details, the press also reported about the rally without having all of the details.  It was only during the rally that the press realized the rally was not about the midterm elections, but rather it was about them.  Stewart took the stage and talked about the broken system the press has created.  He spoke of how the press has the power to control our points of view through amplifying certain points and thus deafening the audience to other topics.

In his speech Stewart talked about sanity as being something we instinctively know.  By restoring sanity we are taking control back from the press.  Boler mentions in her article that the Internet has given the public the power to check facts. There is a shift from being a consumer to also being a producer.  Boler notes that increased access, production, and distribution online has created a more active community offline, especially when it comes to political activity.

Had it not been for the Internet and people sharing the story of the rally, it may never have been as large as it was.  One online news source reported that the people have spoken, making “Restoring Truthiness Rally” the number one search on Google.  St. Paul news reported, “The event gave a voice to those who usually don’t speak.”

During the Rally Stewart made a point in saying, “The [Press] did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them that much harder.”  In an interview with Amy Goodman she said, “Media is more powerful than any bomb.”  If this is the case what will a user-generated press hold in store for the future?  Boler mentions that there are tactics and secrets of the journalist trade.  If everyone is able to report anything will this help solve our problems or make them worse?

Something to think about, in disaster studies it has been found that when given information people will react rationally to what they have heard.  If they have been misinformed, they will react rationally to the misinformation.

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