The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
― George Orwell, 1984
© The New York TimesOpinion | Don’t Go Down the Rabbit Hole – The New York Times
Glenn Greenwald sums up the state of journalism.
Thus do we have the unimaginably warped dynamic in which U.S. journalists are not the defenders of free speech values but the primary crusaders to destroy them. They do it in part for power: to ensure nobody but they can control the flow of information. They do it partly for ideology and out of hubris: the belief that their worldview is so indisputably right that all dissent is inherently dangerous "disinformation."
And they do it from petty vindictiveness: they clearly get aroused — find otherwise-elusive purpose — by destroying people's reputations and lives, no matter how powerless. Whatever the motive, corporate media employees whose company title is "journalist" are the primary activists against a free and open internet and the core values of free thought.
The Journalistic Tattletale and Censorship Industry Suffers Several Well-Deserved Blows - Glenn Greenwald
Reader Comments
Seems to boil down to: Don't think for yourself. Check Wikipedia & other mainstream sources for a quick answer before "wasting your limited and oh so precious attention" on any potentially controversial information.
The underlying message is: You're too stupid to think critically anyway and thus any exposure to 'disinformation' will taint your thinking and you'll have no choice but to progress from "idiot" to "misguided idiot." So spare yourselves and just trust what your
mastersofficial sources tell you to think.They go on to describe their "training program" for teaching how to not engage with any contrary information. "Conserve your precious attention" is the euphemism for "avoid anything resembling debate for non-mainstream concepts."
All in all: Be a good sheep & leave the thinking to us.
It had me laughing when they start talking about Wikipedia. Basically, "Don't believe anything Mr. Kennedy says, it says on Wikipedia that he's a conspiracy theorist. See? Quick easy search. Done. You win your course diploma. And remember, the top Google searches are almost always the most trustworthy."
Argh!
R.C.