I recently gave a speech at the North Suncoast Republican Club in Homosassa (Citrus County) regarding the press, a favorite subject of mine as I have first-hand experience in how they operate, up close and personal. As you may remember, in 2016 I traveled with the press in Florida to cover the Trump rallies. Following this, I wrote a column regarding my experiences (click HERE).

In speaking to the Homosassa group, I articulated how the press tries to manipulate the American public. There are three principles the press relies on:

1. PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH

Actually, this is something I learned in business many years ago. Back then, we would be contracted by companies to audit how their system analysts and programmers built information systems. We discovered project teams who took a disciplined and methodical approach quietly and professionally went about their business. Even though their projects came in on time and within budget, they were eclipsed by project teams who ran by the seat of their pants in a helter-skelter mode of operation. Remarkably, this latter group received accolades from management, not the former. This was a case of the “squeaky wheel getting the most oil,” which was unfair. Executives didn’t like it when we pointed this out. They saw their helter-skelter bunch as firefighters who would come in and rescue software snafus at all hours. When we pointed out their “firefighters” were actually the chief “arsonists,” this did not sit well with the executives.

What this points out is our beliefs are based on our perceptions, not necessarily what is reality. As an old systems man, I can assure you, if the input is wrong, the output will be wrong. It is, therefore, essential to control the input, which the news media has mastered for some time now. If you watch or read the news today, it is less about the truth, and more about political dogma (spin) which people prefer as they do not want to waste their time investigating the news and will trust those networks who most closely reflect their perspective of the world.

So, it is not so much the news media is not telling the truth as it is the people do not honestly want to know it, and the press capitalizes on this fact.

2. PEOPLE HAVE A SHORT ATTENTION SPAN

As you know, I have been critical of Americans’ sense of history. Our young people know little regarding American history, world history, or even trade history, meaning they know little about the past regarding their company and the industry they serve. Consequently, we tend to re-invent things over and over again, not to mention allowing history to repeat itself.

Think about it, when it comes to current events, there are a lot of people who cannot remember what happened yesterday or last week, or on September 11, 2001, or December 7, 1941, or July 4, 1776. Such a mindset makes it easy for the news media to distort the facts.

3. PEOPLE ARE APATHETIC

The press is cognizant of the fact most Americans are apathetic towards politics and tend to roll with the punches rather than fight city hall. I have personally met many people over the years who honestly believe our voting system is corrupt and not worth their time to participate. This is sad.

Further, between their family and business obligations, people consider their time to be precious, so they prefer having people interpret the news for them. This results in a large class of “sheople,” people who are unable to think for themselves and follow the crowd. This type of people prefer to be told what to do as opposed to thinking for themselves.

These three principles are in the back of the mind of today’s news reporters and explains why they do not express any remorse for pulling the wool over the eyes of the American public. To them, it is not about journalistic integrity, it’s about taking an elitist position over the “brain-dead” public. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, the press honestly believes, “You can fool all the people all of the time.”

So, what can be done to combat this problem? I provided 10 Tips for doing so last year. Among them, I encourage people to report flagrant errors in news reporting to the FCC. This applies to news as presented on television, radio, the Internet, and by telephone. The more complaints, the more effective you will be.

Better yet, learn to seek the truth, pay attention, get active, and don’t accept their BS. You’ll drive the press crazy!

Keep the Faith!

P.S. – For a listing of my books, click HERE.

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