As long as the link remains good, the headline above will take you to a Washington Times story which details the many examples of misinformation fed to the public concerning the war in Iraq by the mainstream media.

The reason why Oregon Magazine constantly points out this sort of thing is simple -- though most of you may find it hard to believe, you are fed a load of crap by these people on a daily basis, and have been for decades.

From the international to the national to our local Oregon level, the networks, their affiliates, the big news services (like Reuters) and most of the so-called great newspapers and news magazines you have seen and read all your life have on a regular basis misinformed you.

Yes, it is hard to believe.  My own sister once said to me, "But they can't be lying to us.  They're on television."

Yes, they can.  And, when they're not lying, they can be wrong.  In either case, you have been misinformed.  The article linked above demonstrates this principle on the international and national level.  Bringing the concept home, every time you hear a member of the Oregon mainstream media tell you the government has to lay off police because the people wouldn't go for higher taxes, you have seen a demonstration of this principle, right here.

It is my hope that one day a majority of you, my fellow citizens of Oregon,  will come to understand how this works -- that it is done by intentional or unintentional, bias-based, deletion of key facts, spin and euphemisms.  One day, perhaps, you will be watching a tv report about budget problems, and will suddenly say, "Wait a minute.  They have just told me we'll have fewer police because the state budget is being cut.  I wonder what the last state budget figure was, and what the new one is."

God help the big Oregon media outlets, and the liberal organizations, politicians and bureaucrats they serve, when you finally take a look at the actual facts.  When you discover that the state has nearly as much, just as much or even more money than it had last time, and that the cuts being made in the police budget are retribution designed to scare you into giving them ever larger amounts of your money, you will at last begin to understand.

(LL)

© 2003 Oregon Magazine