Media Corruption

The media can teach many life lessons. For instance, I have learned that Princess Diana was one of the most influential people of the twentieth century, and I have also learned that a priest can’t be trusted alone with children. The media has also tried to convince me to believe that it is all right to kill your unborn child by aborting it, but it is a federal crime to chop down a giant redwood tree in California.   Of course, I’m sure that as you are reading this essay, you agree with everything I’ve written so far because it is exactly what the media has reported to you, and you know that the media wouldn’t distort the truth! Okay. Truthfully, I don’t agree with any of my essay so far, and I hope you have taken my essay with a “grain of salt.”

I have learned that the news doesn’t always tell the whole truth because it is not legally required to be honest. Therefore, most types of media will distort the truth in order to support the story which they want their audience to believe.   Steven Brill said it best in this quote: “When it comes to arrogance, power, and lack of accountability, journalists are probably the only people on the planet who make lawyers look good.” I have a recent example that will not only prove the truth in Brill’s quote, but it will also prove my theory that the media is corrupt and politically biased.

May 1, 2004 was a day that shocked the world.   It was the date the Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal made the headlines for ALL major news sources. The story covered the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American military personnel which caused many Americans to doubt the morals of our military. Many of the mainstream media sources, CNN, the New York Times, Fox news, MSNBC, etc., showed hundreds of people rallying against our military and the soldiers arrested for the crimes. Reporters interviewed Senators and Representatives who were utterly outraged by these soldiers’ behavior because it made Americans look immoral and hypocritical. Perhaps,...